Looking to feel more relaxed when you perform?

After integrating concepts in my Body Mapping class, many students reported feeling ‘more relaxed.’ Originating in the 14th century, ‘relax’ meant “to make less compact or to loosen.” In 2026, relax can refer to a few different things. In music-making, when given the cue to relax, many attempt to release excess tension. How one relaxes is probably as unique as each of us is.

What do you do in your playing/singing if you want to relax? How would the music sound different? Would you look different? What does the idea of relaxed feel like in your body? Each of us would have a different answer to these questions because we are each unique.

As I pondered my students' comments, I wondered what I could point them toward that was concrete and reproducible rather than fleeting. How could they access this empowering feeling, even under pressure?

What I observed when my musicians commented that they felt more relaxed was that they appeared grounded, and their movements looked easy and natural. In other words, they look as comfortable as if they were talking to a friend.

Translate this into something you can make sense of: they become connected within themselves and with the ground. Meaning arm movement is supported by the trunk, the pelvis, and the legs. They are breathing well, enjoying coordinated breath management, or, for strings, pianists, and conductors, simply breathing or intentionally coordinating the breath with a particular movement.

For this to happen, one needs to use support from the ground (and the chair when seated) and have appropriate stability in the body. Stability is tension that supports mobility. For example, the lower torso, which includes the lumbar spine, is a place of stability, while the rib cage and thoracic region are areas of mobility.

Musicians experience misplaced tension in the shoulders, for example, when the lower torso region (lumbar) isn’t providing stability, the body seeks to create it somewhere else - shoulders, hands, jaw, neck. As you read this, increase the tension in each of these areas and notice how it affects not only how you sit or stand but also how you breathe and relate to the ground.

One of my favorite ways is to place a mini loop resistance band around the legs just above the knees. Using a light resistance may be all you need to start. Once you position the band above your knees, sit or stand as you normally would with your feet/legs at their usual distance. You will most likely feel your glutes and abdominal muscles activated. Maintaining this, go ahead and play or sing. You have activated the kind of stability that should make music-making movement easier.

Coming up, more ideas on stability and clarifying the core for musicians and humans from all walks of life!

I would love to know what you are interested in learning about! What wall do you keep hitting in your playing? Let me know and I will whip up some ways to overcome it.