Leveraging the Power of Your Mind: Micro Shifts for Macro Change
Earlier this week I was sitting with one of my long time students in her piano lesson as she prepared for her upcoming recital. This is someone I’ve known for five years. It’s been a gift to witness her evolution, growth and presence as a musician and person. So much happens from age seven to twelve!
As she played her piece, it was not going well. She was missing notes and details that she is one hundred percent capable of doing with excellence. Her and I both knew it.
As she continued to play less than optimally, she burrowed further into self-doubt and self-criticism. Even her body language closed as her shoulders curved and narrowed.
I suggested a generous pause and deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Her eyes peered at me over her mask with concern.
How many people find themselves in this spot? Where the capability is there, and yet, the result isn’t happening? The desire and passion is there too, and at the same time, things are coming up short?
I have been in this exact state truly countless times in my life and it’s not fun.
It’s in moments like these where I dive deep into what makes Mindful Music unique and impactful.
It’s in moments like these where I get to pay it forward by guiding my students through the fog of the human experience and back to their natural empowered state.
It’s in moments like these where gaining a mindfulness toolkit for life shows up in crystal clear ways.
My first question to her after the clearing was, “What are you thinking about when you’re playing?”
Usually when potential is being blocked it’s a combination of the mind and nervous system, which actually feed off one another. In a blocked state, the feedback loop can present as a dark undertow on repeat.
She shared, “When I look at the music, I mess up!”
We collected the data together. Yes, it’s simply data. This is the thought and belief that was occupying her mind as she played.
I checked for clarity, asked if there was more and held space to listen to her experience.
The next questions I asked were “Is that true?” and “What does work?”
Another layer of exploration began. We sifted together and inspected the belief she was carrying and how it was impacting her playing. We looked historically into what she was doing when things did go well.
Her and I landed on this as a true thought and belief: “When I look at the music and my hands, I play well.”
Part of this process with my students through both their lived experience and my sharing through mindfulness is learning of the power of the mind. They experience the truth that what is believed and thought is what is created.
Through this wisdom, my students gain the ability to choose thoughts and beliefs that will support what they want to create.
Upon choosing her heightened thought and belief, my student said it out loud before she played. She commanded her mind to go where she wanted it to.
Immediately, she played it at her potential! She was in flow state. She was playing freely. She was playing like herself.
The biggest magic of all? She went from state of panic to a state of relaxed joy within 15 minutes.
Because she changed her state, she changed her results. This micro shift of one thought and belief created a macro shift in her playing and state of being.
Wow! If you’ve ever wondered why I get so giddy and excited talking about what I do, this is it. I get to witness young people make magic for themselves in this way every day.
In this instance, she took the power of her mind that was pulling her down and flipped it on its head. She utilized that very same power of her mind and beliefs and leveraged it for success.
Then, we took it to another level. This is what I like to call, “lock it in”, “burn it in” or “build trust”. Here, we carve a deep groove in the way that works. This strengthens the empowered thought and belief to be unshakeable.
When you’ve done something well in repetition over and over and over, self-doubt cannot win because it has no ounce of truth!
This is what she did:
Sit down, say the new mantra before beginning, play well.
Sit down, say the new mantra before beginning, play well.
Sit down, say the new mantra before beginning, play well.
She built major trust with herself. She showed herself that not only did the mantra work, it was true! She did indeed play well when she watched the music and her hands.
It’s worth noting that my amazing student is twelve years old and embodies what it means to consciously create and leverage the power of her mind! This is something that many people do not experience at any age.
However, what she did is available to anyone at any time doing anything. It’s a matter of being willing to look, willing to learn, willing to pause, willing to do things differently and to deeply love oneself along the way.
So many people have the desperate “eyes peering over the mask” moment in any and all parts of life. The capability is there and the results are not. The desire is there and the manifestation is not. The passion is there and it’s caged behind bars of anxiety.
The mind is a powerful entity. It can trap and engulf and pull down and block. It something that most of us humans are very familiar with.
In the very same vein, that power can be wielded for good. Or, as I like to say, leveraged for success.
How you may ask? Through this practice. The practice of mindfulness, of self study, of examining the happenings of thoughts and beliefs and then taking decisive action to set it up in a way that’s true.
A thought can seem like a tiny little blip. And yet, when shooting for the moon changing just one degree from earth can catapult you to another galaxy.
These “micro shifts” create “macro change”.
All through leveraging the power of your mind.
Also known as, mindfulness.
A practice and portal that is available upon a gentle reminder that it’s there.
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Mindfulness, conscious creation and leveraging the power of the mind for success is a foundational part of my work as a leader, teacher, coach and mentor.
If you’re interested in accessing this empowered state for yourself and leveraging it in your life, reach out to me here! I currently have spaces available for 1:1 conscious creation coaching and 1:1 yoga.
In person yoga is available for Chicagoans who are fully vaccinated and masked!
Want this experience for your kid or yourself at the piano through Mindful Music? Add your name to the waitlist here and I’ll reach out to you when a space opens up!
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You are a powerful creator.
You are one of a kind.
You are enough.
In love, leverage and pursuit of a better world,
⭐️ Adrienne