All musicians have sometimes questioned their abilities, experienced frustration, disappointment, anxiety, had negative or destructive thoughts and had failures and negative experiences on stage, during practice and/or performance preparation. The ability to manage these problems is due to a large degree on one’s mindset. Any situation can lead either to growth or to degradation depending on how one thinks. Someone with a growth mindset will learn from mistakes and embrace challenge, whereas someone with a closed mindset will try to avoid mistakes and worry too much about negative judgement. This research investigated the effect of specific characteristics of mindfulness meditation on mindset behaviour.
The researcher designed and participated in a self-study where she tested herself during a seven-week intervention. She practiced several mindfulness meditations each day and noted her levels of energy, enjoyment, stress, concentration, motivation, emotional-state and self-esteem before and after each meditation. The scores were compiled and compared. Recordings of practice sessions and concerts before and after the intervention were made and a general approach to her practicing and performing before and after the intervention was compared.