Who can sleep in the hospital? Not I. When I was in the rehab unit in San Francisco, I would lie in bed late at night or early in the morning pretending I was playing Mozart's 5th violin concerto. I don't remember why I picked that, but I would close my eyes and imagine I was playing. I figured maybe I could rewire my brain by "practicing". Sometimes I imagined it so perfectly that when I opened my eyes I was actually surprised that my left hand wasn't moving at all. I remembered that today as I warmed up my fingers for Nutcracker rehearsal.
I've been having trouble getting focused on Nutcracker this year as high school kids are coming unglued, I'm wondering about where my life is going, thinking about the band, planning my upcoming Tango class, etc....so today I took hold of the reins and made myself practice differently. I would take a section, play it once, then think it through. I made sure I could imagine every finger and hear the note in my head. Then I would imagine what beautiful technique would feel like and sound like. Only then would I play it again--while I tried to copy the exact feeling I had just felt in my fingers and body without the violin.
It's amazing. Yes, I know, studies have shown that focused imagining works the same muscles and same brain pathways as actually doing an activity, but it's just amazing to watch it working in the space of a few minutes. Without the violin, just imagining the sound and feel, I would notice places where I was holding tension-- my shoulder tightening as I was about to play a particular note, for example. I would "practice" the section until I could stay totally relaxed. Then I would take the violin and play, and it would be fixed. Flawless.
It wouldn't last past a few times playing it through on the violin. Old habits would sneak back in. But this is the way to practice, for sure. I am laying new pathways.