get our of your head.
get into flow.
get results on stage.
it takes enormous dedication to be a classical musician.
Practicing for thousands of hours
Training for years in music school
Saying yes to everything
Running around for every opportunity
ANd in the end. . .
It feels like all our work—and our worth—gets boiled down to a brief snapshot in time on stage.
But too often, our mind gets in the way when the pressure is on, and we end up more focused on what’s going on in our head than what’s going on in the music.
We find ourselves:
Overthinking and micromanaging.
Worrying about what’s coming up—two measures or two movements from now.
Questioning whether we really did practice enough.
Wondering what everyone—our colleagues, the conductor, and the audience—is thinking about us.
Keeping a scorecard of everything that isn’t perfect.
Worrying we won’t play our best because we’re distracted by our nerves.
this isn’t good for us, or our playing.
We lose trust in ourselves.
We tense up and white-knuckle through passages we previously played with ease.
We feel unsatisfied—even when we play well.
We head toward burnout and not being able to enjoy doing what we love. Or quitting altogether.
And the most frustrating part? We’re doing it to ourselves.
(If I was writing a horror movie, this would be my, “The call is coming from inside the house!” moment.)
But I have good news–this isn’t a horror movie, and you don’t have to feel like your mind is the enemy.
you can do more than just “make it through” a performance.
You can feel inspired. You can feel connected with your fellow musicians and the audience. You can discover what you’re capable of.
You can have meaningful experience on stage.
It’s possible. And after all your hard work,
it’s what you deserve.
What would it be like to:
Walk on stage with assurance and ease, holding nothing back
Experience performing free from intrusive thoughts and fears
Trust yourself to let go, be in the moment, and just play
View mistakes as no big deal and move right on
Welcome your nerves and use them to fuel your performance
Feel confident and in control knowing you can perform with consistency
Be so absorbed in the present that nothing but the music matters
If you feel stuck in the cycle of overthinking, you're not alone.
Your mind isn’t broken. Or out to get you. It’s just doing what years of rigorous musical training have trained it to do.
Those thousands of hours in the practice room didn’t just prepare you to become a world-class performer. They also wired your brain to:
Constantly evaluate yourself against an unattainable standard of perfection.
Judge yourself relentlessly.
Seek external validation from teachers, colleagues, conductors, and audiences.
This doesn’t just take a toll on your mental and emotional health. It also caps the level of performance you can achieve, by keeping your focus out of the present moment and stuck on what’s going on inside your head.
music school teaches us to become excellent technicians.
But it doesn’t teach us the skills we need to master our thoughts and emotions so we can get ourselves out of the way, and let our technique and musicianship speak for themselves.
for that, we’re on on own.
like me, you’ve probably tried some of these (with so-so results)
Sports psychology Books. . .
Give us tools and techniques that are solid but hard to put into practice, because the overthinking mind STILL gets in the way in critical moments. Plus, the language of sports might not resonate with us as artists. (I don’t want to feel tough; I want to feel free.)
Practicing more. . .
Should make us more prepared, but stressed out, fear-driven, self-critical practicing just leads to stressed out, fear-driven, self-critical performing.
Beta blockers. . .
Block our nerves, but also our excitement. (Who wants to feel apathetic on stage?) Eventually, we can be afraid to perform without them. And even when they “take the edge off,” we can still find a way to psych ourselves out.
Meditation. . .
Has powerful effects, but can take months or years of consistent practice to create lasting change on its own.
Positive affirmations. . .
Just make our brain call, “BS!” Repeating something we don’t believe–no matter how good it sounds–accomplishes nothing, and at worst leads to toxic positivity.
deep breathing. . .
Helps focus the mind and regulate the nervous system, but if we’re using it to make our nerves go away, we’re going up against one of our most primal, involuntary biological processes: the fight or flight response. And fighting our biology is doomed to fail.
the problem is—
As useful as some of these might be, they don’t directly address what’s actually getting in the way:
Chronic overthinking driven by an unmanaged mind
that’s why I created
performance coaching for classical musicians
To help you get out of your own way, perform the way you know you’re capable of, and feel great while you do it.
If you want to play the way you know you’re capable of—
You don’t need more strategies and you don’t need to keep trying to figure it out on your own.
You need three things:
Mindset Coaching
Work with your thoughts and feelings in a targeted, results-focused way to rewire your patterns of overthinking and settle your emotions.
mindfulness practice
Hone your focus, regulate your nervous system, and practice staying in the moment.
peak performance training
Combine your mental skills with your musical skills, get into the zone, and put it all into practice.
Freedom on Stage provides THESE CRUCIAL PIECES, and your own personal coach to guide you.
with freedom on stage, you can:
Stop second-guessing and micromanaging, and trust yourself to just play.
Let go of fear and judgment, and focus on making music.
Perform free from intrusive thoughts, chatter, and self-criticism.
Feel the energy of your nerves and direct it into focus and excitement.
Trade the fear of disappointing yourself for the thrill of exceeding your own expectations.
ready to get started?
book a consultation call
get 1-on-1 coaching
find freedom on stage
I’m Lynn Hileman–bassoonist and former music professor, turned life, mindset and performance coach for classical musicians.
I’m also a recovering overthinker. In fact, I spent the first 20 years of my career firmly stuck in my head.
I’ll always remember the day I realized that every time I made a mistake, it was because I was thinking something. You’d think just knowing that would make it easy to stop, but if you’re reading this, you know it’s not that simple.
I tried all the things you probably have. And through trial and error (emphasis on the error!) I learned a lot about what works, what doesn’t, and why.
Life coaching gave me the tools I needed to manage my mind, get out of my head, and put everything I had learned into practice. In the process, I developed my own system for what classical musicians need to perform their best—with ease, focus and flow.
After experiencing my own transformation and seeing it happen for dozens of students and clients, this is what I believe:
We’ve worked too hard to settle for anything less. Musicians deserve a better experience.
“The same skills that helped me put order in my practice, helped me put order in my life.”
— Ana Paola Vergara, voice
“I am able to show extreme confidence when the time calls for it.”
— Genesis Berrios, saxophone
whole-life, mindset-first performance coaching
Freedom on Stage is the only program that combines mindset coaching, mindfulness, and peak performance flow training, all grounded in the practical needs of musicians.
Because training alone isn’t enough.
Mindset rules everything. It’s how we define what’s possible, and it determines how easy or hard achieving our goals will be.
Have you heard the phrase, “You can’t outrun a bad diet?” It’s the same with mindset. Even the best peak performance program will let us down if we don’t deal with the thoughts and beliefs that keep us in our own way in the first place.
This is because our thoughts and emotions influence what we do far more than we’re aware of. Old patterns of thinking and feeling keep us stuck in old ways of doing.
That’s why we start by rewiring your mindset to directly support your performance goals. When you start using your mind more deliberately, overthinking unravels, the mind quiets, and staying in the moment becomes natural.
flow: where peak performance meets flourishing
Freedom on Stage isn’t just about performing. It’s about performing in flow—an optimal state where we’re feeling our best and performing our best at the same time. Where we’re so absorbed in what we’re doing that the outside world fades away, time flies by, and all aspects of our performance—including motivation, learning, and creativity—increase dramatically.
Flow might sound like a fantasy, but it's been the subject of scientific study for over 150 years.
When we strive for flow, we’re not striving for peak performance, but optimal performance: where sustainability and mental health are integral parts of performing our best.
And since people who experience the highest levels of flow also report the highest levels of life satisfaction, the ultimate goal of Freedom on Stage is to help you create a life of high performance, satisfaction, and meaning.
the antidote to overthinking
In flow, the part of the brain responsible for overthinking, micromanaging, and self-critical chatter goes quiet.
It’s literally “getting out of your head.”
What you’re left with is ease, focus, and the ability to execute what you’ve practiced with what feels like effortless effort.
Flow is like having a “Do Not Disturb” mode for your brain. And the good news? All humans have access to it. (You are human, yes? Ok, good. Just checking.)
one-on-one coaching with three months of personalized support
12 hour-long private coaching sessions
Recordings and transcripts of coaching calls
Email support between sessions
Freedom on Stage online course, including videos, slides, transcripts, & workbooks (lifetime access)
Weekly mindfulness and centering activities
Personalized centering and flow protocols
the freedom on stage process
flow fundamentals
Get more flow right away by discovering what it is and how it works for YOU.
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Start doing the most important things that trigger flow, and stop doing the little things that block it.
Set yourself up to get into the zone on demand by creating a pre-flow ritual.
Stay focused and engaged by maintaining the perfect level of challenge, setting clear goals, and giving yourself immediate, positive, action-oriented feedback.
mental musicianship
Master your mindset and use your thoughts and emotions as powerful tools to create the results you want on stage—instead of letting them control you.
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Rewire what’s blocking flow at the mental level
Dismantle old thoughts and beliefs that keep you stuck in overthinking
Create new thoughts and beliefs that directly support your performance goals–without hokey affirmations
Know your best feelings for performing and practicing, and how to get yourself there regardless of what else is happening
Let go of intrusive thoughts and quiet the mind quickly when you need to
Feel more grounded and less emotionally reactive
Use your nervousness to fuel excitement and energy that drives your performance
FLOW FOCUS
Create sustainable, flow-focused practice and performance routines and integrate flow into your daily habits so you can thrive in the practice room, on stage, and in life.
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Learn music more quickly, with more enjoyment and motivation by mastering the art of practicing in flow
Move between the practice room and the stage with ease
Simplify your routines so you have the bandwidth to operate at your full mental, emotional, and creative capacity
Collaborate effectively and get into flow with the musicians around you
Recover quickly after a performance or practice session so you can replenish your energy and do it again (and again)
Build a sustainable, high-flow lifestyle where taking care of yourself and avoiding burnout are non-negotiable parts of performing your best
FAQs
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Flow is a well-researched and universally experienced phenomenon first described in the 1970s by Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (“Mee-high Chick-sent-mee-high,” in case you were wondering). Since then, it’s been studied by psychologists and neuroscientists, and is the basis of peak performance training for athletes, corporate executives, and the military.
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Freedom on Stage is designed to fit the schedule of busy musicians. How much time you spend outside of coaching sessions is up to you. The more you put the program into practice, the more it will give you time back by increasing your motivation and productivity so you get more done in less time, with more ease and enjoyment.
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Freedom on Stage is ideal for student musicians. You’re at the best point of your career to work with flow, maximize your learning, motivate yourself in a healthy way, and navigate school and professional life without burnout.
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Yes! Freedom on Stage is for anyone who wants to play their best and feel great at the same time. And getting more flow in what you do for fun will lead to more flow in everything you do.
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Think of coaching like a private lesson for your brain. I’ll listen, help you figure out what’s going on, and work with you to implement new concepts and ways of thinking.
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In the consultation, we’ll get to know each other and see if we’re a good fit to work together. You’ll tell me about what things are like for you now, what your ideal experience would be, and I’ll let you know how I can (or can’t) help. If we think we’re a fit, we’ll discuss the details and get you signed up. If it’s not right for you at this time, I’ll give you some things to work on to start moving in the right direction. There’s no pressure!
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The consultation is our first session together, where you get clear on what you really want your musical experience to be and how you can get there. Setting the vision for where you want to be at the end of the program (and beyond) gives you a big, motivating goal to work towards.
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Once we do a consultation and know it’s a fit, I’ll send you all the enrollment details.
“Implementing this work led to one of the best recital performances of my life. I remember feeling in-the-moment and not inhibited by the effect of nerves on my body.”
—Dustin White, flute
“I feel much more in tune with my mind and body while performing and practicing. I now recognize and subdue things that before would've taken control of me.”