meditation

The tingling and exciting energy felt during deep meditation presents great opportunities to the flutist.  Focusing on that feeling as you practice brings a sense of breath energy, and the meditation prior to rehearsal clears the mind of distractions, and encourages greater confidence.  Bringing a focused sense of awareness gained through meditation to a phrase of music helps you discover the problems you face and observe them. Generally, the act of observing fixes the problem.

Before each practice session, rehearsal, audition, or lesson, make a point of focusing on your breath for about a minute. Focus only on your breath, and allow any thoughts that pass into your mind to pass on by. Try to keep you mind free of thoughts for at least a minute.  If time allows, visualize passages that would normally present a problem. Picture finger movement, breath, tone color, embouchure, etc. Visualizing these passages from a quiet mind will help you master them much more quickly.