81 Pre-Performance Routine for Peak Performance

Hello, and welcome to the Top Down Brain RxChopra Podcast, where you can boost your resilience just by listening. Resilience is about bouncing back from setbacks by adapting and learning through life's challenges. Each episode strives to leave you with an action or a meditation that you can apply immediately to your life. I'm Dr. Juna Bobby MD. I'm a board-certified physician and a mom of two amazing kids. My purpose is to make the neuroscience of wellness accessible to everyday life and peak performance. Because when I became a mom, I wanted to do everything possible to empower my kids with healthy mental and physical habits so they can thrive. I'm definitely not aiming for perfection, but I can honestly say that the mind-body skills I learned transformed my family's life. After years of training, I fully transitioned into teaching mind-body medicine, leaving one of the most prestigious private practices in New York City so I can dedicate my time to creating and teaching the science of resilience. My almost decade-long experience teaching high-performing students of all ages at many schools, universities, including for the last 5 years at the Juilliard Pre-College School in Manhattan, have led me to the creation of my newest courses, Plan to Soar and Soar Under Pressure. These are hybrid coaching and self-paced digital courses to make my tried and true courses widely accessible to schools, partnering organizations, and online for individuals on toptownbrain.com. A portion of all proceeds go to those students in need. Hey, everyone. Today's my monthly chat with Pablo Esquivel-Noel. He used to be a former student of mine when he was a teenager at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division in New York City. He is now majoring in composition at the Mannes School of Music in Manhattan. He's passionate about self-care as a musician and artist. And today we're going to talk about his routine that gets him centered before performances. Okay. Hi, Pablo. How are you?

I'm good. Thank you for having me over again.

Oh, this is fun. And you just got back from a yoga retreat, so you're all zen and relaxed.

Yes. I feel amazing.

Okay. So we're going to talk today about how Pablo centers himself before he goes on to stage for performance. You came up with a routine for yourself. You said it really works for you now. And I think almost every artist or performer or competitor has some type of routine that they go through physically and mentally before they go on stage or on the competition field.

Yes.

Or the sporting, if they're sports people, then before the game.

For sure.

And even for public speakers, when I do a lecture or something, then I will go through some self-talk and some routines before I go on stage. So we're going to find out what Pablo does today. Yes.

So, um, so tell us how long you've been doing this. Well, this new routine that I have, I've been practicing. It's been like a couple of months. I would say like 6 to 7 months since I've been doing it before every performance. But I do have to say from a personal experience that it takes quite a while to find the right spot. To find the right—

to try different things.

For sure. For sure.

Okay.

Because I've had many professors tell me, okay, before you go on stage, do this or do that or think about this. And I've tried it all. But I feel like, you know, each artist, each person is unique. So they really have to find what's best for them.

And also it might change over time too.

100%.

You know, something that might work for you right now might not work for you like a year from now, and you have to kind of tweak it a little bit.

Yes. And also some of the tools you have to practice not only before you go on stage, but you have to practice them when you're alone.

Mm-hmm. Before, way before.

Way before.

You should do it every practice. Do you do it before every practice?

Yes. Or I try to do it even when I don't practice, actually. So when I get to that point, I can just start the routine and feel like I have it super comfortably in my mind.

All right. So, but you have this routine you've worked out over the last 8 months or so?

Yes.

Okay. So tell us what that is and then we'll see, we'll, we wanna find out exactly how you got to that. So tell us what it is first.

Okay. So, um, what I came to realize is that before you face an action, before you go into an event, you have two options. Either I, you concentrate on the worst possible scenario. In this case, it's like, oh my God, everything's gonna go bad. I'm going to miss so many notes. Somebody's going to notice. Or B, you say, you know what, I practiced how I should have. I gave my best effort and I will enjoy myself on stage. And I, and I feel pretty confident that everything's going to go well. Right?

So we're already presuming that you've practiced in a good way.

Yes.

So that's number one. So don't like fool yourself, right?

Yes, exactly. You always have to give your best at practice. But A couple of days before the concert, I always try to think about the best possible scenario, right? If I get nervous and I start thinking about how I could fail or how it could all go wrong, I take a few seconds and I'm like, this is only in my mind. The event is not even here yet. And I am sure this is not even going to happen if I keep on practicing and if I keep on being positive, right? Then what I usually do the night after— the night before, sorry, I envision the whole event in my mind. So the night before, I see myself waking up, going for breakfast, getting dressed, etc., going to the stage, feeling my emotions. I envision myself and I analyze how I feel at that moment. And I usually play out the best scenario possible in my head. Then when I do, when I do the whole envisioning, I go to sleep. The next day is a concert, and a couple of hours before, at least now I have a sensation of how it can go, right? I'm not on unknown territory anymore because I envisioned a possibility. So I stick to that possibility. Right. And because that possibility was full of positive emotions, a lot of calm, relaxation, I have a lead. I have somewhere that I can lead myself towards. So I— it's, it's all about a mental game, really. You cannot let your mind get ahead of you.

And now, do you use like a photograph of the theater or the, the place, the venue that you're going to play in? Because oftentimes I tell my students to go ahead and if you're going to an unfamiliar place, to get a picture. I mean, there's Google now. You can look it up. You could even sometimes get the 3D version. You can go on YouTube and some of the concert halls, they've filmed it. So you can get a really good look at it before and have that really close mental image.

Yes.

So do you do that?

Oh, yes, for sure. When you—

okay, good.

When you envision with pictures, it makes everything more real, which in consequence you do, you can trick your brain into feeling the emotions you would feel at that moment. So you have like a rehearsal on how you can control those emotions. I don't know if that, if that made sense. Yeah.

Yeah. So when you go, so how long does this whole visualization take? Well, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. What do you do from the beginning? Like in the, you see yourself getting dressed. Do you see yourself getting out of your car, going into the venue, or do you just picture yourself in the green room, uh, waiting and then going on stage and them calling your name?

No, I, I think it's important to notice the little details to make the story more vivid. Um, and yes, I, I see myself getting dressed, I see myself doing all these little things, and of course, uh, I put most energy when I'm in the green room and when I'm entering the stage. How long does it take? That depends on how I am feeling that day, how prepared I feel, uh, how big the event is going to be, really. So it really depends on a lot of elements, but I make sure that I can finish the visualization. If there's— if I'm visualizing and I get interrupted in the middle because, I don't know, my mind got, uh, lost and it started to think about something else, what I try and do is I start over again so I get the whole picture from A to Z.

So now, what if some negative, uh, thoughts start sneaking in? Do you start from the beginning again, or do you just go you know, from accepting those negative thoughts and seeing yourself kind of bounce back from it.

Yes. If the negative thoughts are part of the story, of course I have to, uh, see how I manage those, those negative thoughts because perfectly well that can happen in real life, right?

Mm-hmm.

If the negative thoughts are unrelated topic, something else, I'm like, okay, my mind drifted off somewhere else, right? I need to come back. So if they are part of the story, I do have to address them.

And now if you imagine something, do you ever imagine something going wrong? Because, you know, like, uh, Michael Phelps is a famous example of he would imagine every single scenario, every little thing that could go wrong, including when his goggles fogged up and he was, um, I think it was the Beijing Olympics, and he said that he had already imagined it. So It didn't faze him one bit. He just kept swimming, right? Because he had imagined it before.

Yeah. Uh, I mean, there's, there's always, you know, we're humans. We, uh, it's very good.

So do you on purpose, like, bring in some negative imagery and then try to work around it ever?

Um, I don't do it on purpose, but it definitely happens unconsciously. So if I'm imagining the scenario and out of nowhere my mind puts an image that I make a mistake, You know, I tell myself, okay, how would I handle this situation the best possible way? So I see myself calmly getting back into my zone, not jiggling, because as an artist, if you make a mistake and then you jiggle, like, people can tell, right? And people can tell.

What do you mean jiggle?

Like, what does that mean? Like when you're like physically? Yeah. Yeah. Like physically. So like a couple of years ago when I used to make mistakes, my whole body would jiggle and like freeze. And of course people would notice.

Uh, so you would actually make like a physical gesture?

Yes.

Like, whoa, I made a mistake.

Yes, yes. And you know, I, I tell my students that when they play a concert, 90% of the people are not going to know if you make a little mistake. Of course, that's different if you perform at Juilliard because everyone knows if you make a little mistake, right?

Well, not everybody.

Well, almost everybody. And that's why it's It's so much scarier to perform in musical schools, but that's another topic.

But that's when your improvisation comes in handy.

Yes, yes, true, true.

And it's okay. So what about when you go— okay, so let's— you— are you the kind of person who gets nervous right before you walk on stage, or during the middle, or like all of it? Oh, it's up for grabs.

I used to be one that would get nervous days before.

Days before.

Days before.

Okay, but when was it like hitting, if you were going to say the highest is 100, when was it hitting that? Like right before you step on stage?

Yeah, I think it was like 20 minutes before going to stage. And it was the worst because I felt my hands were getting so cold because the blood was not flowing to my hands.

Yeah, you're in the stress response.

Right. And then I'm like, oh my God, you know, why piano? I have to use my hands and they're so cold. So it was— around 20, 10 minutes before going on stage.

And then when would you start to feel like you were warmed up? Like after the first passage or like a couple of minutes of playing or the first note?

I would say after the first passage. Of course, if the passage was clean. If I played and it was a disaster, I think if I was 80% with my nervous system fire, like firing up. If the passage was not clean, I say my body would reach like 100% and the whole experience would be so hard to control.

But you would— you'd never walked off stage.

No way, right?

I mean, like, and that's what I'm saying, like, you survived every single one of those. Yes. And I'm pretty sure you didn't stop playing.

No, definitely not. There's something that I will mention that has helped me in my last 3 performances like nothing else. So I do all the envisioning, and when I'm alone 20 minutes before, I try to meditate a lot. But there's something else that really helped me. I do that Wim Hof method, which is a breathing exercise.

The very hard breathing, right? Yes. So Mr. Wim Hof. Yes.

So, um, usually we have a lot of our our blood concentrated on our stomach and in our chest because that's where the most important organs are. So this breathing exercise, what it does, it tries to balance out where the blood goes to your body, right? So when I feel like the blood is not reaching my hands or my feet and they're getting cold, I start to do this really intense breathing exercise. And I kid you not, Yeah, I kid you not. I feel the blood coming back into my external parts.

I believe it. Okay, I'm gonna ask you, lead me through it right now. Can you lead me through Wim Hof for like a few minutes?

Sure, sure.

Okay, okay, ready? Okay, I'm sitting.

So, wow, I'm excited. This is my first time reading, uh, Wim Hof.

Oh no. Okay, should I trust you to lead me through this? I'm going to be fainting on the floor.

No, no, no.

And you're not here because we're on— you're in Costa Rica.

So we're going to—

I'm ready.

We're going to inhale and exhale through our mouth, only through our mouth. Okay. And all the air is going to come from the stomach. So when we inhale, our stomach is going to inflate like a balloon. And when we exhale, we're going to exhale all the air out.

So push your navel to your spine. Okay, so this can get you pretty lightheaded, so be very careful when you do this. You should be lying down or sitting, and don't ever force anything. If you feel lightheaded, just stop or stop breathing so forcefully, just like you'll see I do in the middle of it. So these are the instructions from wimhoffmethod.com. That's W-I-M h-o-f method dot com under breathing exercises. So step 1 is get comfortable, assuming a meditation posture, sitting or lying down, whichever is comfortable for you. Then step number 2 is 30 to 40 deep breaths, closing your eyes and clearing your mind, being conscious of your breath, trying to fully connect with it, then inhaling through the nose or mouth, and exhale unforced through the mouth. So the full inhale initially is through your belly and your chest, and then you let it go, exhaling unforced. Then that's 30 times in short, powerful bursts. So again, if you feel lightheadedness or tingling, if you feel like you're gonna pass out, just slow down or stop or Don't breathe as forcefully. Then the hold. After the last exhalation, inhale one final time as deeply as you can, then let the air out and stop breathing, and then hold it until you feel the urge to breathe again. Then he says step number 4 is the recovery breath. When you feel the urge to breathe again, draw one big breath in to fill in your lungs. Feel your belly and chest expanding, and then when you're full capacity, hold the breath for around 15 seconds and then let it go. Okay, ready?

Okay, ready? Let's go.

Go.

1, 2.

So we went on like this until we were at 30, and then I was feeling a little lightheaded, so I kind of stopped and I started to breathe in a normal way. But if you want to continue, follow the instructions on wimhofmethod.com.

In the Wim Hof Method, it advises you to do 3 rounds of what we just did.

Well, I was already dizzy by like, I think breath 21. I started to really feel dizzy, and then like 28, 29, I had to not breathe so deeply into my abdomen. So I think whoever's listening, do not do it like fully if you start to feel totally dizzy.

Yes. You know, and of course you gotta watch out what you're doing. Of course, never do it driving, never do it, uh, showering. You should always do it either sitting down or laying on a bed. Was this your first time doing the Wim Hof? Yeah. Yes.

I mean, I've done other breathing exercises where we do, um, like yogic breathing. So, um, I've done similar ones, but I don't practice that like every day. So definitely not something that I was doing every single day. And, but I definitely had like feelings of like tingling in my fingers and toes. And, uh, and it definitely takes your mind off of whatever you were thinking because you can— absolutely, for sure. As a distraction measure, it works for your brain.

Yes. I sometimes do this before meditating when my mind is very busy and going all over the place.

Yeah.

I do it, but this is what I do before performances, and I'm telling you, it has been a life savior. I go on stage with such a clear mind, and no longer am I a slave of my nervous system, but I feel like my nervous system is freed up throughout my whole body, which allows the blood to circulate more freely and the oxygen to be more free around, you know, my brain, my hands, my feet.

And now let me ask you, how many times did you do that before? How many weeks or months were you practicing that before you actually used it offstage? Because I don't want people to like start using it.

Of course. I practice, so I practice the Wim Hof Method every day, very consistently. I do it in the mornings, but before using it, before performing, I did it for a solid 6 to 8 months before.

Okay, awesome. Yeah, 6 to 8 months before you even tried it at the venue.

Yes.

Or anywhere live.

Yes.

Okay, great. And how many minutes before you go on stage do you do it?

I try to do it like as late as possible. So like if there's 5 minutes, I'm like, okay, time to do it.

Because, okay, so 5, within 5 minutes.

Yes. But that's me. Some people might feel like they get lightheaded and that's not good before going on, on stage, you know?

Well, this is why you practice for 6 to 8 months before you actually try it anywhere.

Right.

Okay, yes, awesome. Thank you, that was so much fun. This is great. We're gonna do more breathing exercises next time too. All right, so Pablo shared with us his routine, which is basically to mentally visualize the night before, uh, visualizing everything, kinesthetic they call it, um, to really, you know, feel those emotions coming up and then seeing yourself succeed. And if there's negative imagery, then you go back and, and recover from it in your mind. And don't leave that mental imagery until you finish, correct, imagining it in a positive way, correct? If you see things going wrong, that's fine too. Yes. And then of course the Wim Hof breathing meditation before. Oh, how long do you meditate?

Yes, that I, I try to do like 20 minutes before at least.

Okay. And do you do it backstage or in the car on the way there?

Well, if, if I am driving to the concert and there's not a lot of time, then I do it I do it in the car, of course not when I'm driving, although you can do mindful driving, which is another exercise. But I usually do it before backstage, 20 minutes, 30 minutes before.

And do you just like close your eyes and do breathing focus? Or what do you do, mantra?

I become mindful of my body. So I analyze my whole body from toes to head.

And so like a body scan?

A body scan, correct. And then I use my breathings and I count my breathings to be the most present I can. And sometimes it's hard. Sometimes I get to 5 and my mind is wandering off to something else and I'm like, how did I get here? So I have to start back at 1. And I reach—

how high do you go?

Like 800, 900? No, no, I'm joking. I'm joking. I reach like, I count like 10 and when I reach 10, I'm like, okay, now I'm gonna let go. But I'm gonna let go, surrendering to the present moment. That's another thing that I wanted to mention. If I could put all of my routine in one phrase, it would be surrendering to the present moment. That helps me a lot.

Well, next month when you come back, we're gonna talk about how to get into the present moment.

Okay.

You know, um, in your brain, and I'm gonna talk about the brain, and you're gonna talk about how you as an artist get into the present moment.

I love it.

How's that? I love it. This is so much fun, Pablo.

It is. No, thank you for having me over and to have a platform so artists can share this and other artists can hopefully learn from this as well.

Absolutely. And, uh, look out for Pablo's recording. It's going to be coming up. Yes, you'll see his recording and you can do the listening meditation. I'll give you a little instruction before, uh, his recording comes on.

Awesome.

So what are you sending us? This time?

I'm going to be playing Bach's Piano Concerto in D minor, the second movement.

I love it. I love Bach.

Yes, amazing.

Okay, thank you, Pablo.

Thank you, Dr. Bobby. Nice seeing you.

It was so good to see you. You too.

Bye.

That was my monthly chat with Pablo Escobar Noel, composer and founder of Fusion Music and Wellbeing, live experiences where he merges meditation, and music. You can find him on Instagram under @pablo.escrivel. Email me at podcast@mindbodyspace.com. When you opt in, you'll get extras from episodes in our newsletter, and you'll also get information on our neuroscience-powered planner and online courses, Plan to Soar and Soar Under Pressure, for kids, parents, and educators. Please share this podcast with anyone who believes in the scientific method and are curious about natural ways to boost performance, health, mental and physical resilience for themselves or their kids. Thank you so much. And until next time, this is Dr. Juna wishing you and your family wellness.