The Mirror and the Tide: Finding Stillness During Music Practice
How to condition the mind to not react to external distractions while playing music.
Updated March 11, 2026 | Reviewed by Devon Frye
Practicing a musical instrument can reveal a restless, unfocused, and agitated mind. If we consider the mind to be like an expansive lake, or even the sea, we can understand that some days the mind’s activity, like the water in the lake, is calm and placid. This serenity reveals conditions above and below the water, like wind on the surface or activity deep beneath.
In our experiences, we can have circumstances that disturb the mind, such as a difficult situation or an unpleasant interaction, that are analogous to the wind on the lake. We can also have memories and fantasies that cause worry, anger , or rumination within our minds. This is similar to activities that disturb the lake’s surface from below.
Imagining the mind to behave similarly to a body of water, we can become aware of the sources of disturbance on or beneath the surface of the water. Factors such as the wind, temperature, birds, swimmers, or rainfall will all affect the condition of the water surface, causing different degrees of choppiness, from torrential waves to mirror-like glass stillness.
These elements are like the situations, circumstances, and interactions with others that we face daily. To some extent, we can choose to avoid or face these factors, but often we must patiently wait and endure the event until it passes.
Knowing when and how to act, and when to endure and let pass, is a skill that takes some degree of intuition and the wisdom that comes from experience. We are not always able to choose what comes our way in life, but we can choose how we react, or not react. The first realization is that we have the agency to choose our reaction.
In the practice of music, we might encounter external circumstances that disrupt or interrupt our sustained, focused attention on the music we are producing. When our mind is completely enmeshed in the music, all is well. But when a disturbance occurs, like a loud instrument in the practice room next to us or a fire alarm, our mind is torn from the singular focus on the music.
In performance situations, we might find that talking, coughing, or page turning can be disturbances that affect our ability to maintain concentration on the music. Many factors can interrupt our sustained flow with the music.
One can overcome the challenges posed by external factors through habit and preparation. Simply practicing in environments that are not ideal and conditioning the mind to choose not to engage with the disturbance can be very helpful.
Training the mind to remain in the flow of the music through deliberate ignoring is accomplished through daily practice in less-than-ideal environments. For example, practicing in a public area, such as a park or a train station, provides an opportunity to become aware of one’s ability to choose whether to engage with or ignore the disturbances around us.
Through daily work, one can accomplish the task of staying focused on the music. The more we practice this choice of non-reaction, the easier it becomes to choose not to react.
In the next piece, we will turn to calming the internal chatter of the mind during music practice.
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Matthew Tyler Giobbi, Ph.D. , studies and teaches music and Buddhist psychology.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.