Intention and Curiosity

Many of our challenges as musicians involve overcoming mental barriers. When something goes wrong while practicing, it can be easy to repeat over and over, and judging each repetition as good or bad.

Mindless, repetitive practice has been outed as potentially destructive and sometimes harmful, and can be a source of anxiety versus learning. In its place, mindfulness and intention open us up to opportunities for discovery and help us learn with greater efficiency.

Setting an intention changes our mental state, allowing us to refocus on a simple musical or physical idea. Unlike a goal with an ending or point of achievement, an intention is on-going. If we stray from our intention, we can always come back at any time, reducing the pressure of perfection that can be associated with goal-setting.

An intention can be a simple word that we choose to embody or experience as we play. We can also phrase an idea as a question of curiosity to deflect anxiety and reduce self-judgement.

Here are some examples:

- What is it like to experience awareness of the entire room while I play?
- Why is so easy to play beautifully?
- I intend to embody brilliance.
- Feet Grounded
- Smoky Color
- Easy Fingers
- Why is is to easy to play pianissimo?
- I intend to continually release my jaw as I play.
- Brilliance
- Like a Violin
- Openness
- Listening to the sound in the room
- I intend to see and feel color as I play.
- Softness of Limbs
- What is it like to listen and experience each moment?
- What is it like to play as if I composed the piece myself?
- Play Gracefully
- I have plenty of breath. (Even if I feel I don't, I always tell myself this in the last phrase of the Mendelssohn Scherzo excerpt and it works!)

See more on the benefits of intention for overcoming performance anxiety in this post from The Bulletproof Musician:
http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/how-to-make-performance-anxiety-an-asset-instead-of-a-liability/

Grounded and Floating

During a difficult practice session featuring Paganini Caprice No. 5, I found myself asking: "Are my feet grounded?"

Nope. Definitely not.

"I Am Rooted But I Flow" - Virginia Woolf

The thought of ease beginning with a grounded, rooted connection between the feet and the floor has not found its way into my practice session for a while. After making this subtle change, all the difficulties I experienced with breathing, discomfort, and supporting the airstream while double-tonguing improved.

From the place of grounded feet, I began to find ease in the legs, reminded myself of the hip joints and movement of the pelvic floor while breathing, and the gathering and lengthening of the spine.

While my feet remained rooted, I resisted the urge to shift my weight from the floor during difficult moments or while taking a breath, and instead focused on simultaneously grounding further while the rest of the body floats upward during these moments. I also felt better able to relax the arm structure while the torso released upward.

Another breakthrough (that I have over and over), was finding ease in producing soft high notes, the most difficult thing for me. Resisting the urge to change my rooted-but-flowing state, and instead floating and grounding even more made pianissimo high notes effortless.


What is it like to play with grounded feet?

What is it like to remain grounded at points of difficulty? 


Grounding Yoga Poses:
http://www.doyouyoga.com/5-grounding-yoga-poses/

Warm Up Essentials: Armpit Spacers and Earplugs

A few weeks ago while warming up for my first concert with the Cinematic Symphony (STAR WARS: The Music Awakens!), I posted a photo of my warm-up essentials, Armpit Spacers and Ear Plugs.

A few people asked what the arm spacers are for, so I recently followed up with a quick demonstration and explanation:

"Skeleton's first video is an armpit spacer explanation by request! Placing pool noodles or smaller foam cylinders under the arms while playing serves as a reminder of the space available between the arms and the ribs. Notice how much space exists beneath his upper arm and notice the honey comb shape of the ribs! I certainly have a habit of clamping my arms down over the ribs and compromising the width across the collar bones while playing. Encouraging both space for the ribs to move naturally while breathing, and freeing the arm structure can make a world of difference in breathing and resonance. The spacers serve as a reminder and resting place for the arms. These were provided to me by Andover Educator Andree Martin, and are made of pipe insulation found at Home Depot or Lowes."

In the warm-up-before-the-warm-up, or the pre-opening-the-case-warm-up, I typically take time to do several yoga poses including child's pose or wide-leg child's pose to simply focus on breathing while letting go. I stay for several minutes and take the time to make myself aware of how it feels to breathe. Is it tight in certain spots when I reach the peak of inhalation? Do I flow between inhalation and exhalation without adding extra tension or effort? How do the muscles of my arms and legs react to the various stages of breathing?

I take a few moments to find balancing in standing, translating the ease of breath from child's pose into an upright position closer to playing. At this point, I will add armpit spacers to enhance the experience of the arm structure moving over the ribs while breathing, and lightly swing side to side to allow the arms to move freely with the help of the spacers. When I finally pick up the flute for my first notes, my mindset is focused and I am consciously encouraging release.

If I were to simply put my flute together and charge full-speed-ahead through Taffanel-Gaubert scales, there's a greater chance of feeling scattered and frustrated with throat tension and a stifled tone, which only increases nervousness. Taking time to focus and release before taking the flute out of the case puts me in the right mindset to focus and achieve ease and resonance right off the bat. When my first notes feel effortless, my pre-concert confidence gets a boost.

On this particular day, I put in earplugs for my first notes to continue to mindset of feeling versus hearing. Professor Eva Amsler introduced this idea to me at FSU, and I have learned so much about myself and practicing in the process. The idea of becoming process-oriented versus results-oriented provides an opportunity to fine-tune without judging the results. My first go-to warm-up of the day with earplugs is Robert Dick's first singing and playing exercise from Tone Development Through Extended Techniques. 

See more on Instagram and follow me @joleneflute!