Q & A: What can I do to stop my body from failing me?

I am currently in the middle of searching for a job. I have had a couple of interviews and I found that I am having some issues with my nerves and body reactions. When I get nervous, my neck starts to get all blotchy and red, additionally, I have found that my eyes or mouth starts to twitch. It is subtle but I notice it and wonder if the person giving the interview can notice it too. I try to just sit there and smile politely between the questions but my nerves just won’t let my face take a break. As soon as the interview is done, my body goes back to normal. Is there any way to calm my nerves so I can look and function properly?

My response:

The search engine only processes the keywords inputted into it. Likewise, it is not the body failing you, but the wrong keywords (thoughts) you are inputting into it that is producing the search results of nervousness and tension you are physically experiencing.

What is causing this unpleasant experience?

When we desire something, a hope/expectation is created. When an opportunity arises for this hope to manifest, the intensity of our desire creates tremendous pressure. Under pressure, doubts (fearful thoughts) of the probability of not achieving our desired results produce anxiety. Anxiety is the anticipation of experiencing something unpleasant. This unpleasant energy impresses the brain, and the latter then produces corresponding chemicals that adversely affect the body. Since only what is good and light is flexible and free, the scattered energy then causes the muscles in your body to tighten and your nerves to become frenzied, so you become a prisoner within yourself and experience the unpleasant sensations you described.

There is a common pitfall to which almost everyone succumbs. It is the wish to be seen as right for the job, an exaggerated concern with how you think you appear, and thus the pondering obsessiveness over whether this or that might qualify or disqualify you in the eyes of the interviewer. There are two problems here: 1) we can never really know what is happening within another, and 2) we start intellectually analyzing and dissecting ourselves as if looking at a stranger. In the former case: the inability to truly confirm how we are regarded (amplified by our desire to “win the prize”) opens up a void that our own thoughts quickly fills with suspense, doubt, nervousness, and second-guessing. In the latter case: our “out of body self-analysis” makes us a stranger to ourselves, so we are no longer natural and free, but look tight and rigid. All genuineness is eviscerated.

Of course the interviewer can perceive this!

Be relaxed and genuine. But to be either, you have to be honest, and that requires the absence of the fear of any particular outcome. For fear and the anticipation of anything unpleasant makes us tight and robs us of inner freedom. Only when you truly believe if you are honest and free what is meant for you will come, and that in genuineness lies the confidence that will attract and secure you the best fit regardless of the appearance of any obstacles…only then will your energy be relaxed enough to infuse your body and induce a corresponding pliancy, thus calming your nerves and loosening the muscles.

I wish you well in this process.

~Ikenna Q. Ezealah