The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 150 Practice Room Self-Care 101

Episode Date: November 11, 2022

In this episode, we continue our theme of joy during this month of November and I share my second tip to bring more joy, efficiency and results in the practice room: to engage in what I call practice room self-care. Reflection - Here are questions to increase your awareness of the topics I cover in the episode: In which ways do I WANT to practice today? How can I make this practice session serve ME? How can I make the work interesting, engaging, and enjoyable?   >> DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPT FROM THIS EPISODE HERE

You're listening to The Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 150. Welcome to The Mind Over Finger Podcast, discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice, optimal performance, and building a purposeful life and fulfilling career. I'm your host, violinist and certified performance and life coach for musicians, Dr. René-Paul Gauthier. Hi, everyone. I hope you're doing amazingly well as you're tuning in today. In this episode, we continue our theme of joy during this month of November. In episode 149, I shared with you one of my favorite strategies to get started practicing when I don't quite feel like it,

when it's so hard to find a motivation to do it, but it's in the schedule and I have to get it done. So I shared with you my technique of the delightful 10, which helps me get things started and usually keep them going. You can hear all about this in episode 149. And today I share my second tip to bring more joy, efficiency, and results in the practice room, which is to engage in what I call practice room self-care. And before I get started on that, I want to remind you that your blueprint for optimal performance is now available at mindoverfinger.com. Practicing for peak performance is your step-by-step roadmap to performing confidently at your best time and time again. Practicing for peak performance is my proven program to help you learn better and faster,

prepare for performance, and develop the confidence to rock any stage. You're going to be guided by me through video trainings, detailed supporting material, live online support, and easy to implement techniques. So don't wait. Go to mindoverfinger.com right now and join Practicing for Peak Performance today. If you're ready for a new way of thinking, if you're ready to leave the doubt and performance anxiety behind, and you're definitely ready for performances you enjoy, where you play your best, where you access flow and feel confident, then practicing for peak performance is definitely for you. Click in the show notes and get started today. And now the practice room self-care 101. The first thing I want to say is that it's totally okay to walk

away. It's totally okay to not practice and it's definitely okay to walk away mid-practice as well. I've done it many times. But there's more to this. So much more. And I have a lot to share on that. Why we don't want to practice. Where this lack of motivation is rooted. How to decide to practice or not. When to walk away. When not to walk away. How it affects us. All of those things. So much to discuss. So of course, I will have an episode about this in the coming months. But for now, let's go with the scenario that we've made the decision to practice. First, let me establish what I mean by self-care. You've guessed it. Self-care in this context does not equal bubble bats and manicures. For me, I like to think of self-care as a nurturing act that benefits me

in the long term while respecting my current needs. When we nurture ourselves, when we practice self-care. We honor the human in us, our needs, our mental, emotional, and physical well-being in the way that supports our values and our goals. It helps us thrive and grow and it moves us towards reaching our potential while nurturing the human being. And figuring out ways to make practicing intrinsically rewarding is a great investment of your energy and effort because it's almost guaranteed to make you more efficient and to increase your results in the practice room by fostering mindsets that will elevate your levels of focus and engagement, your ability to problem solve, and your creativity. Let's talk about a few strategies that can help make that

next practice session feel more enjoyable. All right, let's start with priming. You've heard me talk about priming in previous episodes, and I'll put the link of those in the show notes if you want to get back and revisit those concepts. But in a nutshell, priming means to get into alignment before diving into the work, to take a few minutes to get clarity on your goals for that session, to maybe get in the right mindset, to check in with your body, and to make sure your practice space is comfortable. So if you like to move your body prior to practicing, I'm a big fan of that, you can schedule a short walk or do a little yoga, a few stretches, whatever works for you. Once in the practice room, you can perhaps begin with a few deep breaths or a short meditation

to get to a centered place and clear the mental space. Then, take a second to reconnect to your why, your ultimate purpose, what this musical journey means to you. Look at all the reasons why you actually want to practice, how this session will serve you both in the short term and the long term. Plan what you have to get done, what the needs are for this session, then decide how to best accomplish them, what works really well for you when you work on those type of things, how you learn best. And don't forget to set clear and doable goals so you can collect wins and feel motivated by your progress as you advance in the session. Very important also, divide your practice into sections and plan some breaks so you can stay alert and fresh.

And finally, make sure you have everything you need at hand, that you're comfortable, and if possible, that the space feels inspiring and welcoming for you. And episode 137 through 140 can help you plan your practice. So I invite you to catch those as well for a more in-depth exploration of all of those things I just mentioned. Now, while you practice, stay self-aware and connected to how you can keep that practice session engaging, meaningful, and enjoyable for yourself. And don't forget, enjoyable helps with efficiency and results. So you can begin with one of my favorites, pay yourself first, like I talk about in episode 146. Make sure to keep time for variety and flexibility. As you learn and refine passages, how creative can you get with your

problem-solving approach? How mindful can you be in exploring solutions? Now, very important, use your superpowers of mind over finger, of patience, and of self-compassion from episodes 141, 142, and 143. This is what it's all about in the practice room. So make sure to listen to those episodes if you haven't already. Other qualities to nurture in the practice room are presence and curiosity. And keep monitoring your mental and physical well-being throughout the session. They both will benefit from the occasional reset or break or a gentle reminder to get back to a place of patience and self-compassion and self-respect. And I want to finish by reminding you to always navigate that line of sticking to your plan versus modifying it

with fluidity. Even the best plans require adjustments, so don't get frustrated. If you feel stuck, pause for a moment, take a deep breath, assess the situation, and make a decision on how to move forward. And that's going to look different every single time. You might continue with the same passage, but with a different approach. You might move on to the next one. You might change piece completely. You might decide to take a break. Anything goes. And this is why I like to keep track of things in a practice journal, or as I like to call it, a tracking system. If something is obviously not going to get done today, I can make a note of it. I can plan to return to it later and probably often and I can brainstorm on things to try next time. Don't forget that the concept of space

repetition and sleep are your friends. Most things need time to be mastered. So when something feels easy, it's because you already know how to do it. So stumbling blocks mean that you're expanding. You're expanding your knowledge, your technique, you're growing as a musician. So don't be deterred by obstacles standing in your way. They're actually good news. And remember that the goal of each practice session is progress. Even if you don't cross out every item on your to-do list, you've done your job by simply showing up. So give yourself major props for that and allow yourself to feel proud of your dedication. And the last thing I'll say about self-care is that as you very well know, it also happens outside the practice room. Nutrition, sleep, exercise,

pursuing other fulfilling interests, cultivating meaningful relationships, all of those things that sustain you as a human will come with you in the practice room. So as Greg McKeown discusses in his book Essentialism, always remember to nurture the asset and that asset is you. So this is what I have for you this week. I hope you try it at home. Take a few minutes to prime before your practice session. Tune into your body and get it ready for the work ahead. Get in the right mindset. Plan for what you want to get done and how to accomplish it. And make sure your practice space is convenient and comfortable. And while you practice, pay yourself first, keep time for variety and flexibility, use your superpowers of mind over finger, patience and self-compassion, cultivate presence and curiosity, frequently monitor your mental and physical well-being, and navigate the line of sticking to your plan versus modifying it with fluidity. And I want to share with you these three powerful questions that help me stay connected to my goals while making sure I take great care of myself in the practice room. In which ways do I want to practice today? How can I make this practice session serve me?

How can I make the work interesting, engaging, and enjoyable? So I hope this episode was helpful for you. I'll be discussing these topics and offering free live coaching in the Mind Over Finger Facebook community this week. So join us there to continue the discussion and explore more ways to practice self-care and foster more efficiency and greater results on your musical journey. The link to the community is in the show notes. Much love going your way and à bientôt. Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Mind Over Finger podcast.

If this content was helpful for you, please share with everyone you think could benefit from it. Take a screenshot, share on social media, and tag me, I'm Mind Over Finger everywhere. So reach out, send me a DM, and let me know how this content helped you. Let's keep the conversation going. As always, I have all the information related to this episode in the show notes.

You can find them via your podcast app or by visiting mindoverfinger.com, where you can also find more free resources on efficient practice and performance preparation, links to sign up to my free workshops, and information on how to work with me. don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to receive your free guide to a productive mindful practice transcripts from the mind over finger podcast episodes delivered to your inbox every week and more also join the mind over finger facebook community my private group for access to my live videos and to exchange with a community of like-minded musicians so make sure you're subscribe to the podcast. And if you have specific questions for me or my guests that you would like answered in an episode, share them with me using the link in the show notes or send me a DM on Instagram or Facebook. That's it for today. Again, thank you and à bientôt.