Out of all mindful practices I have tried implementing in my orchestra classroom, I believe PAUSE has the most impact among my teens, and it is the one that I have encountered less resistance with. When we experience stress or feel in a rush, we can easily get agitated, become closed off, experience increased performance anxiety, trip over an instrument, bump a music stand, say something that may offend someone, or even do something we might regret.
I myself have learned that before I jump to correct someone, or before I get worked up about something, I have to remember to take a breath and PAUSE. It helps with bringing awareness to an emotionally charged situation, it also helps with self regulation, with posture, with remembering an intention, with allowing others an extra moment to process something that was said, to relax and align a body that’s experiencing tension, to approach a sight reading passage carefully with strategy in mind, etc.
When I first introduced this idea, I told the kids I was doing it myself, to keep things cool from my end, but little by little I started asking them to do the same before they recorded a playing test, or played in front of others, or before they walked away from a charged emotional situation. With some kids it happened more naturally and with some others (normally with the students that are more impulsive) it is way harder but I keep reminding them to pause (and I will take points away from a play test if I notice the performer starts right the way without a moment of silence while checking bow hold, posture, or even just breathing) and even though this is an ongoing challenge, I think we are getting a little better at it.
I know there are plenty of SEL strategies and self reflection ideas that can be implemented not only for overall classroom management, but also for specific performance oriented ensemble settings. Have you chosen one that works for you and your students? Which one is it? Regardless, we have to have a plan, as the music classroom is the perfect ground for working on SEL. I hope we can educate a new generation of people who can get in touch with their emotions and let go of undesired stress. We don’t really need to react to every judgment we hear about our playing. The effects of stress and anxiety among performers is devastating and has to be talked about. When I was growing up no one talked about it or gave me any ideas of what to do to overcome the emotions and frustrations that performance brought to my life. Let’s change that discourse and start educating the hearts as much as we try to educate the intellect and bodies of our students!
©2023 Cecilia Calvelo
