Midweek Meditation: Five Minutes to Focus

Midweek Meditation: Five Minutes to Focus
by Steve Grives

In this entry, I’ll take you through a guided meditation that I’ve developed for use with choral ensembles. While my meditation practice is a spiritual practice, one designed to cultivate both wisdom and compassion, the basic tenets of mindfulness meditation can be used to build life skills that can directly benefit singers in choral ensembles. “Five Minutes to Focus” is a short, mindfulness-based exercise designed to develop enhanced focus and concentration in choirs, other performing ensembles, or individual musicians. The exercise may be adapted to fit your particular time constraints, but it is important to maintain the indicated proportion of each section. Like any learned skill, you’ll see the best results if the exercise is done at regular and predictable intervals (daily, beginning and end of week, weekly), as part of the normal routine of your ensemble. An audio version of this meditation can be found on my podcast.

Part I: Set an Intention – 1 minute (20% of allotted time)
Any good vocalise or warmup must have a purpose, so we begin this meditation by setting an intention. At the beginning of my daily meditation, I set an intention to be open to whatever may arise in my upcoming day. Cultivating openness is a good place to start, and eventually, we want to promote a sense of present moment awareness in our singers. After the singers are seated and begin to settle into their posture (singers’ posture is perfect for a seated meditation), ask the singers to set an intention to let go of the past, avoid worrying about the future, and just be, just exist, in the present moment, and open themselves to the experience of the rehearsal. If the energy level is low, you may want to use a version of the Qi Gong shake, where we momentarily raise the energy level, and literally shake away any anxiety and worry. The attached video is a good example of the Qi Gong shaking technique:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo0fiwQeP7k

Part II: Bring the focus inward – 1 minute (20%)
Next, using a technique from yoga nidra, we start with an outward focus and gradually direct it inward. First, invite the singers to become aware of any sounds in the room (20 seconds). Then, invite awareness of the sensations in their bodies by flexing and relaxing various body parts (20 seconds). Finally, encourage an awareness of the breath, and after a few full breaths, ask them to allow their breath to settle into its natural rhythm (20 seconds).

Part III: Guided meditation – 3 minutes (60%)
For the first minute of this section, encourage the students to continue to focus on their breath. You may encourage your students to note “in” and “out” with each breath, count their breaths, or suggest that they inhale and exhale for a specific amount of time (4 seconds in, 4 seconds out, for example). When they become distracted, (and they will become distracted) instruct them to mentally note an awareness of the distraction, gently let it go, and come back to the breath. THIS IS THE PRACTICE! We are not trying to “avoid distraction” but accept the notion that distraction is natural, and inevitable, but we are training the capacity to regain focus and concentration. Over time, they will become less distracted, and have an easier time regaining their focus. In its most basic form, guided meditation is a process in which a teacher implants ideas and suggestions to a student. For the next two minutes or so, while the students are quietly breathing, you may talk through the plan for the upcoming rehearsal and outline some expectations. For example: “We have a great rehearsal planned for today. We’ll work on the Lauridsen piece, and strive towards a beautiful, unified tone. We still have some notes and rhythms to learn on the Whitacre piece, and I would like you to strive for accuracy…” Talk slowly and pause between sentences. Occasionally, you may ask them to focus on the sound of your voice, and/or refocus on the breath. End this section by counting down from 10 (“Ready to go in 10…9…8) asking for one last deep inhale, an exhale on a sigh, and proceed to your vocal warmup.

I am certain that this short exercise, if done regularly, can become a ritual for your ensembles and, in time, can greatly improve focus and concentration. Use the audio version of this as a guide, but it is important that this exercise is in YOUR voice, adapt it as you see fit.

Link to audio here: https://anchor.fm/steve-grives/episodes/Midweek-Meditation-Five-Minutes-to-Focus-e1l3596

Steve Grives, D.M.A., is a choral conductor and certified meditation teacher currently living in Lincoln, Nebraska. He can be reached with questions or comments through his email, . For an expanded version of the topics covered in the blog, listen to “Midweek Meditation” on “The Steve Grives Podcast” each week. The podcast is available on your preferred podcast platform or at https://anchor.fm/steve-grives

“The Steve Grives Podcast”
Episode 5, Midweek Meditation: Five Minutes to Focus
https://anchor.fm/steve-grives/episodes/Midweek-Meditation-Five-Minutes-to-Focus-e1l3596

Episode 4, Midweek Meditation with Jaclyn Normandie
https://anchor.fm/steve-grives/episodes/Midweek-Meditation-with-Jaclyn-Normandie-e1kt4q6

Episode 3, Midweek Meditation: the Inner Critic
https://anchor.fm/steve-grives/episodes/Midweek-Meditation-the-Inner-Critic-e1ki79r

Episode 2, Midweek Meditation: Starting a Practice
https://anchor.fm/steve-grives/episodes/Midweek-Meditation-Starting-a-Practice-e1k94ar

Episode 1, Midweek Meditation: Letting Go of Perfectionism
https://anchor.fm/steve-grives/episodes/Midweek-Meditation-Letting-go-of-Perfectionism-e1jv7sv