Being in the Present
Are you waiting for Spring? If you are feeling like you can't wait for warmer weather and more sunshine -- you are not alone! With all the cold weather, icy streets and sidewalks, snow shoveling, I think many of us are ready for it to be Spring!
This led me to thinking about projects and goals and how little time there is before deadlines are coming up! It has been a particularly busy week in the Suzuki office, and so I find myself so quickly at the end of the day. It feels that time is just racing right by, so that I end up saying to myself "where did the time go?" What completely opposite feelings! In some ways I want time to hurry up, and in others I want it to slow down!
For my students who are working towards the end of their Suzuki book, we are hoping to do a book graduation before the end of the semester. Again, there is this feeling of racing through time and worrying about running out of time. Likewise, for those who might be reviewing and preparing for the upcoming Massachusetts Suzuki Festival (next weekend), the Playathon, or a solo performance, the existence of deadlines actually brings one back to wishing that time would slow down. We feel there is not enough time to meet a deadline and that every minute counts!
I remember when I used to perform more (as an adult), I would be preparing for a recital and would feel each day's practicing needed to count because I only had a certain number of days before the recital. I learned to be an efficient practicer and a very good memorizer. When there is little time to do something, that can help us to focus more and analyze better the ways to accomplish something.
People who practice mindfulness also work at being "in the present moment." Dr. Suzuki said teaching should be in the "present moment." When we teach using the Suzuki pedagogy, we listen to the student's playing and make a decision in that moment what would help the student best.
Our children have a harder time understanding how to focus in a lesson or how to focus during practice. We adults sometimes say it is because they don't know how to focus. I don't believe that is true. They are very good at focusing on what they want to do. For example, a child learning to climb a tree or digging a hole in the sand is very focused on the task and can even end up being a leader by telling their peers how to do the task. The issue is not that children don't focus, it is that we want them to focus on the particular subject or task that we are engaging them in. As adult caregivers who must guide our students in practicing, we need to draw the student into the present moment and draw awareness of what is happening in their playing at that moment. That is, if we are hoping the student will improve a certain detail like playing better in tune or playing legato, we need to draw the attention to the specific moment. Being in tune might improve effectively if questions were asked like "what are the names of these two notes?", "what fingers play those notes?", "where are they placed?", "how do you know if they are in tune?", "how does your body feel when the two notes are in tune", "what adjustment did you make?", "did you play them in tune two times in a row?", "how many times can you play those two notes exactly the same way?", etc. If one is too general by saying, this phrase needs to be legato or this phrase needs to be in tune, it is much harder to be present and the student is more likely to let his mind wander to other things. Our job is encourage the student to be fully present and engaged with all their senses in what is happening right then and there.
In thinking about the Spring weather, I still want it to arrive. However, in bringing myself to the present moment, I can be grateful for certain things about the weather as it is today. Night time still arrives early, so my dog goes to sleep early when it is dark outside and I can skip the later evening walk. I can still wear my favorite comfortable sweaters in this temperature, and I don't need to think about bugs and mosquitoes right now. I still have a few more weeks before I will travel to a conference where I need to make a presentation which is still unwritten. Furthermore a lot of our stress comes from projecting the future, and denying what is happening in the present. If we accept what is in the present moment, there is more chance to make a step forward. Frustration, too, comes from wishing that the situation were different and not accepting how things are.
It's Friday morning, and I have just completed my Friday Upbeat message for today! I guess I can enjoy this moment and drink my second cup of coffee.
