Thoughtful Refresh Series: Check In 1. How it’s going, what I’m noticing, where I started…

If you follow along with me on Instagram or The B-List newsletter, you know that my big personal project for the summer is working on my routines.

But there is an even bigger part of our lives as performers that the iceberg can represent, and that includes our approach to daily life outside of making music. Routines of all types, planning ahead, reflecting on what’s behind us…tending.

When we get lost in something that catches our eye or attention and we allow that thing to take over our view, it grows in size as we recede. We become small, but not in an insignificant way.

The way being busy makes us feel and what we need to do to cope with high-demand periods of work will change as we get older and more experienced. Intentional planning can create success and prevent burnout.

Mindfulness and mindfulness meditation are huge, broad topics. So how can we take these far-reaching concepts and pare them down to fit our specific needs as musicians, while still respecting these disciplines and what they have to teach us?

Taking a step back and challenging your view, looking at things from a new angle, checking your intentions, and encouraging yourself not to cling are just as valuable as fixing the problem. They create lightness and space around whatever it is we are dealing with, and that’s helpful for all of us.

The next time you feel motivated to critique your past behaviors, consider also what you did right. Could you list both things and see them as just that…a list? Objective data on the situation that might come in handy later is a lot easier to work with in the future than a late night binge of self judgement.

How do you create space to flow in your daily tasks?

Hang in there. Stay in the present. A new season is always around the corner.

Much like practicing our instruments, practicing mindfulness can seem slow to progress and sometimes tedious, but the growth is always available to you if you are willing to stick with the practice.

Have a clear intention for your actions and keep looking close to avoid getting caught up in generalities.

What better way could there be to grow as a musician than to learn to mindfully teach ourself?

Prioritizing these small pockets of joy works because it is when we allow our brain to take a break that it really gets to work. As we rest and relax the brain codifies information, correlates the things we have learned, and rejuvenates itself.

The most valuable thing we have to gain is the ability to see ourselves as musicians with more perspective and balance.

It’s not bad to feel nervous or concerned - what matters is my ability to flip the focus around to the right things. To allow the emotions to come up and pass away because they are just emotions - not facts.

If we are constantly nitpicking our playing and never enjoying it can start to feel like we are constantly at war with ourselves.

Gratitude is about your ability to feel both happiness and sadness, and to make the most of all the experiences of your life.

My best teachers taught me that we are students for life, and you never have to learn alone.

When we practice in a truly productive way, we identify the difficult transitions and dissect the issues using informed practice techniques from the toolbox we fill during our studies. In turn, our brain builds stronger and stronger pathways for the actions we need.

What happens if you truly focus on the feeling of playing in this exact moment?