Free My Creativity
Transform your relationship with performance and creativity
Does fear of criticism, comparison with others, or anxiety limit your performance and creativity?
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Do you want to express more of your own potential in an unfettered way?
I can help you to connect your mind and body with a sense of ease and presence in the moment.
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By unravelling unhelpful patterns of thinking, I can help you to find your authentic voice, style and career.
WORKING WITH THE INNER CRITIC
One day workshop for musicians
Sunday 18th February 10am-6pm
Melbourne, VIC
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Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I'll meet you there.
Moulana Rumi, transl. Coleman Barks
I will support to you to reconnect with your magic, sense of play, and the calm that comes from being truly yourself.
My Story
I'm a performance coach, musician, composer, and a teacher and PhD candidate at the ANU School of Music.
I've had an international career as a solo violinist, orchestra leader and director, chamber musician, and intercultural musician, A strong interest in psychology and experiential inner work has lead me to transform my relationship with music and performance, and this lead me to share what I have learned with others. For the past 17 years I have worked with musicians of many genres, radio presenters, yoga instructors, and many other creative people to help them find their authentic voice and style, and to have the confidence to bring it into the world. One of the primary avenues I use is releasing the voice of their inner critic, thereby setting them free from performance anxiety, self-doubt and self-sabotage.
Whether it is disentangling from family patterns, excessive perfectionism or the feeling that "I will never be quite ready", achieving freedom from the critic is incredibly liberating. While my therapeutic style is compassionate, gentle and kind, I'm ready to go in with you and find out what is really preventing you from expressing your authenticity in music or whatever you love to do. I assist you in uncovering and fulfilling your deepest vision for a successful creative life. My clients also find that their relationships with others are greatly improved, as their levels of confidence and connection to self and others increase.
What I offer
My work with you is based on my discovery that we all have an innate sense of unity - a harmony of body and mind - that connects us to our authentic selves, and that can be reflected in our performances, creative work and relationships.
However, many of us experience various kinds of disconnection, because of emotional blocks that come from childhood. This can produce a variety of effects such as performance anxiety, lack of focus, health issues and confusion about career direction. These blocks also separate us from our highest abilities, which thrive on emotional authenticity expressed in a healthy body-mind connection.
In sessions, by working experientially and through your feelings - physically and emotionally, I help you to know yourself better. Creating more self-trust and freedom to be authentic also involves making strong and firm boundaries against the inner critic. This inner critic is based on the past, and based on survival issues that are no longer relevant to the adult you. A lot of the critic's activity is unconscious, and explains the inner sabotage that often takes place. Understanding your inner critic, and changing your patterns of reactivity to the maintaining of healthy boundaries, is a powerful way to transform your relationship with performing. A sense of play, curiosity and self-confidence brings back the magic.
Individual sessions
Sessions are in Canberra
(Or on Zoom)
Sessions: 1 1/2 hours
Cost - $150
Sessions: 1 hour
Cost - $100
I offer sliding scale fees if needed.
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Workshops
Group workshops in various locations
(Or on Zoom)
I offer group classes on:
Inner Voice Work
Group workshops can be
arranged on request
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Testimonials
Helen Carmichael, retired script writer and coach
In my session with you, I found you to be incredibly present and focused on me during our session, providing a safe space in which to explore, transform and liberate. You were kind, nurturing, honest and also practical. Although your talent and experience are phenomenal, I felt met as an equal musical traveller. The session was liberating. You made me feel valued for who, what and where I am....and safe. It was authentic validation.
Lucy Wise, singer-songwriter
I was recommended Anna's inner critic lessons by a friend at exactly the right time. Having battled from anxiety for the past few years, I was feeling stuck in my singing, with a loud inner critic saying I was never going to achieve the sounds I wanted. From my first lesson with Anna, I was able to move beyond this constant self-criticism into a joyful sense of presence and aliveness that I hadn’t experienced in years. Anna’s inner critic work is profound - it has helped me to feel grounded and connected with my emotions when I’m practicing and performing, which puts me in a beautiful state of flow, creating much more freedom in my singing. This work helps me get to know myself better, which allows me to feel comfortable just being myself when I perform. I highly recommend Anna’s lessons to anyone who has been in a similar boat as me, or who simply wants more joy and ease in their performance.
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Susie Bishop, singer
The work Anna has done with me has been pretty life changing and has nurtured back my love and enjoyment of performance, and taken away most of the really unhealthy anxiety levels, which is pretty huge. I highly recommend her if you have trouble dealing with your own high expectations, or if you feel uncomfortable when working under pressure and are prone to unhealthy levels of stress and anxiety.
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Rachel Scott, cellist and educator
Since doing the inner critic work I can take myself out of my comfort zone on stage and know that it will be a success.
Ben, musician
In a period of just a few months there has been a very significant shift in my whole relationship with the violin as well as a great increase in my confidence in playing the instrument. My whole approach to playing began to shift as I relaxed and enjoyed the music more than feeling like I had to police myself all the time when I played.
The sessions had led to my seeing the instrument in a much more universal way, and this shifted the way I played and related to the instrument. This was music of the spirit to uplift the soul. I was now playing the violin because I enjoyed playing music and I wanted to share my joy with others.
Lathika Vithanage, baroque violinist
When I first met Anna, I was working in a safe, but unsatisfying job situation, with a dream of being appreciated for the musician that was always inside me. I found the confidence and courage to follow my path, and the further I followed, the more things opened up for me. I ended up travelling across the world, to the country I had always loved since the age of 5, Italy, and started what has developed into a soulful, satisfying career as a baroque violinist, both in Europe and Australia. I haven't looked back once, and whilst I still face challenges with my superego, even being able to recognise it at times is enough, and also having this proof, that when you get out of your own way, and stop thinking of how to please others, and are true to yourself....that is when the magic happens. This journey began at the time I started my work with Anna, and I will forever be grateful for this gift she gave me.
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Sarah Mann
Tears of joy!
Contact me to free your performance and creativity, and bring on your fulfilling career!
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