Welcome to this new series.
Performance Ready will be a series of conversations that looks at our pre show rituals.
My Blog on this subject inspired this – I saw a connection and thought this would make a great series of topics.
This first topic addresses Mental Rehearsal.
My friend Raj Jethwa suggested this particular piece, so a big thank you to him.
My friend and mentor Alan Alan first introduced mental preparation and rehearsal to me.
I was 18 at the time so as you can imagine, this was a very deep conversation for my young mind.
Alan once said to me early in our friendship,
“how do you practice”?
I was quite taken by this odd question because I thought it was a silly question,
“I get my props out, read, study and……practice” I said.
Alan replied with stunning clarity,
“you do realise you can practice without the props don’t you”?
I was dumbfounded.
“What do you mean”? I said.
He then went on to explain to me the power of the subconscious mind. This is the part of the brain that takes care of everything. The subconscious mind is where all of our behaviors are controlled.
Alan told me to sit quietly with a cup of tea and rehearse my material in my mind.
Visualise:
See the actual performance
See the audience in my imagination
See it all in living vivid colour
Visualise a technically perfect performance
Now, if there is a stumbling block in my thoughts, start again, with props in hand, thoughtful intelligent practice and then, start the mental procedure again.
Imagine my surprise when I read the stunning book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
I kid you not, Mr. Hill talks about this very topic – the power of the subconscious and super subconscious.
This part of our brain is ready and waiting for our specific commands and instructions. The brain will actively work on our behalf towards the fulfillment of our intentions.
The next person who addressed this topic was Anthony Robbins. I was listening to an audiotape of his and he spoke about his daily rituals and his very specific incantations.
Incantations are a very specific set of instructions spoken with real intent and emotional power as if you already own that which you desire. Our brain cannot tell the difference between a real event and one that we conjured in our minds.
This is truly powerful.
It’s like our mind is truly like Aladdin’s Lamp.
All we need to do is…
Ask.
So, mental preparation is a very powerful and important part of my practice regime. Just sitting quietly and thinking about my outcome is a beautiful and elegant meditation.
It has a positive impact on my feelings and mental state.
One thing I have discovered is to not be attached to how it turns out because things will happen during a performance that may throw us off balance. The important thing is to be committed to the vision and then… surrender all attachment to the outcome.
Commitment without Attachment.
To compliment this blog Post, here is video for your consideration.
Take moment and view it.
Thanks for your time in viewing this video, I hope you got value.
As always, leave a comment
Mike