Mindfulness in Playing and Listening

A workshop for anyone wanting to understand how mindfulness exercises work in practice. Do your thoughts wander when playing or listening to music? This short workshop offers insight into managing unwanted thoughts using concrete techniques from the 8-week MBSR training - useful for musicians and anyone experiencing stress.

Peter Prommel has spent years exploring the mental aspects musicians face: he teaches and writes about them. During this evening, he revisits the core principles of his combined Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) courses, which he developed under the title 'Mindful Practice' for the Amsterdam Conservatoire.

He also introduces two influential theories about how the brain and nervous system respond to stress: Paul Gilbert's evolutionary model of three interacting emotion regulation systems and Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory. He then presents his own practical model, Awareness of the Three-Part Body, directly applicable on stage.

The workshop concludes with a series of simple, memorable exercises that can be used in daily life and just before or during stressful performances. The workshop is in English; questions and discussion can also be in Dutch.