Lately we hear a lot about mindful living, mindfulness classes, mindful breathing, mindful parenting, etc. Evidently this movement has gotten a lot of attention, not only because mindfulness is a tool for alleviating stress and anxiety, but also because mindfulness can be an attitude in everyday life, at the workplace, and of course in education. What is then "mindfulness" and how does it apply to our music world?
Mindfulness is a state of mind in which one maintains moment to moment awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surroundings through a gentle and nurturing presence, without commentary or judgement. It’s the key to being here and now without projecting into the future or dwelling into what we did or said in the past. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we simply stay lost in the wanderings of our minds. Many of us live in that world of “wandering” and as illusory as it might be, we make it our reality. To maintain mindfulness we need to pay attention to what’s happening now, with an attitude that is not judgemental, but curious and kind.
Bringing awareness to the self or becoming conscious of the here and now is a practice that’s common in the East by Buddhists and Hindus alike from ancient times. In contrast, and in broad terms, in the West we are too busy going places, networking, planning our endeavours and setting future goals. We value individual success and achievement over traditions or social responsibility. Likewise we do not spend enough time contemplating and so miss the value of being at ease with the moment, without any distractions, and by ourselves.
This last year meditation and mindfulness have changed my perspective on life and helped me cope with the uncertainty, anxiety and stress that the Covid-19 pandemic brought inside our home. I started by listening to different podcasts on yoga, then mindfulness, then I moved to following a number of meditation teachers and after one year of reading, meditating and doing a lot of conscious breathing, I think I am beginning to understand why “mindfulness” is so important to make some truce with our troubles and to create a genuine sense of inner peace. And all this time I’ve confirmed something I’ve always suspected, that musicians can have an easier time grasping what all this means because music practice requires mindfulness and in essence it’s similar to meditation!
Let me explain, in order to practice our instrument we go in some sort of a practice room alone, we stay there for a length of time regardless of the feelings that arise, and we bear with our frustrations. Moreover, as we play we know how we are feeling because it is easier to be aware of our bodies and emotions while playing our instrument than when talking on the phone, answering an email or making dinner. We musicians have this capacity for high concentration and attention to the smallest details, but we need to stay away from the “get it done” mentality or the over identification with the thoughts that go on in our minds during the practice. In fact we need to stay at the physical level for a while until the mind gives in to what's happening at each second, with every breath, and every bow stroke. This kind of mindful practice is like an intimate check-in with yourself through a halt to every distraction, so that you can listen to your tone, and be at ease with your movements, weight, stance, balance, relaxed shoulders, etc.
So, here some of the ideas that have worked for me so far:
Start your practice by breathing deeply to settle the mind. Then, before you grab the instrument, look at it for a few seconds as you contemplate its beauty.
Then proceed to tune it as you enjoy listening closely to intonation.
Ask yourself what intention you will set forth in this practice session (some “intentions” that worked for me at first were: I will practice to have an overall feeling of friendliness toward myself, to keep an open mind no matter what, and to cultivate curiosity. More specific intentions could be: I will practice to feel my left hand free of tension, I will practice to produce a full ringing tone, I will practice with full awareness of my fingers points of contact with the bow, I will practice with full awareness of my body alignment, or full awareness of my vibrato use, etc.)
Observe your emotions or feelings as you practice.
Observe your mind activity as you practice. If it starts intruding or causing any mental struggle, or if it takes away from the moment, stop, you can come back later, with renewed fresh awareness.
Practice from a point of appreciating the moment at hand, each sound, each bow stroke, each vibration at a time. How did your body feel? Did the vibrating instrument tickle your jaw bone? Your chest? Your collar bone? Ringing tones are metaphors of Zen bells (all branches of Buddhism have singing bowls and the ringing of these bells is very long, surely Dr. Suzuki knew about them)
Finish your practice, regardless of length or how much you’ve accomplished, by breathing deeply a few times. Focus on the out breath part of the breathing, letting go of any judgement (positive or negative) that the mind may have produced during the session.
Before you leave the room where you practiced have a journal where you can write down the things you found joyous in your practice that day.
As you practice in this way, remember that according to this philosophy everything is always changing (law of impermanence) so nothing ever stays the same. And just like the weather is always passing (things, feelings, people, thoughts, etc) and the sky is always there (your being), our bodies will ache, our minds will drift, or our perceptions will alternate, etc, but you are always there witnessing everything like the sky. And it's completely normal if one practice session is very peaceful and productive, when the next one turns out to be difficult and fragmented.
Also, according to Buddhism, suffering is inherent to life and it is in fact the first Noble Truth and Buddha called it “dukkha” (we will all experience it: the loss of a loved one, falling ill, getting hurt, experiencing hunger or thirst, getting old, etc). So we should accept it and not make it worse by inflicting self created pain. Furthermore, in order to not self create pain we must let go of attachments and expectations of desirable outcomes. Desiring something too much (greed) or being delusional about something (ignorance) or having aversion (hatred) will perpetuate suffering too. Those three are considered the “Poisons of Buddhism” and they represent the roots of all human sufferings.
So, practice letting go and not clinging onto anything or anyone, and remember the important thing is not to judge, just keep practicing your instrument with curiosity, devotion and openness to what is. Hopefully you will find this to be a more joyous way to spend time with your instrument, while being kind and friendly to yourself 😌
© 2021 Cecilia Calvelo
