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10 Practice Ideas to Keep You Grounded

A girl holding a flute outside

2 years ago in March 2023, I launched the Mindful Practice Room, a community practice space I had been dreaming up for many months. Since then, we've had around 200 practice sessions (!!) with themes of perfectionism, deep focus, love for our music, and much more.


10 Practice Ideas for Ease and Grounding


In the spirit of reflection, here are 10 practice ideas and contemplative questions from the Mindful Practice Room over the years. I hope you take a few of these to spark thought in your own practice.


  1. Tune into your breath. Let your breath match the sound you want to produce.

  2. See the music as symbols on paper. Don’t let yourself get sucked into the notes. Listen to your sound. Feel your body.

  3. Today, keep asking yourself, “what do I need in THIS moment?”

  4. Sing through your music. This will help you internalize the pitches and rhythms. You can even try singing while fingering along.

  5. When you feel frustrated today, notice where in your body you feel the frustration. Breathe into that area.

  6. Try something that might not work. So what if it doesn’t work? What if it does?

  7. Use your eyes: keep your eyes moving forward as you play. Decide on certain anchor points for your eyes to latch onto to help yourself stay grounded.

  8. Let your feet be attached to the ground like a tree’s roots. Imagine your sound coming through the ground.

  9. Check your balance. Are you tensing forward, leaning to one side, or craning your neck?

  10. If your music were a playground and you were to play with it, without rules, what would you do?


If you despise practicing, or you find yourself avoiding it, consider adjusting your approach. Music practice can be playful, explorative, efficient, grounding, gratifying, or it can be boring, tedious, and stressful. It will probably be both, but you have more power than you think to make it into what you want and need it to be.


The end of an era


It is with gratitude that I announce the end of this chapter: March 2025 is the last month of the Mindful Practice Room. While it's time for me to say goodbye so that I can reallocate my energy to other projects, I can't help but look back in appreciation of everyone who joined and supported this space over the last 2 years.


This week, I've felt like I finished a good book. It's bittersweet to close the cover on the Mindful Practice Room. The culmination of this project and every person who participated with their thoughtfulness and care has left a poignant mark on my consciousness and my desire to continue creating meaningful spaces for artists. It might not be goodbye forever, but for now, it's time to pause.


In the meantime, I'm working on lesson plans for my students and creating more resources for flutists and flute teachers. Also, haphazardly reading a bunch of different books, slowly. Also, finding ways to imbue creativity into as much as I can muster. Also, trying not to forget to bring the trash and recycling bins out every week. Also, making lots of crockpot meals.



Although the Mindful Practice Room has closed, here are some other ways you can work with me:



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