Research Lab: Meditation and Mindfulness

„Meditation and mindfulness and its effect on the subjective perception of the musical performance“

Mindfulness means the awareness, that emerges through focused, non-judgemental attention to the present moment. It is a state of mind, where one can be in direct contact with himself and his environment without loosing himself in streams of thoughts, in fantasies fo the future and the past or in strong emotional distraction. You could describe this as „switching off the Auto-Pilot-Mode“, in which we are most of the time, reaching awareness of the present moment.

Several studies bring valuable insights about mindfulness and its very effective use in various fields. In the context of arts, especially in music there is a wide range to explore, and goal of this research lab is, to connect the concept of mindfulness with the own, subjective perception of musical performance.

Though focused guidance we try to establish a stable practice of mindfulness. Through daily exercises, meditation and integration into every days life we train our „mindfulness-muscle“ in our brain. We explore the long term change of the perception of nervousness and pressure, of body awareness, of presence and focus, of emotional depth and social interaction while making music. It is a very exciting but in the same time also relaxing subject!

Peter Gabis works as musician and teacher. Besides this he is working since 15 years in the field of building awareness and mindfulness as well as teaching relaxation methods.