Every musician knows that practice makes perfect, but what if the key to a better performance isn't just more time with your instrument but more time caring for your mental health? That was the inspiration behind a unique edition of The Royal's Mental Hygiene Challenge tailored specifically for musicians.
Every March, The Royal invites staff, patients, and community members to take part in the Mental Hygiene Challenge, a month-long initiative that encourages better mental health through simple, daily habits like mindfulness, movement, gratitude, and breathwork.
Inspired by the challenge's success, last fall, The Royal adapted it for a unique group known to face anxiety and stress in their line of work: musicians.
Research shows that musicians often experience high levels of anxiety in comparison to the general population, especially before performances. This project, a collaboration between The Royal, the Music and Health Research Institute, and the University of Ottawa's Department of Psychology, set out to explore whether consistent mental hygiene practices could ease performance anxiety and boost overall well-being.
The results, while preliminary, are promising.
Participants were encouraged to engage in at least one mental hygiene activity from the official Mental Hygiene Challenge toolkit for 10 minutes a day over a month. Participants were surveyed before and after the challenge.
Two key measures showed statistically significant improvement in this group.
The Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory, a validated tool that measures anxiety related to music performance, showed a decrease in scores, suggesting reduced anxiety after participating in the challenge.
The WHO-5 Well-Being Index, which assesses general subjective well-being, showed a marked increase after the challenge.
As the sample size was small, there are several limitations to these outcomes, and further research is required, but these early results contribute to the growing body of evidence that indicates dedicating 10 minutes a day to mental hygiene can positively affect mental health, even in high-stress, high-performance fields.
Mental hygiene, a form of purposeful engagement in mental well-being activities, is emerging as a simple, accessible way to help musicians—and others—manage anxiety and support psychological wellness.
For more information about mental hygiene and to access the challenge toolkit, go to theroyal.ca/mental_hygiene.