Self Talk
Negative Self Talk and the nervous system
Think about yourself when you have a big concert, audition or exam coming up. Chances are, that inner voice has in the past become your worst enemy and make that sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight/freeze/fawn) go into overdrive.
Negative
“Urgh I’m really going to mess up that bit”
“Everyone is going to laugh at me”
“I’m not good enough to get in here”
Sound familiar? This is a prime example of our psycho-somatic (fancy word for brain-body connection) working together. Here’s some simple math:
Negative thoughts = engaged sympathetic nervous system = body nervous
Nervous body = engages sympathetic nervous system = negative thoughts
The more negatively we think in life, the more this nervous system is engaged. It’s human, we all think negatively from time to time.
BUT the power comes in noticing these thoughts.
Important! Remember all of these resources are referring to ‘state’ anxiety, which is a temporary event - such as an exam. But when this event is gone, the anxiety goes away. If you or student experience negative self-talk consistently even when there isn’t a specific event - please see our guidance here for the best support.
What type of inner voice do you experience?
As humans, we all have an ‘inner voice’ in some what or another. As you’re reading this, you may even hear it inside of your head! Researchers have found people experience their inner voice in many different ways:
Constant inner voice - always chitchatting in their mind in every moment of the waking day. A ‘quiet’ mind is not something that is ever experienced.
Sometimes hear an inner voice - pops up a few times a day to say hello. Otherwise, the mind is just ‘quiet’.
Selective inner voice - they choose when you to hear their thoughts. They can choose when to turn on and off the inner voice - but by standard the mind is ‘quiet’
No self talk - some people cannot hear a voice and instead think in pictures and concepts
What ever way you experience your inner voice, what you say can really impact the way we feel.
Motivational Self Talk
Live Subtitles
If you’re like me, I absolutely LOVE to have subtitles on when I’m watching something. It just helps to digest what’s being said even further. Imagine if we had the function of subtitles for our inner thoughts? Here’s some steps to let us stop and analyse:
1) Stop and notice - A big performance is coming up soon and you see/hear the following:
“I’m not good enough”
2) Lets analyse. What does this even mean? Good enough for what? What does good enough look like? How does someone know when they are good enough? Pretty abstract statement that doesn’t mean much in reality!
3) Now reframe. Why do you perform? How can you flip this to make it more factual? How can I flip it to make it more helpful towards my performance? This could be:
“I’m going to perform to the best I can for the day”
Subtle huh? It’s factual, it’s realistic and it’s motivating. It also helps us to refocus on the task at hand.
Instructional Self Talk
(DON’T THINK ABOUT PINK ELEPHANTS)
You’re thinking about pink elephants aren’t you?
That’s because I’ve just hacked your brain by saying the words “think about pink elephants” and created that picture for you. The word don’t didn’t make a difference.
So when people say “don’t think negatively” - it actually can cause '“
Our brains work the same way in music.
1) THAT bit Think about a piece you’re learning - chances are there is a section that you find more challenging than another right? Lets call it “THAT bit”.
2) Practicing thoughts You’re practicing and all is going great, then you notice THAT bit is coming up - what are you thinking?
Maybe:
“urgh I’m going to mess it up now”
“oh gosh am I going to get it this time?”
“oh no it’s coming”
“I HAVE to get this right now”
All sorts. We’re imagining it going wrong. But what are we not thinking about? The music we’re trying to share!
3) Hacking your own brain Great news. You’ve spotted where your thoughts may be getting in the way! Now we can use that whole pink elephant concept.
What do you want to achieve musically? Do you have a story you’re trying to convey? Does it remind you of a colour, an emotion, a scene in a movie? Get creative. Then write or draw it in. I’m going to say my bit reminds me of an actual pink elephant trying to roller skate.
4) The result - You’re playing, THAT bit is coming up - but you’ve prepared! You’ve actually drawn/wrote an elephant on skates, just before those pesky negative thoughts arrive. Now, you’re just thinking about a pink elephant on skates instead - the image you want the audience to receive. Pretty cool huh.
The more we practice with our music prepared in this way, the more confident we are going to feel. Then when we get to the concert - you’ve ensured yourself that all you will be thinking about is “pink elephants on a skates”.
