Jim Brickman - Soothe: How To Find Calm Amid Everyday Chaos

This book is intended as a reference volume only, not as a medical manual. The information given here is designed to help you make informed decisions about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for any treatment that may have been prescribed by your doctor. If you suspect that you have a medical problem, we urge you to seek competent medical help.

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2015 by Jim Brickman

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ISBN-13: 9781623365004 hardcover

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To my mom,

sally brickman,

for always being there,

for always believing and helping me

dream big

contents

)

introduction

M r. Brickman, we have a problem, said the medical technician.

Those are not the words anyone wanted to hear heading into an MRI exam for a knee that was causing pain. At age 50, I had searing pain, a date with a claustrophobia-inducing machine, and a nervous-looking health care pro in my midst.

Wait just a second. Why was she feeling anxious? It was my knee.

Naturally, my internal stress indicator was registering high alert. What problem? Was there a big issue? Was my fall worse than I thought? Was my knee beyond repair? Would I walk with a limp? Would I walk out of here? I might appear calm and collected on stage, but the truth is, I freak out. My first reaction is to assume the worst.

I guess maybe Im a stress junkie because I live on it. Feed off it. And Ive behaved like this for most of my adult life.

In this case, all of my worrying was needless.

As you know, Mr. Brickman, were about to take you in for your MRI, and some people get sort of wigged-out, said the friendly technician. You know, claustrophobia. Do you suffer from it? I didnt tell her I live on a tour bus for a big chunk of the year. Im used to tin cans.

Anyway, the technician continued. Ive found that one thing really helps my patients relax. In fact, it works every time. Its the music we play for almost everyone who has an MRI here, and it works wonders, but Im not sure you want me to play it for you.

Why wouldnt I want music that relaxes me? I inquired. I love all kinds of music, and I was pretty sure they werent going to be playing heavy metal.

This is really funny. In fact, youll get a good laugh from thisI hope. The thing is, its your music, she said. In fact, we absolutely love your music around here. People find it quite soothing.

Maybe for others. The truth is, I dont really listen to my own music in my free time.

Maybe today is a good time to start, I thought to myself, taking a deep breath, and not just because they were about to jam my body into a scary machine. I knew in that moment that as someone known for soothing others, I needed to take a closer look at the concept and make it a priority in my own crazy-busy life.

Of course, I had a good laugh when the medical technician insisted she would play me to me while they got some pictures of my banged-up leg.

Just like anyone else, I felt my own stress levels rise when they put me into that big metal machine for almost an hour. Of course, I knew it was mind over matter in there, but I wasnt really sure if I was ready to surrender to the moment and find a happier place in my mind.

For those of you who havent had an MRI, the machine is really loud. So there I was, lying flat on my back and feeling totally claustrophobic.

Then the tech put on one of my tracks. I heard the bright sound of the tinkling piano keys, and my first thought was Gee, maybe I should play this song in concert more often. Its a good one. A few minutes went by and I evaluated another song. Thats a beautiful song, I thought and then immediately felt guilty. Is it acceptable to say your own song is beautiful?

Finally I just had to let go.

It was like being on a plane sitting next to the kid whos screaming the loudest. At first youre anxious, but then you just have to go into your own zone where the kid and his noise melt away. It didnt take long before I was in my zone, soothing out to the rest of the tracks.

In a strange way, I didnt want that feeling to end, although I could have done without the MRI part.

It was a real wake-up call.

And so it began. Over the next two years, I embarked on a journey to find the tools to calm down, a journey that has now become the basis for this book. So take a deep breath and learn how to soothe yourself in ways you never expected.

Hi, my name is Jim Brickman, and for those of you who dont know about me, Im a stressaholic. I have to smile while writing that because to earn a living I play the piano in concert halls around the globe, and beautiful music and stress are not supposed to go together. Playing the piano, whether at home by myself or on stage in front of a crowd, has always been the easy part for me. Its in my DNA. The truth is, playing music and the business of the music industry are two completely different animals. Ask any performer; we all have our own stress routines.

It wasnt always that way.

My fingers hit the keyboard for the first time when I was 4. Three years later I began taking private lessons from Mrs. T, a piano teacher down the street from my familys Shaker Heights, Ohio, home. In those days, it didnt take long for me to completely stress out that nice lady who was teaching music. For some reason, I just wouldnt conform to the rudiments of piano playing, which in her eyes was playing the music exactly the way it was written on the page.

Oh, how I tormented Mrs. T from down the street. I couldnt seem to help myself. Even at a young age, I knew the music and the techniques she was teaching me had no nuance to them. Eventually Mrs. Tmy sweet, well-meaning piano teacherended up telling my mother, Im so sorry, Mrs. Brickman, but your son just doesnt have the knack for piano playing. His rhythm is all over the place. He doesnt focus. I dont see the point in continuing these lessons.

Well, my mother didnt give up easily. She was the one who saw me playing on the only piano we had in our house, which was made out of felt. In fact, it was a felt strip with all the keys drawn on it; obviously no real music was coming out of those fibersand the tunes were the result of my active imagination. It was my most prized possession and I taught myself the basics on it. Mom knew this wasnt the time to walk away from the piano, even though we were a long way off from a baby grand in the living room.