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Science is beginning to provide evidence of the benefits of controlled deep breathing – something the yogis have known and used for centuries. You don’t have to look far to find all kinds of studies into the efficacy of using breathing to have a positive effect on physical wellbeing and even more serious health complications, too – like reducing stress, increasing alertness, boosting your immune system, decreasing anxiety and lowering blood pressure.
Cultivating a breathing practice can be a key component in improving the mental clarity needed during a musical (or any) performance and harnessing the many symptoms of performance anxiety. Under stress, our bodies often resort to shallow breathing. With the amount of juggling and its ensuing stress most musicians face in their daily life, that shallow breathing becomes our normal breath – even for singers and wind players. The problem with shallow, rapid breathing is that it activates our sympathetic response, which is involved in releasing cortisol and other stress hormones – exactly what we are trying to avoid! On the other hand, controlled deep breathing helps trigger our relaxation response as it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn slows down heart rate and digestion while promoting a state of calm. The more we practice deep controlled breathing, the more quickly the body can respond to and recover from stressors.
Try an experiment – breathe normally and on one of your exhales pause…and then exhale more, squeezing your core muscles. With a consistent fuller exhale, this space could be filled with new, clean oxygenated air, balancing the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide! Now, lengthen your inhale, feeling the rib cage expanding in all directions. You might find your “breathing muscles” have been underutilized for days, weeks or months and practice is needed to lengthen, deepen and balance both your inhalation and exhalation. We are not learning a “new” way of breathing, we are simply reminding the body how it really wants to breathe. And while you’re at it, you may be helping alleviate neck or shoulder pain you may have. Those shallow, rapid breaths are using the muscles of the upper back, not intended for breathing. Utilize more of your core more in your breathing and give those shoulders a break!
Neema Moraveji, Ph.D. states: “Interestingly, breathing is the only physiological metric humans can directly control, giving it a uniquely bi-directional relationship with our state of mind. That is, it reflects our state of mind and we have conscious, immediate control over it to influence our state of mind.” It is important for us to realize that results tend to happen over a long period of time and like everything else, it takes time, patience and commitment for breathing to have a healing effect. Fear not – we do have tech support to keep us on track! Our wearables – Fitbits and Apple watches, among others – can be programmed to make help make our commitment to better breathing a reality.
Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. The kinship between the words spirit and respiration is clear – “spiritus” in Latin denotes man’s spirit, deriving from “spirare”, to breathe. In the words of T.V.K. Desikachar: “The quality of our breath expresses our inner feelings”. What does your breathing say about you?
PDF handouts from workshops at ISME 2016
As I am about to embark upon another new teaching year, I am, of course, attending to all the business details of running an independent music studio. But mostly I am thinking about how to better communicate the truly “musical” aspects of music – especially to students whose only musical gear is fast and loud! I rely heavily upon metaphors and images in my teaching – the nature of music practically demands it – so it seems an appropriate time to take another look at this article, Having a “Ball” with Staccato (American Music Teacher August/September 2006). And to all my teaching colleagues: May your words ring true and become music to your students’ ears (and under their fingers)!
The new saying going around is that sitting is the new smoking and according to Dr. James Levine, director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative and inventor of the treadmill desk, we lose 2 hours of life for every hour we sit. Sitting all day is not natural and is to blame for all kinds of ailments. But while the office worker now has the possibility of a treadmill desk – what about the musician who has no choice but to sit for long hours in rehearsals and practicing?
Indeed, we all need to move more but it is also important to sit well – paying attention to appropriate alignment. Traditional piano method book instructions of “sit up straight and tall” are woefully lacking – an issue I addressed in my article The Draggin’ Dragon: Some Lighthearted Tools for Serious Sitting (American Music Teacher December/January 2006/2007). You can read the article here (while you walk on your treadmill??) and maybe the toys, tools and images will enhance your perception either at your instrument or when working with students.
Twelve years ago my first “wellness” article, Using Your Body’s Wisdom to Unlock Technique was published in the American Music Teacher (June/July 2003). At that time a friend mentioned that it read like a first installment…and indeed it was simply an introduction to my own personal journey. Education is never-ending and in the ensuing years I have walked through many doors. Now I can honestly say that the development of physical perception has become the cornerstone of my teaching. And whether in the music or yoga studio, it has become increasingly important that I help others discover their body wisdom. I offer many ways to listen to and befriend your body – do it and it may be the greatest gift you can give yourself and your teaching.
It is easy to forget about the interconnectedness of the whole body. Often an issue in one part of our body is caused by something seemingly unrelated. This was driven home to me once again in a very personal way this winter as I struggled with a sprained left ankle after a nasty fall on the ice. I resorted to the use of an ankle brace for stability through the lengthy healing process – the stabilization controlled the pain but obviously compromised the range of motion in the entire left leg. Deciding that I needed to do some yoga to work other parts of my body, I started with some gentle arms swings – forward and back. The left shoulder moved fairly easily, but as I leaned forward to release all muscle tension by shaking out both arms, the left arm was complete uncoordinated! I monitored the left arm and shoulder movement throughout the healing process of the left ankle. Complete coordination was not restored until the ankle healed.
Moving beyond the interconnectedness of the body itself, consider the interconnectedness between the use of our body in daily life and the use of our body at our instrument. Communicating with our body and increasing our physical perception helps bring our body into balance. And it allows our body to become better coordinated for all our activities, not just the “important” ones.
Not long ago I had occasion to work with an incredibly intuitive non-musician at his keyboard of choice – a computer. A veteran at a high-tech computer company, he was experiencing near-constant forearm pain – so much so that he wondered if he might have to consider leaving his job. As we talked, I learned that he had already consulted doctors and ergonomic specialists. Savvy enough to recognize that his repetitive strain problems were cumulative, he did what he could to limit the number of keystrokes he made on a daily basis and willingly experimented with the vast array of gadgetry designed to help the beleaguered modern techie.
We studied, then adjusted his ergonomic keyboard, tweaked the height and angles of his advanced office chair, and hashed through more mouse options than I ever knew existed. In the end, the actual changes we made were small, but the physical perception brought to the forefront by each of those changes was huge. In my opinion, being an avid T’ai Chi student for many years was one of the main reasons this man was able to quickly both feel and process the new sensations in his body. The physiological aspects of T’ai Chi practice – breathing, muscle usage, skeletal alignment and relaxation – allowed him to transfer his already heightened body awareness from larger to smaller muscle groups.
The body has an amazing capacity to heal itself – we just need to set it up for that recovery.
A while back I had the opportunity to participate in an Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) workshop focused on neck and shoulders. This stretching routine was developed by kinesiologist Aaron Mattes and is used by massage therapists, physical therapists and trainers to assist clients with range of motion and flexibility. But the best news is that many AIS techniques can be done on your own with some very basic instruction – what a godsend for musicians!
This is not static stretching, where you hold a single stretch for a long period of time. AIS stretches involve very short multiple repetitions that are designed to specifically target individual muscle fibers. There is evidence that AIS helps prevent injuries, reduce pain and improve degenerative conditions. That may be true – but from my continued personal experience, AIS stretches simply make you feel amazing and I’m thrilled to have one more tool in my toolbox – for myself and for others.
As I mentioned in my last post, I am continually intrigued by the physical connections I discover whether teaching a yoga class or working with musicians of all levels. The concept of moving and building from a foundation of ease in the body is a hallmark of my teaching in both the yoga and music studio. This is so different than the general fitness mentality that often seems to tighten and strengthen and relax later. I’ve watched some very traditionally fit people bully themselves into difficult yoga poses with sheer brute strength in contrast with people that move into those same poses with genuine ease and flow. It is easy to relate this experience to musical performance – what a different experience to hear a performer playing from a foundation of ease than one playing from a foundation of tightness or tension.
Of course, physical stamina and strength are necessary components, both at an instrument and away from it, and each can be built on a foundation of pure movement. By pure movement, I mean involving only the muscles necessary and only to the degree needed to accomplish the job at hand. Anything else can simply be defined as tension. Tension in one part of the body reverberates through the entire body, impacting the musician’s technical execution, sound and sometimes even musical choices.
If you are looking to uncover either underlying or task-specific tension within your body and to move with greater ease either at your instrument or away from it, choices abound. The Physically Perceptive Musician offers a multi-layered approach, combining scientific based bio-feedback with the body re-education principles of yoga and The Alexander Technique.
I spent my early years practicing piano under the watchful eye of my great-grandfather in an oil painting hanging on the wall right behind my piano. In the painting, my great-grandfather, a Flemish organist and composer, is holding a scroll of music and his hands have always fascinated me – maybe because of the similarity in the tiny details with my own hands.
I think I am not alone in my fascination with musicians’ hands. The images and movements of fingers, hands and arms seem to define a musician. How often, though, do we musicians limit our awareness to just a head and hands, completely blocking awareness of the rest of our body? And if our body demands our attention, do we work with it, or do we simply numb it with a drug of choice?
I find the development of physical perception to be an interesting, ongoing journey – whether I am deepening my own awareness or helping others to develop theirs. I am consistently intrigued by the connections I discover. As I continue this blog I hope you will find some experiences and connections that resonate with you as well. Your body offers an endless source of knowledge if you simply begin to listen to it.