Three Deep Breaths (A Kiwi Tip)

November 20, 2014 on 9:21 pm by Michael Grey | In News, Stories, Tips | Comments Off on Three Deep Breaths (A Kiwi Tip)

A piece of advice I remember time and again is that which came to me through the thoughtfulness of the great New Zealand piper, Gold Medallist, John Hanning. Early in my career, while I was recitalling through the north and south islands of NZ, he passed along his recipe for performance steadiness; that is, his final personal prep for ensuring he didn’t unduly contribute to the filling up of the laundry basket.

John’s advice was simple, as seems the way with all great things. It’s worked for me – almost always. And to this day, without a miss, I follow Doctor John’s prescription (and Doctor John is a lawyer – by the way):

“take three deep breaths as you enter any performance area”.

To some cynical types (those very few in the piping world) this may sound like a soothing superstition. But no! There’s science. Kiwi’s don’t have it in them to lead a person astray.

Places like medicine.net and even the famous Mayo Clinic are among those places which advocate for planned breathing technique to reduce stress – and in our case, performance craziness.

If we breathe – if we’re oxygenated – if we’re steady and without anxiety, the best things, like good tunes, are sure to happen.

Three deep breaths.

Try it.

Namaste.

M.