I spent this past weekend in Austin and San Antonio performing with the Austin Baroque Orchestra. I also had the great pleasure of presenting mindfulness to an excited room full of brass students at Texas State University. This combination gave me a great chance to work on my teaching approach, and also put my personal mindfulness practice into action with a couple performing opportunities.
Like many other musicians, I originally got interested in mindfulness for the possibility of decreasing the impact of anxiety on my musical performance. While I firmly believe that the benefits of mindfulness impact the whole person, there is no doubt that this training does help with musical performance anxiety. With my performances this weekend, I felt the usually increase of anxiousness leading up to each concert, but I was able to sustain my focus in the moment thanks to my mindfulness work. This benefit is great, but the way that I teach mindfulness is not focused directly on the musical benefits. Instead, it is important to approach mindfulness as a holistic training for the whole person, not just the musician.
This is what I emphasize when I share mindfulness instruction with anyone. In order to apply the benefits of mindfulness to music, and to reap the benefits in performance, you have to develop mindfulness away from music. The benefits from mindful practices will reveal themselves in many places in your life, but after a while you will notices there are specific practices that will have a direct impact on the musical parts of your life.
I have found in my own practice that meditation exercises emphasizing the development of focus are very beneficial to musical performance. One of my favorite mindfulness teachers on focus is Sharon Salzberg. I find her guidance in breath awareness is easy to follow and her pacing in exercise is excellent. Here is a link to a 20-minute guided breath awareness meditation. Try it out!
