Taking time to sense the living quality of his solid, still, physical presence and to focus on the sensations within him enabled him to gather his deep emotional and visceral energy and to use it to play. His playing was thus informed by the fullness of his being. The effort David made to play in this powerful way can be described as peaceful effort. Rather than battling with himself to pick up his instrument and practice, or struggling to “get it right” or make it expressive, he simply tuned into his body, his sensations, and the sound he was making, and let the music flow from within him.
Transcending Stage Fright
As successful as such teaching techniques had been, in 2006 I began longing for a way to give musicians some kind of vajrayana experience — to bring out the energy of devotion. Knowing that musicians’ intense practicing is typically fueled by a strong devotion to their musical tradition, I came up with the idea of translating my experience of the morning lineage chants into musicians’ terms. With the intention of helping them transcend stage fright, I developed a three-part contemplation, in which they reflect first on their musical lineage, then on their own goodness, and then on the goodness of their audience.
As successful as such teaching techniques had been, in 2006 I began longing for a way to give musicians some kind of vajrayana experience — to bring out the energy of devotion. Knowing that musicians’ intense practicing is typically fueled by a strong devotion to their musical tradition, I came up with the idea of translating my experience of the morning lineage chants into musicians’ terms. With the intention of helping them transcend stage fright, I developed a three-part contemplation, in which they reflect first on their musical lineage, then on their own goodness, and then on the goodness of their audience.
The results have been amazing. Highly nervous performers have discovered that underneath their self-consciousness they have something bigger and more powerful: their devotion to music and their desire to give something to their audience. This contemplation, which I now call the Fearless Performing Exercise, not only helps them go beyond their fear onstage, but also brings out their deepest communicative power. It raises their lungta.
Since I first taught this seven-minute exercise, my husband, Parlan McGaw, has been teaching it to actors, my friend Patton Hyman has taught it to lawyers, and I have even taught it to people in challenging business situations. It helped one board chairwoman rise above her fear of asking donors for money and give an impassioned pitch that elicited a million-dollar pledge. The exercise is easily adapted to fit many types of people. If you’d like to learn it in detail, it appears in a chapter I contributed to Barry Boyce’s wonderful book, The Mindfulness Revolution, published last year by Shambhala.
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