Spring Cleaning your Practice Routine 🌱
You can clean up your practice routine like you clean your fridge. (Part 1/5)
This is one of my favorite times of year: finally things look a little bit brighter, after this long winter! Almost everyone I know has had a tough winter this year, and guess what? Me too. But even on those dark, rainy Parisian winter days, It has brought me so much joy to work with amazing students and collaborators around the world. And now that the world is waking up again, it’s time for my least favorite (and most important) challenge of the year:
Spring Cleaning.
I hate cleaning. I want everything to be wonderful and keep staying clean, that all of my relationships flow smoothly, and the world blooms to me optimistically (but without any effort on my part, obviously.). This, of course, is a pipe dream.
Spring Clean your Practice Routine
So, back to Spring Cleaning. This is a time to look at what we want to keep in our lives, and what we don’t want to keep.
This is a 5-part Series, and the snapshot is step one. Grab a journal and dive in!
Personally I do this in a pretty radical way - it’s the equivalent of emptying your life backpack on the kitchen table, getting rid of dust bunnies, sorting receipts, and throwing a party because you finally found your practice mute/slide lube/thread color/score/whatever (that you might have already replaced). For me, everyone is out on the table and I evaluate my relationship towards them just as much as the other direction. Friends, clients, my performing career, family, students, collaborators, and more - and this has looked like the Nervous System Neutral Protocol:
Notice: Audit and self-audit. Do I like this? Do I not like this?
Support: Set (or Re-set) and maintain boundaries, make repairs if needed
Nurture: Cultivate inspiring connections, remind myself of the SPARK Mindsets, get back out there!
Now let’s take it to the SPARK Practice zones of genius: Practice, Mindset, and Performance.
Practice
Notice: What has improved? What are some sneaky habits that keep popping up? What do you like about your practice habits or ritual?
Support: Narrow the scope to determine exactly where something goes right or wrong, and decide what you want to do differently.
Nurture: As you get exactly what you want, start to build it back into the surrounding context.
In Part 2, we’ll go over specific practice elements!
Mindset
Notice: How has your self-talk been recently? Better or worse than usual? Trending up or trending down?
Support: Talk to a friend, teacher, therapist, reply to this email and I’ll try to help with references - know that you are not alone, and we do tend to be a product of our environment. How can you influence your environment to
Nurture: Cultivate supportive mindsets. Check out the SPARK Mindsets for Musicians and the SPARK Daily Decisions - but whatever you do, start with curiosity. You can’t get to a growth mindset without first asking yourself “What if?” You’ve got this.
We’ll address this more in Part 3!
Performance
Notice: How have your recent performances felt? What has gone better or worse than previous performances? What do you like about your playing?
Support: What patterns can you notice in performances that went well? In performances where you didn’t feel so confident? What tools or strategies with Intentional Practice can you identify around you that can support you having great performances?
Nurture: How do you want to feel on stage? Have you felt that way (even just flashes of how you want to feel on stage) in your last few performances? What can you build into your preparation to practice performance in a safe way to build your nervous system and healthy resilience for consistent, confident performances?
This is for Part 4 of this series 🌱
Summary
When you take a few minutes to look around and see what’s working and not working, we give ourselves a chance to celebrate some wins, continue to acknowledge ongoing challenges, and safely let any new dust bunnies come to light before they become mountains.
How does this relate to cleaning your fridge? Every time I clean my fridge I take things out, shelf by shelf to see what’s in there, check the dates - what’s open / since when, etc. (Notice). I scrub each shelf as I go, and toss the items that are past their expiration or have been open too long. (Support.) Then I check out the fridge to see if there’s a better way to set things up that what I’ve used so far (mostly to actually eat things on time and not keep open jars very long), and put things back in a way that builds on what I liked from the previous system, with any tweaks or experiments from the new system. (Nurture.) The NSN protocol of Notice, Support, Nurture works in pretty much every situation.
Just remember to look for the good at least as much as the bad comes flooding through. With practice, even being a balanced critic is easier.
You’ve got this.
And now that spring is here and the rainy days are a little less dark, I’m so excited that we’re finishing up the 100 days of SPARK Practice and moving back to the regularly scheduled programming of The Practice Room! It’s the perfect time to jump in and practice together in the Practice Lab : Guided SPARK Practice Sessions of musical co-working, or the SPARK Sessions Inspiring Ideas Workshops, Monthly Q&A, and the Performance Lab, where you’ll practice all of your performance skills in a safe, encouraging environment to feel invincible onstage.
I wish for you to feel safe in yourself and that you build confidence to trust that you are exactly in the right place, and can challenge yourself to become the player and person that you want to be. For me personally, it’s been a really long road, so I know how important it is to have the right kinds of support and expert strategies.
With ADHD and other neuro-divergent challenges, as well as my health issues (auto-immune illnesses and physical handicaps - viola jokes not included), life can be hard. It’s been 7 years since I started caring about my physical, mental, and emotional health - and it’s still an every day challenge. But hey. At least there will be flowers soon - and I get to share what I’ve learned and put into practice.
You’ve got this. I’ve got you and am cheering you on, every step of the way.
Let’s do it together. (Check your Email Newsletter for a special Easter Egg 🐣)
Looking forward!
⚡️Sarah❤️