As a classical musician, you pour your heart and soul into your practice. But what happens when you step onto the stage? Do nerves and anxiety take over, preventing you from performing at your best? Mindfulness can help.
You see the word mindfulness used so often nowadays, but do you know what it means?
It might be helpful to think about what it doesn’t mean for a moment. Mindfulness is not:
Sitting on a meditation cushion for hours
Being perfect
Having all the answers
But it is easy. Living a mindful life shouldn’t feel burdensome or like yet another task to add to your list.
Mindfulness can help you observe your thoughts and feelings without judgment, allowing you to recognize anxiety as it arises without getting carried away by it. This can help you stay grounded and focused during performances.
Put most simply we can say that mindfulness is paying attention to what’s happening in the present, to what you’re doing, to your environment. It’s the opposite to multitasking. You don’t have to schedule mindfulness or study it in a group. You can practice mindfulness right now, as you read this article.
Mindfulness is a process that keeps you focused. It sounds easy, but it’s human for our monkey minds to get distracted. Instead of focusing on the present moment of your performance, your mind might jump to worrying about hitting the wrong notes, what the audience thinks, or past performances that didn't go as planned. A mindful approach treats the wandering mind kindly, and gently brings the attention back into the present.
Mindfulness is not a fashionable social media slogan. Studies have shown that incorporating mindfulness into your life has tangible benefits:
Decreased stress and improved capacity to cope with adversity
Lowered anxiety and depression
Increased clarity, attention, and brain function
Increased immune system functioning
Lowered blood pressure and heart rate
Improved general well-being
Mindfulness can also improve relationships as you become less reactive to situations and more resilient.
You can start to incorporate mindfulness into your life right now. It needs no equipment, studying, or unique ability. You don’t need to change or get fit. You already have everything you need to be present. You only need gentle encouragement to keep bringing your attention back to what is happening right now.
To begin with, set aside a little time to explore what mindfulness means for you.
Find a quiet space, perhaps your practice room, where you won't be disturbed. Put your phone on silent and away from you.
Sit comfortably and start to observe the current moment.
Let thoughts, anxieties, and judgments pass by, like a cloud floating by you.
Where is your mind now?
Return your attention to the present.
Be kind to yourself and don’t worry if your mind wanders. Gently bring it back.
Use this gentle practice to build space into your life, to slow down your reactions, to break down conditioned responses. Mindfulness allows you to be more thoughtful in dealing with what is right in front of you, right now.
Before a performance, take a few minutes to sit quietly and focus on your breath. Notice the rise and fall of your chest or the sensation of the air passing through your nostrils. As you breathe, bring to mind the feeling of your instrument in your hands. Feel its weight, its texture. When your mind wanders to thoughts about the upcoming performance, gently guide your attention back to your breath and the physical sensations of your instrument.
For more exercises grab your FREE Mindfulness Toolkit
Listen to Anchoring Calmness and Serenity, my latest meditation, specifically designed for musicians and stage performers.
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