Hi. I am one of those very anxious students. I am a nervous wreck when I have to sing in front of my teacher, and I have been learning for years. I do the breathing and I try to relax but I totally feel out of control. I cannot help this terrible fear that grips me. I feel like I should be able to stop it but I cannot. It's so awful. I spend hours and hours practising and I try really hard but the anxiety always causes my performance to suffer greatly. I have had counselling, I have had all the stuff that is supposed to help. But I'm still terrified. It makes me cry. I want to do well and I am told that I have an amazing gift but the fear ruins everything. I can't control it. I can't make it go away, I have tried. It's like I have no power over it. You will probably all say that I am wrong but you seriously don't know how it is. It's just something I can't seem to overcome. I feel powerless. I teach music lessons myself and I think I'm more scared than the students are.
Hope this isn't getting off the topic..