Methods to relax

[faa2010]

When I am playing, my body gets tense, either unconsciously or not.

It seems that stress, nervousness, anxiousness and agitation has become part of my life, specially in those times when I feel someone orders or demands me to get relax, to let things flow, to calm down or a phrase similar.

I want to relax when I feel it is necessary, and specially when it is related to play piano.

Maybe it sounds contradictory when:
- a teacher demands you to get relax and play without making mistakes,
- take your time to learn and play the piece, but at the same time, you have only a certain time to  finish learning the piece, or
- relax yourself but at the same time don't be a slacker and stay in the practice room daily for 8 hours.

Do you know which methods of relaxation can be use without becoming either a stressful or neurotic  person or a total slacker?

[keystroke3]

Hey faa2010,

So for me I go through times when I'm stressed and not stressed, here are some things that have worked for me in the past:

1. Diet/Sleep/Nutrition/Hydration/Exercise

I know this stuff is kinda obvious but sometimes I'll be getting stressed over something that's not even that hard, and then realize it's cause I got like 3 hours of sleep the night before... I usually have a checklist every day where I rate myself on each of these, that way if I'm not feeling great I can usually figure out why.


2. Reframe the Situation

When you have a teacher remember it isn't an "evaluation" or "test" (although it seems like one sometimes). It's a lesson. You're paying them to help you improve. So try to reframe the lesson in your mind as a positive place that will help you improve your skill instead of "Oh no, does the teacher think I didn't practice enough" (I do this alllll the time haha)


3. Plan Out Your Practicing

In regards to finishing a big piece before a certain date, back-plan it so you know you'll get there.  Figure out how many weeks you have to your recital (or whatever you're playing for). Then backtrack and mark goal dates for steps in the learning process (for example, have it learned by August 1st, memorized by August 21st, polished by September 15th). Pan have it finished a couple weeks before the due date just in case you need some extra time to practice.

Then mark your piece in big sections (I, II, III ext.) and subsections of each (A, B, C, ext.). Plan out each week what sections you're going to learn. For example, one random week in the middle might look like this "Learn sections III and IV, memorize sections I and II."

You'll end up changing the plan as you go along because some sections you'll learn faster than you thought and some will take more time than you thought, but it'll relieve some stress just to have it planned out in small steps so you aren't overwhelmed by the big steps.

Hope that helps and good luck!

-Zach Evans

[Bob]

No great answer.  I'm getting in a mental state about a piece I'm trying to work on. 

I do know however/whatever you practice gets captured in the piece though. 


If it's tension, you could just sit at the piano and relax.  Make it so it's not a place where you get tense.  Or play music you enjoy playing so it doesn't become a place of work/trappedness, etc.

[minimax]

It seems that stress, nervousness, anxiousness and agitation has become part of my life, specially in those times when I feel someone orders or demands me to get relax, to let things flow, to calm down or a phrase similar.

Why look for bandages (methods to relax) when You can totally cure the problem?

Stress is always part of your life even when you are not aware of it. Constant muscle tension is one symptom of it (normally you miss it). When you play piano, you use your body muscles, but they are never truly relaxed - so the tension is more pronounced in very short time. Why? Because you are trying to exert control over your body and there are conflicting forces inside of it. Compare it to a rubber cord which is pulled in two opposing directions. You want some things and fear getting them at the same time - that is a conflict. You want to play smoothly and nice, but at the same time you are afraid of making mistakes or opinions of others watching you play. You see a beautiful woman or a hansom man (if you are a woman), which you would like to meet and are afraid of approaching her/him, etc. All desires and fears are active in you all the time, even when you are not aware of them - this is that “rubber cord". I can say with confidence, that what you are aware of everyday, is just a tip of the iceberg. Most of it is hidden. Like almost everybody else, you run away from it unconsciously, because it is painful.

What is real cause of that tension, agitation, nervousness?

It is your thinking and feeling only. Toughs start feelings. Your old thinking with connected with them feelings is accumulated in an electromagnetic field, which is compressed in the muscles and internal organs. It fills the body from tip of you head to your toes. In there, there are all you attachments, aversions, desires, fears. Fear is one of the most destructive feelings (and there is a ton of it in each one of us) which grips your body like in a vise. All your thinking comes from that energy. It is an image of yourself (EGO) based on your life experiences and your thoughts about them, which is false, but you take it to be You. You identify with it. As long as that image (energy of you past thoughts and feelings/emotions) will be locked in you body - you will find no rest and will have to live with constant tension, pains, aches. Your headaches are caused by it. Find out for yourself if I am wrong in stating it. Anything you will do to relax, like yoga, exercises, ... etc., will be just like painting an old building which is about to collapse. It may be useful to learn some method for a short term, but main goal should be to dis-attach yourself from that image and remove it totally. It is not that hard, as you do not need to cut off your body parts These are just thoughts and feelings we are talking about. You have control over them, even if you never heard from anybody that it is true. Do not believe me?  Become aware of any thought in your mind and say to yourself something like that: “I want it out" or just “get out" with intention to remove that thought and see what happens. Removing that image/energy will remove all unnecessary tension, agitation, nervousness and give you permanent peace within. That will be reflected in anything you will do in life - as with that internal peace comes harmony - which is your true nature. Harmony means, that things will work out for you, without you having to make much effort. Call it luck, serendipity.

If we are in our natural state, no thoughts are coming. Zilch. Nada. We walk and see a tree or a person and no descriptive/judging thoughts come to the mind. No distractions. If we want to communicate with others, then we create thoughts and when done talking, comeback into peace and uncaused joy that flows through the body. This is normal. If you do not live like that, then you are in Ego/Body mode which is worst then EBOLA (kills quickly). In EGO mode we suffer a lot and in a log span of time. Why live like that if this is unnatural?

How to do it?

First. Understanding who you are and how you function is a must. Some information will come from books but you must apply what you read to you life experiences and see for yourself what is true. Because it is in a book, even very old one, which a lot of people believe in, may be the worst thing for you to do. Prove everything in You, if you cannot prove an idea in You, do not let yourself be married to it. Question everything all the time. Use your logic. Your feelings may lie to you, as they are connected with old thoughts - so do not let yourself to be swayed by them. Be like a child that does not have any preconceived ideas and search, search ...... and search.

Second. Learn to observe yourself 24/7 - to be more precise, watch you mind and body at the same time. It is not hard if desire for it comes from your own logic, trust me. If you just follow someones opinion for the sake of it, it will be worthless and hard to do. Be aware of thoughts and body sensations that they bring. Be neutral in watching it, do not expect, wish anything ... just observe. Follow the thoughts to feelings that are locked in the body by asking yourself if the thought (which you just become aware of) was motivated by (put each feeling from the list) apathy, grief, fear, lust, anger, pride, courageousness, acceptance or peace? Yes or No answer will appear in the mind. Then you can let that feeling/thoughts go. In time and practice you will be able to feel where in the body your feelings are stored/blocked. You will have then zero doubts, as to the truth of it. If now you want to prove to yourself that there is a blocked energy in your body, press soles of your feet with your thumb. Any painful place will indicate the blockage. Massage that place for a while and pain should disappear. Find a reflexology chart on the net and you will approx. know in which body part it was trapped.
Later add to the observation (attention), the world outside of you (so you observe 3 things at the same time). You need to find out the connection between your thinking/feeling and your everyday experiences - which are only a reflection of all hidden and known to you desires expressed in the material world. Recognize the connection and the way to control over your life will be obvious. You thinking creates everything !!!! Do not believe it. Prove it first! Then learn to think properly, neutrally, so you can get what you want, without creating a “mess in your body”.

Third. Nobody can do anything for you. You are the entity that creates/knows his/her own thoughts or accepts and takes for ones own, thoughts coming from others (books, TV ....etc.). Only You can really find out what is in you. Be responsible for 100% of it. Do not judge yourself according to any religious or philosophical doctrine - or all those “questionable desires” that are in You will be hidden. Let them come out into awareness and then “kick the ... “ out of them and be free. The judge and censor in you is just a thought. It is not You.

Resources:

Who we are/EGO:
Elkhart Tolle: “Power of Now” and “New Earth” (books)
Nisargadatta Maharaj:  “I am That” (book)
Lester Levenson: “Ultimate Goal”, “The Way” - audio in mp3 format.
Jiddu Krishnamurti - Youtube videos - check all, but start with ones describing desires, fears.

Image Removal/Letting Go:
Lester Levenson: “Sedona Method” mp3/book

Use experiences of people that got free and speak about it, to find Your own way to get there. Do not blindly follow anybody. Everything becomes easy with time and practice. Always trust in Yourself !!!

[brogers70]

No nirvana-inducing suggestions here, but one thing I've noticed lately is that when I am tense generally I can feel tension in my jaw muscles. When I think about relaxing my jaw, everything else relaxes a bit, too.

[hardy_practice]

If we are in our natural state, no thoughts are coming. Zilch. Nada. We walk and see a tree or a person and no descriptive/judging thoughts come to the mind. No distractions.

You'd soon start describing if a bear jumped out from behind that tree!

[j_menz]

Do not believe me? 

Not a word.

[louispodesta]

When I am playing, my body gets tense, either unconsciously or not.

It seems that stress, nervousness, anxiousness and agitation has become part of my life, specially in those times when I feel someone orders or demands me to get relax, to let things flow, to calm down or a phrase similar.

I want to relax when I feel it is necessary, and specially when it is related to play piano.

Maybe it sounds contradictory when:
- a teacher demands you to get relax and play without making mistakes,
- take your time to learn and play the piece, but at the same time, you have only a certain time to  finish learning the piece, or
- relax yourself but at the same time don't be a slacker and stay in the practice room daily for 8 hours.

Do you know which methods of relaxation can be use without becoming either a stressful or neurotic  person or a total slacker?

I spent 30 years of my life listening to people telling me about the different methodologies associated with relaxation at the piano.  All of them were well intentioned, psychologically based, and none of them worked.

Then, after I blew my senior jury, because I started shaking so hard I almost fell of the bench, a fellow student showed me the light.  He, (being a winner of the Naumberg at the age of 19!) said, matter of factly:  " have you ever heard of Inderal?  All of the symphony musicians in Europe use it."

That was 1981, and I have never looked back, and, for the record, I have low-level Parkinsons Disease.  There is no way you will ever shake as much as I do.

However, there are two more steps that I recommend to solving your problem.  But first, get it out of your head that there is something internally wrong with you.  Everybody has nerves at the piano, everybody!

First, do seek out a neurologist or endocrinologist to get you on the right dosage of Inderal, which is a universally prescribed NON-NARCOTIC/NON-ADDICITVE beta blocker.  It is a no brainer for a well experienced specialist to do this because this medication is prescribed for stage fright (DEA).  Oh, and it is (generically) dirt cheap.

Second, after your prove to yourself that you can get your nerves under control, then I recommend Neurofeedback from a PhD Clinical Psychologist.  It will re-wire your nervous system, and it will significantly improve your performance at the piano as has been proven by the original Royal Conservatory of Music studies.

Third, after the EEG biofeedback (Neurofeedback) you may want to try something called "Heartmath," which is a computer monitored daily breath exercise to help regulate your heartbeat.  You do it for 15 to 20 minutes a day, and it is an excellent, cheap, and long-term follow-up to Neurofeedback.

Finally, thanks for having the courage to share your situation with us, and, as I said before, get it out of your head that this is somehow your fault.  Hint to a big secret:   most piano teachers are not touring concert artists because their nerves are completely shot!!

[nyiregyhazi]

? He wasn't talking about nerves. He was talking about tension. The way to cure tension is to start by understanding how much less effort useful movement is than fixation of joints and then to rebuild your technique in a way that does not conflict with this guiding premise. Far too many people press through an inactive hand that they try to relax- but which has no choice but to stiffen, unless it knows how to generate movement actively. The most reliable solution is to set up a completely different premise for technique, that doesn't depend on the sizeable efforts of fixation.

https://pianoscience.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/tonal-control-efficiency-and-health.html

Even speaking as someone who takes beta blockers daily, the thought of using this as the solution to physical tension is absurd. I take them for a very mild tremor. I don't need them as much as I used to (as doing Feldenkrais has reduced the severity to the point where it's only a notable issue if I'm especially stressed) but I take them daily for a valid purpose. Not in a ridiculous bid to cure tension at a piano.

You write the same two posts over and over, regardless of how little they have to do with the topic. Beta blockers and rolling chords are subjects that you're willing to shoehorn into any thread, no matter how unconnected they are. Suggesting beta blockers for general muscle tensions is just irresponsible.