Finding Peace in a Pandemic

The spread of this disease can be prevented by personal behaviors.

So said an Alabama State Health Department spokesman this morning. That statement is true on many levels. Not the least of those is the mental health and attitude we bring to the situation. I heard this as I was just finishing making a list that I called Finding Peace in a Pandemic.

·      Do what’s right. Always!

·      Don’t take undue risks.

·      Think about others and how we all impact each other.

·      Keep informed, but don’t obsess.

·      Turn off the constant news chatter for at least several hours at a time.

·      Take a walk outside or read a good book.

·      Keep in touch with family and friends.

·      Trust God and let go- whatever that means to you.

·      Take care of yourself and your family.

·      Keep engaged, or get reengaged with hobbies.

·      It is not the end of the world.

·      Meditate on the beauty of the world even when it feels dark.

·      There is light out there- and within you.

·      Maintain your spiritual, emotional, and physical balance.

·      Be wise, not rash.

·      Don’t judge- we all cope in our own ways.

·      Don’t deny what you’re feeling. Talk about it but don’t obsess on it.

·      If you can’t do something about the situation, don’t try to.

·      Practice and live peace and mindfulness in all that you do as much as you can and let the rest just be there.

Tuning Slide 5.4- Exercise is Important, Too

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.
– Jim Rohn

Something I have been more than just slightly aware of over the years is the importance of exercise and physical fitness. I have never been great at it and sometimes have had to force myself into complying with my own principles, but I have had the desire and some motivation for many years. It is not a surprise to me that physical fitness can play a part in our musicianship- and perhaps even vice versa. My trainer tells me he doesn’t see many people (my age or not) who can hold a plank as long and as well as I can. When we discussed it, he said that it may have something to do with my trumpet playing. The importance of the abs in playing trumpet is clear- it’s where the power comes from. So maybe they do go together.

In any case, I came across this graphic at a blog called Take Lessons with 10 exercises and activities for musicians. (Link)


Some of the information from that blog talks about why these are important and can help musicians. Here is an edited version that brings out these advantages.

Power yoga
Learning how to properly and deeply breathe isn’t just important for singers! Taking full breaths is known to reduce stress and improve concentration. Breathing slowly and deeply, especially during challenging yoga poses, will help you to do so during stressful moments, calming both your mind and your body.

Core strengthening
Put simply, you need a strong core to hold yourself upright. It’s not just about having a six-pack; having a weak core can put strain on your back and ultimately cause chronic back pain. Core strength also helps improve your balance and stability — super important for all the sitting and standing we do!

Posture work
Sitting at a computer all day, being hunched over our phones, and slouching in general can wreak havoc on our posture. Over time, our spine begins to morph into the wrong shape — chin jutting forward, shoulders hunched, feet forming a v-shape. Not to mention that a performer with poor posture just doesn’t look as confident or as professional!

Arm strengthening
No matter if you’re a singer or you play an instrument, chances are you’re going to be holding something up, whether it’s your music, your instrument, or your arms. Some instruments may even require using the strength of your arms for certain techniques. Strengthening your arm and shoulder muscles can help prevent injuries, especially to the joints that end up fatigued when they aren’t supported by strong enough muscles.

Intense cardio
Cardiovascular health is important for everyone, but musicians especially can benefit from the mind-over-matter mentality that it takes to push yourself past your limits. And increasing your heart rate during exercise can ease stress, relieve anxiety, and help you sleep better — all of which benefit both your practice and your performance.

Dance classes
Dance classes with choreography require you to stay present and focused, and to memorize moves in the context of the music. These skills come in handy when you need to memorize a piece of music, especially if you are singing or playing with others. They also require coordination and improve your rhythm by forcing your body to feel the beat. Lastly, dance classes can expose you to types of music you might not listen to on your own.

Neck and shoulder stretches
Keeping tension in your neck and shoulders while practicing can cause you to suffer more over time. Especially if you allow your shoulders to come up and forward, this can really weaken your posture and cause back pain, in addition to the neck pain already present. Tension can also inhibit your playing, since many techniques require your muscles to be controlled but in a relaxed way.

Hip flexor stretches & backbends
Tension in the front of your body causes it to be imbalanced and ends up pulling on the back of your body. This takes a toll on your posture and can cause muscle and joint pain. Some say that we carry our stress in our hips, so opening them up would naturally help relieve that stress. Backbending opens your chest and lungs and can help you breathe more deeply.

Outdoor hobbies
In his piece “For Poets”, Al Young advises “Come on out into the sunlight/ Breathe in Trees/…Don’t forget to fly”. The message rings true for all artists — the best inspiration comes from being out in nature and experiencing life. Many musicians spend so much time holed up in studios and practice rooms, so it’s even more important to remind ourselves to get out there and have those one-of-a-kind experiences.

Meditation
Meditation not only reduces stress and anxiety, it also improves focus and memory. And when you have the skills to calm your mind anywhere, anytime, you can handle anything! For performers especially, practicing meditation will connect your mind and body and allow you to keep calm, no matter how many people are in the audience. (Link to Take Lessons)

Of course, be cautious. Don’t get into some exercise class or regimen without checking with a doctor, especially if you have not been active. Plus, take it easy- build into it. It takes time to get into shape, just as it has taken time for any of us to get where we are with our music. We can do great damage to ourselves and our health if we don’t develop balance.

The interplay between fitness and musicianship is clear. It is not to become fitness champions, it’s about doing what you can do to keep yourself in shape. There are plenty of places to take yoga classes, work on the Alexander technique, discover T’ai Chi, get out an hike. I am too geeky to be able to take a dance class, but maybe that will be the right way for you. Yes, it takes planning, work, and discipline to get into a fitness routine. But we already know the importance of being in a good practice routine. Time to apply it.

Tuning Slide 4.16- When You Take Too Much Time Off

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

I just play music. That makes my whole day. I can practice and be happy.
— Trombone Shorty

Well, I’m glad I made it through the end of September and the beginning of October. If you remember I had a minor surgical procedure done at the end of last month. The doctor’s orders were clear, no playing trumpet for a week. The pressure could cause the incision to start bleeding again and extend the problem. You may also remember that as a typical trumpet player I looked for a way around it. I checked on a couple trumpet forums and they were just as clear as the doctor in stronger language. Simply put they said, Don’t be stupid. Don’t do it!

So I didn’t - for eight days. I broke an 18-month string of daily playing, practicing, and routine. I hadn’t missed that many days in a row since September 2015, right after I started this amazing journey into being a “real” trumpet player. The most had been three days, which as the oft-quoted meme says is when the audience begins to notice that the musician hasn’t been practicing.

So what happened? Did it truly affect my musicianship? How difficult has it been to get back in the groove and routine? Not a particularly surprising set of answers. They are almost exactly what most of us has been told many times. When you don’t practice everything suffers. But what was the most surprising was the reality of the word “everything.”

I noticed that I was off-kilter from the second day. The first day missed was, of course, the day of surgery. Everything was off-balance that day. I thought about missing the trumpet, but I did some extra focusing on watching some trumpet-related You Tube videos. The second day I noticed a sense of withdrawal. The trumpet was calling my name. I was then out of sorts all week, actually. Yes, some of it was from the aftermath of the surgery and the impact on my vision since it was eye surgery. But life just wasn’t right. Something was missing.

I wasn’t totally surprised by this. Anything that has become that much a part of daily life for so long will leave a void when it’s not there. But the void was more pervasive than expected. My mental focus wasn’t as clear; I was less grounded than I had been. I knew it wasn’t just the surgery. I therefore worked hard at listening to more music and spending time on You Tube. I worked on some of my compositions for the quintet and planning our gigs for later this fall. That helped since I was working on music. But I wanted to MAKE music, play it!

It was only when I got back to regular playing did it all make sense. I have written here many times about finding your song, making your music, expanding your musical voice. I have been working on these things with intent and intensity since that last long layout in September 2015. The Inner Game of Music ideas I have been exploring are about living intentionally and mindfully as much as they are about making music. Increasing daily mindfulness is something I teach and lead as part of my job- it is an evidence-based practice in the field of addiction treatment. I didn’t realize how much music helped me do that in my own life.

One of our human shortcomings I have discovered is that we often compartmentalize our lives. Each box, each compartment, each interest we may have doesn’t often connect with other areas. Here’s work. Over there is my family. Back in the corner is my music. Oh, I think I see a box for my exercising and physical health activities. I don’t often allow them to interact. That- in spite of one of those statements I have said on here many times:

How we do anything is how we do everything!

I discovered, much to my own surprise how much my music filters into everything I do. It fills my life, gives it a richness and a joy that is anything but work. It helps me relax in all I do. When I find myself being obsessive about my music- hyper-focused, overly intense, worried that it isn’t going right, for example- the rest of my life suffers. By not being able to play my music and allow it to feed and guide me, I was out of balance.

So what has happened since I started back? As I am writing this I have had just two weeks back in my daily routine. I have had friends who don’t practice on a daily basis. They seem to be able to pick up the trumpet and sound good. I have other friends who hear all their faults when they have to miss their routine. I was truly amazed at how both those things happened to me.

First, my sound did not suffer too greatly. Nor did my range. Why? I realized that it has to do with what I have learned from the Shell Lake faculty- it is in the breath and the consistency with which we learn to play with that breath. It is also the Inner Game trust of Self 2’s ability to do what it says it can do. When I picked up the trumpet again two weeks ago, I was not back where I was in 2015. I had a style, a routine, a training that allowed me to be able to do what I can do.

Second, however, my endurance and technique did suffer. I was not able to do the routine for 45 minutes like I was doing. I wasn’t even able to do two 30 minute sessions in a day. My range suffered when the endurance tanked. Today I was able to get past an hour of practice in two sessions. It felt good. My soul was renewed by that.

Third, I also learned that I had taken some stuff for granted. So I went back to some of the basic routine elements that I know help, such as ending my sessions with a couple of Concone etudes, a real confidence and sound booster. It extends the endurance while not challenging technique which gives Self 2 the opportunity to show me what I can do.

I hope I don’t have to do this again any time soon. It was frustrating, but at least I discovered that I am a far different musician than I was when I first set foot onto the campus as Shell Lake. Much has changed. For the better.

Now, if I could only apply this to my routine of exercise and fitness.

Tuning Slide 4.12- Don't Ignore the 10%

You have to, take a deep breath. and allow the music to flow through you. Revel in it, allow yourself to awe. When you play allow the music to break your heart with its beauty.
― Kelly White

Here’s where we started last week and then looked at the biggie- mental.

• Trumpet playing is
o 90% mental
o 9% air
o 1% physical

Now it’s time to move to the other two- the physical stuff- our instruments and our bodies.

Ever wonder how some truly excellent trumpet players can always use the same mouthpiece? Or how they can have a completely different tone in different parts of the same piece without changing the mouthpiece?

When I went to trade in my first trumpet my good friend and fellow trumpet player picked it up and played it. His comment was, “How can you play this thing in tune?” which I had been doing for 25 years at that point. “I don’t know,” I said, “it’s the only horn I ever had so I just played it.” Then I got my Bach Strad. Yes, it made an immediate difference! It was “easier” to play, more efficient a horn. I also could build some endurance when playing in a band since I wasn’t always lipping the notes to stay in tune.

Sadly, I didn’t become Doc or Maynard when I started playing it, though. I was a better player and the horn offered me the opportunity to have a better sound and style, but it didn’t turn me into a virtuoso. Let us not forget that in the end it is deliberate, efficient practice that makes us into better musicians. That takes the right attitude, of course, and the proper mental training as well as “equipment” that helps.

So, as I thought about this week’s post I made a list of what does the “physical” entail? Combining “air” and “physical”, what is the 10% that is not directly mental? My non-exhaustive list, in alphabetical order, along with my thoughts on how that may be something to be aware of:

◦ Articulation- These work together to keep us from getting tired as quickly. Efficient articulation styles can certainly help us as we continue to enhance our skills.
⁃ Learning effective tonguing techniques.
⁃ Double and triple tonguing
⁃ Goldman’s exercises and, as always, Arban’s.

◦ Body relaxation- This one takes both the physical and mental into account.
⁃ If I am stressed, I will not be relaxed and my sound will falter.
⁃ Learning how to tense and relax muscles in my arms and upper body will give me a better, brighter, clearer sound.
⁃ Even having tension in my legs and feet will translate into tension in how I play.
⁃ Developing relaxation thoughts and actions is important.
⁃ T’ai Chi and Qigong can be helpful here.

◦ Breath- It’s often all about the breath, the air, and how I use it efficiently.
⁃ Shallow vs. Deep slow breaths.
⁃ Learning to breathe from the depths of the diaphragm
⁃ Keep the air moving through, not at, the sound.
⁃ I have been told that at least an important part of my problems in endurance and sound come from not breathing effectively. It is what I am always working on.

◦ Dexterity- Ease of movement of fingers and lips, builds hand/eye coordination and wires the brain for many different actions. Dexterity- being nimble and agile- is a wonderful skill. You can’t play bebop without it!
⁃ Finger exercises- scales, chromatics, Clarke, Arban’s
⁃ Lip slurs- many ways to do these, but do them.
⁃ Pedal tones- the ability to really play those pedal tones is an important foundation for high register playing, I am told. Slurs and pedals; pedals and slurs.
⁃ Working on balance and agility of movement in the whole body can certainly have a positive impact as well. The movement of energy and oxygen through the whole body system can be quite helpful.

◦ Embouchure- the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing- yep, it is physical.
⁃ Sometimes (too many times?) we get stuck on this as the end-all and be-all of becoming a great trumpet player. It is one part of the physical, but the more I focus on it, the less I end up focusing on playing and getting the sound! I must never forget that the sound is what we are after. Embouchure helps, but it won’t do it alone.

◦ Endurance- All these physical things combine to give us the ability to do what we do for longer and more intense sessions.
⁃ Surprisingly most endurance is built in (relatively) short actions done smoothly and only to about 80% of full effort.
⁃ It is cumulative.
⁃ To build endurance, rest as much as you practice. This is appropriate balance of the physical and mental, for when we push too hard for too long we WILL lose our mental sharpness. It is built on endurance; endurance is not built on extreme will power.

◦ Posture-
⁃ How we sit and stand
⁃ A method called The Alexander Technique is finding an increased number of adherents. It works on posture as well as issues of breath and body relaxation.

There are some of the things I have personally discovered over the past 4 years of growing into a more advanced trumpet player. Most of us will wrestle with these on a regular basis. I for one always want to go one more exercise, one more song, five more minutes, thinking that this will truly push my endurance. Most of the time it won’t. It may only go so far as hurting. I learned this as a group fitness trainer, I learned it the hard way as a musician. Easy, steady, deliberate.

Of course, we can all name many musicians who are not in good physical shape, who don’t take as good a care of their bodies as would be helpful. In fact, that group would probably include most of us. Fortunately we don’t have to be in great physical shape to be great musicians. But I am coming to believe that it does help. As I have worked slowly on my physical conditioning again, I am finding that I do see benefits to my playing. When I have worked on my “core”, I find I can hold notes longer and have better breath control. With the weight/resistance training my arms don’t get as tired as quickly. Yes, these are small, but every little bit helps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the way: Barry Green, author of Inner Game of Music and Mastery of Music also has a third book called Bringing Music to Life. In it he works with these ideas applied to breathing (air), pulse (rhythm), and movement (body). He addresses a number of these topics that fit in with what I have been writing about here. I will be doing some posts based on that book sometime in the new year. It’s an excellent resource!

Sidenote: This past Friday I ended an 18 month and one week stretch of not missing a single day of playing my trumpet! I had to have some minor eye surgery and the doctor said “No trumpet playing for a week.” I am a couple days into that right now- and it’s a bummer. As any (in)sane trumpet player would, I Googled whether it was true that I should not play. Maybe I could just play low notes or do long tones below “C” on the staff. “No!” said everything I read. It isn’t worth it. Ever. It is only a short period of time. Mess it up and I’m off for a longer time.

It’s still a bummer. But there is that part of playing that is physical and I have to respect it and take care of the physical. I will let you know what happens as it develops further in the next couple weeks.

Tuning Slide 4.11- It's (Mostly) All in Your Head

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

• Trumpet playing is
o 90% mental
o 9% air
o 1% physical
— Attributed to a number of people, most often Bill Adam

When it comes right down to it, this is what the Inner Game of Music is truly all about. It is the mental side of playing music. It attitude. It is mindfulness. It is how we think and act out what we are thinking- or not thinking. I am not sure I like that idea. It means that things like building endurance or a perfect embouchure, the right mouthpiece or instrument, or heavy caps aren’t as important as we like to think they are. They are attempts at short-circuiting the process of becoming a musician.

Not to disregard the physical side. (More on that next week.) That is real and does impact the way we play. But it is the more effective use of our energy through the mental that in the long run as the most positive impact on what we are doing. Why might that be? Here’s a thought:

The brain consumes energy at 10 times the rate of the rest of the body per gram of tissue. The average power consumption of a typical adult is 100 Watts and the brain consumes 20% of this [energy].

We also know a great deal about the many ways the brain can impact our actions, our physical health, how our bodies function. While much of it is a mystery, the effects have been seen in many studies.

This also shows why that sometimes the tiredness we feel after a period of playing is perhaps even more mentally caused than physical. That’s a lot of energy going out when we are playing. For example, here are some things that are regular actions of the “mental” that impact what we do:

◆ How we practice- we have to think about that as we do it.
⁃ Slow, fast, articulation, slurs, etc

◆ Hearing the music and notes in our head as we play.
⁃ I am fairly sure that the best way to learn to play is to hear the notes in your head before you play. This is especially true of the upper register, but applies equally to the whole staff.

◆ What we think of our abilities and how far we believe we can go
⁃ I know I can’t play that run. I am unable to memorize. I am crappy.

◆ Self 1 criticizing or Self 2 wanting to just do it
⁃ This goes beyond the previous one. This happens in the middle of a performance and we get distracted. “I just missed the note! OMG! I’ll never get it,” Meanwhile I didn’t get the next three measures because I got lost. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

◆ Memorization
⁃ It takes concentration and mental effort to memorize. I have not been willing to spent the time or take the effort. And that does impact my playing. (I also tell myself I can’t do it.)

◆ Listening to ourselves and others.
⁃ I have to pay attention when listening. Engage the brain!

All that takes mental activity. The more difficult it is, the more we are distracted and the harder we have to work- and playing becomes more difficult. Part of it is what is the story we are telling ourselves about ourselves? What is it we believe about our abilities? But it is also about being intentional about taking care of our brains- the mental activities that can strengthen what we do with the trumpet. So I Googled (always a good place to start) “How do we train the brain to be more efficient?” and I got some interesting thoughts from an article on Entrepreneur.com. Here are their eight ways to improve brain power (the ideas are from the article. The thoughts about them are mine) (Link):

1. Exercise.

⁃ The work of endorphins and other neurotransmitters is essential. Exercise helps generate them and regenerate cell activity. Most of us (pointing at myself as well) do not get enough physical exercise. It really doesn’t take a lot- average about 30 minutes of walking a day and it will enhance brain power! That and the oxygen boosts efficiency, too.

2. Drink coffee.

⁃ It’s a stimulant and helps in learning. It is only a short-term solution, but what you learn helps build the brain connections.

3. Get some sunlight.

⁃ Yes, get outside. It is actually more than the sun- it is the vitamin D, I am told. But to me it is also the ability to take-in fresh air, see and experience the world, and discover new things all around you.

4. Build strong connections.

⁃ We are not meant to be lonely. We have been created as social creatures. Some have even theorized that what we call “spirituality” is the need to have connections with the world and others. When we are isolated unhealthy things can begin to happen to our bodies and brains. Get out, be social.

5. Meditate.

⁃ Mindfulness/meditation has become the “In-thing.” For very good reasons. Not the least of which is that it works. Ten minutes a day can make a big difference. I don’t just mean “sitting meditation. I would add T’ai Chi and Qigong or walking meditation to a meditation regimen. The increased inner balance gets us more “in tune” with ourselves and what we are doing. Maybe do some yoga as part of a weekly exercise program as well.

6. Sleep well.

⁃ I know the old dictum we have heard from some- “You can sleep when you’re dead” as a way to get us off our lazy couches and do something. But to ignore healthy sleep habits can potentially get in the way of health itself. Sleep hygiene can be a big help, even if you sometimes have to struggle to get enough. Look into it.

7. Eat well.

⁃ I read that and said, “Yep, I will love to eat a lot.” I don’t think that is what it means. To eat well is to eat healthy, to not subsist only on junk food, or high sugar content drinks. Feeding your body healthy fuel will certainly help the brain!

8. Play Tetris.

⁃ For some reason, Tetris is considered by some researchers to be one of the better video games. It works on spatial recognition (an aid to balance), hand-eye coordination (like translating all those black marks on the page into music?), and keeps brain matter alive and working. Why Tetris? I have no idea. But I remember when I played it on the old Gameboy. It was fun and probably helped. (Maybe I'll download it on the iPhone.)

I would add a couple other things:

◆ Take time for relaxation and hobbies.
◆ Journaling can be a great way to get in touch and keep in touch with what is going on in your own head.
◆ Read more than you watch TV.
◆ Listen to music more than you watch TV.

If I want to be a better trumpet player, I guess I need to take care of the mental. Losing my mental sharpness will not have a good result in my music.

Tuning Slide 4.9- Recreation and Playing

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Recreation’s purpose is not to kill time, but to make life,
not to keep a person occupied, but to keep them refreshed,
not to offer an escape from life, but to provide a discovery of life.
—Unknown

I have a hunch about why, at least in English we say that we “play” music.

If you are a musician you may have wondered about the word we use in English to describe what we do when we make music with an instrument. We, of course, “play” the instrument, “play” music. What a wonderful way to describe it. We “play”! We don’t work, or stress, or force music. (Well, we may do that, but that’s what we are doing to ourselves, not the music.)

It got me to thinking about the deeper meaning of this. But first I checked out what some other languages use.

In German, it is the word spielen- to play; in French, it is jouer- to play. Both these are the same meaning for playing a game, etc. as in English.

In Spanish, though, it’s a little different. The word used with music is not the same. It is tocar- to touch, be in contact with, play (as in music.) (The word for playing games, etc. is jugar.)

I love the idea that we play when we make music. It truly is why many of us were hooked by it’s magic, lured into a lifetime of developing playing skills. It is far more than the ability to turn some marks on a page into a sound that can touch souls. (Notice the word “touch”? I’ll come back to that.) To play is to take part in something or to engage in something for enjoyment and relaxation. (Google) Why else would we spend all these hours practicing and learning, running scales and long tones? It must be fun. Since most of us will never earn a living at it, there has to be some deeper and more important thing to making music.

Not that we don’t “work” at it. Of course we do. We run the routine, do our scales, learn (and relearn again and again) the basics of something we may have been doing for decades. That has to be fun, enjoyable, entertaining, purposeful in some way, or we would have quit long ago. But we haven’t quit. We may feel like it some days when we can’t do what we did so easily last week. But we don’t. We know the truth that we haven’t yet reached our best sound, no matter how good it may be today. But it is “play.” Recreation.

But, like “play”, “recreation” is not something purposeless and inane. It is to “create again,” to “renew”. That quote for this week says it so well. Recreation (and the related, relaxation) are paths into life and discovery of wonder and renewal. We are not as good at that as we could be. There is always room for improvement that leads to many positive things. When we take time to re-create, to relax and renew there are many benefits. I went to the Mayo Clinic, Healthy Lifestyles, Stress Management Web page and found a long list of the benefits. I am putting a mark at the end of each one that can be a good example of what playing music can do: (Link)

• Slowing heart rate
• Lowering blood pressure
• Slowing your breathing rate << Playing wind instruments can help us learn how to breathe more efficiently.
• Improving digestion
• Maintaining normal blood sugar levels
• Reducing activity of stress hormones
• Increasing blood flow to major muscles << Increased oxygen from more efficient breathing.
• Reducing muscle tension and chronic pain
• Improving concentration and mood << The mindfulness and focus needed certainly carries into the rest of our lives.
• Improving sleep quality
• Lowering fatigue
• Reducing anger and frustration << Many things about playing music and practicing can help relive these tensions.
• Boosting confidence to handle problems << Being successful can only make us feel better about what we can do.

The Mayo Clinic site then gives some good suggestions about relaxation techniques that I know help improve our music playing- and will then help with stress and recreation- which will then help our music… and it just keeps on going. You will, in fact, find many musicians and books on music (such as Barry Green’s books based on the “inner game”) suggesting many of these.

• Autogenic relaxation. Autogenic means something that comes from within you. In this relaxation technique, you use both visual imagery and body awareness to reduce stress.
You repeat words or suggestions in your mind that may help you relax and reduce muscle tension. For example, you may imagine a peaceful setting and then focus on controlled, relaxing breathing, slowing your heart rate, or feeling different physical sensations, such as relaxing each arm or leg one by one.

• Progressive muscle relaxation. In this relaxation technique, you focus on slowly tensing and then relaxing each muscle group.
This can help you focus on the difference between muscle tension and relaxation. You can become more aware of physical sensations.
In one method of progressive muscle relaxation, you start by tensing and relaxing the muscles in your toes and progressively working your way up to your neck and head. You can also start with your head and neck and work down to your toes. Tense your muscles for about five seconds and then relax for 30 seconds, and repeat.

• Visualization. In this relaxation technique, you may form mental images to take a visual journey to a peaceful, calming place or situation.
To relax using visualization, try to incorporate as many senses as you can, including smell, sight, sound and touch. If you imagine relaxing at the ocean, for instance, think about the smell of salt water, the sound of crashing waves and the warmth of the sun on your body.
You may want to close your eyes, sit in a quiet spot, loosen any tight clothing, and concentrate on your breathing. Aim to focus on the present and think positive thoughts.

Other relaxation techniques may include:
• Deep breathing
• Massage
• Meditation
• Tai chi
• Yoga
• Biofeedback
• Music and art therapy
• Aromatherapy
• Hydrotherapy
(Link)

One last thing, though, which goes back to the Spanish word used for “playing” an instrument. That word, tocar, to touch or be in contact with. It is an apt description of the two-way street of making music. It touches us, moves us, gets us in contact with something greater than ourselves. Music is certainly that! But, if we stop and think about it, that is also what we do with music. We “touch” it, make “contact” with it. I can feel that contact when the music is in the groove, or in harmony, or just plain old centered. That’s what our hours of practice can lead us toward- the contact that makes music such a central part of our lives. And from that, we learn how to do that in the rest of our lives as well.

Here is a podcast about mindfulness and self-talk as relaxation and music-playing, music-touching exercises.

The Tuning Slide: 2.16- Give Yourself a Gift

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Stephen Covey, educator and speaker, wrote one of the basic books on self-management in 1989, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Sometime in the new year I will be looking at these seven habits and applying them to our being and becoming musicians as well as effective humans. But for this week I simply want to think about the 7th habit which he called Sharpening the Saw- continually improving what we do and who we are.

On the Change Management Coach website, counseling psychologist and life coach Mark Connelly described it this way:

Habit 7 is about looking after yourself. You are the greatest asset you have and we have to learn to take time to look after ourselves. Stephen Covey suggests we pay attention to four areas in our lives:

Physical: Exercise, Nutrition, Stress Management
Spiritual: Value Clarification and Commitment, Study and Meditation
Mental: Reading, Visualizing, Planning, Writing
Social/Emotional: Service, Empathy, Synergy, Intrinsic Security.

Not a bad idea to consider this season. I have noticed that for many people this year’s season has been more low-key than usual. Several have said to me that the intensity and downright unusual behavior of the recent election campaign have worn us down. Energy levels have been depleted. The stress and tension evident in so many places can fog our brains and actions. We may find ourselves sitting and just wondering about everything and nothing. The physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional assets have been nearly exhausted. Many look around and wonder what happened to them and to the world we used to know. It feels dark- or at least gray and uncertain.

Yet this is a season of light. The three major holidays in the next two weeks are celebrations of light coming into the darkness. The Christmas season vibrates with light from stars, candles, and the hint of angels’ trumpets. The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah is called the Feast of Lights, celebrating the miracle of light in a dark time. The African-American Kwanzaa, begun 50 years ago, seven candles are lit bringing the light of the principles of the holiday season.

In addition to light and celebration of hope and unity and peace, gift-giving is very much a part of all three holidays. So, let me suggest that Covey’s 7th habit could also be described as giving yourself a gift and sharing your gift of yourself with others. As musicians we can be overly busy this season- but perhaps it can be seen as bringing the light of music to others. That shift in perspective can go a long way to changing how we see what we are doing. For example, I have been looking forward to playing with our quintet in church on Christmas morning. It is a gift to myself to be able to play the seasonal music in public. It is a gift to my own spiritual life to do it in church- even a church that is not part of my own tradition. It is a gift I am excited to share with those in church that morning. It is not a burden- it is a gift-receiving and gift-giving joy.

Then there are the many other ways we can gift ourselves this season. We can find those moments of rest and relaxation. Maybe we will have time to do some exercise or getting outdoors. (The physical.) We can look around and give thanks for what we have been given. We can celebrate our own spiritual and communal traditions and renew our commitments to our family, friends, and communities. (The spiritual.) We might want to take time to do some reading or meditating or listening to some good music. (The mental.) We can find ways to reach out to others, either with our music, a phone call, or connecting with friends. (The social.)

We need to take care of ourselves. That is not an end in itself. It is part of who we are. We need to be healthy for ourselves and to be able to share with others. We are social beings. We are spiritual beings. We are physical beings. All these come together when we keep ourselves as healthy and focused as we can.
Take care of yourselves. It has been a tough few months. Be good to yourself and those around you. You will be richly blessed.

Christmas. Hanukkah. Kwanzaa.

Celebrate the light and hope and peace within and around you.

Oh- and make sure you play your trumpet. That may be the most important gift to give yourself this year.

The Tuning Slide - With Gratitude

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Gratitude is the music of the heart.

-Unknown

It's Thanksgiving Week and it is hard to move past the week without talking about gratitude.

Will gratitude make you a better musician? Not as much as practice will, but it will do something just as important that will have an impact- it will increase your mindfulness, your awareness of yourself and the world around you. THAT will help your trumpet playing.

• It will give you insight into your own life and emotions- an important part of being an advancing musician. 
• It will keep you in touch with those around you that will make your life fuller and more enriching. 
• It will keep you humble- which is another way of saying you will continue to be teachable- willing and ready to learn.
• It will increase your happiness levels on a daily basis, say a number of research studies.
• It will increase your energy and motivation more often.
• Depression and stress will be more easily coped with on a daily basis.

As preachers have been saying for years on Thanksgiving, don't just save all your gratitude for this one day. It actually will make you a better person if you learn to practice it every day.

• Dr. Amit Sood of Mayo Clinic suggests that you not get out of bed in the morning any day without some awareness of reasons or people to be grateful for. 
• Keep a gratitude journal and review it on a daily basis. 
• Don't repeat yourself- find new reasons to be grateful each day.
• Silently wish each person you pass in a given period of time, grace and peace.
• Meister Eckhart was a man of wisdom:

If the only prayer you say in your life is ‘thank you,’

that would suffice.

– Meister Eckhart

One person who has helped me over the past couple years is Shane Burcaw. He is a young man with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and has been in a wheelchair his whole life. He also has a journalism degree, is the author of a wonderful book, Laughing at My Nightmare, is the founder of a foundation to assist others with Muscular Dystrophy and its variations, and has an incredible sense of humor. His attitude is nothing short of remarkable. No, he does not play trumpet (I don't think so, anyway!) but he is a person filled with energy- and gratitude.

Every week he posts a list called What Made Me Smile This Week. There are many things each week that bring a smile to Shane's face: meeting with college students at his Alma Mater (Moravian College!), eating turkey chili, giving a talk at an elementary school, writing, or just being able to stretch out after a long day.

Each week he makes me smile. He also reminds me of the wonders I miss around me when all I do is complain or find reasons to criticize. He challenges me, someone nearly three times his age, to see the world as fresh and refreshing each day. No matter what!

Maybe I should apply that to my trumpet playing and practice. How did my practicing today make me smile? What were the moments of gratitude and joy? Maybe I wasn't as focused as I needed to be, but what was neat about it? Maybe it was the particular exercise that is just fun to play. Maybe it was the ability to hit some difficult notes with a little more clarity. Maybe it was just the way I felt after making music.

What works for you? Where are you grateful today? Just enjoy it. No matter what!

Yep!

Some days...

...all I want to do is play music and 

forget all the craziness, drama, 

disagreement, and dysfunction of the world.

Whether it's my trumpet or iTunes, it makes things better!

Let's Get Serious- and Stay Calm

How can we ban all flights into the US from Ebola-stricken nations when there are no direct flights into the US from Ebola-stricken nations?

Yes, we need precautions at airports, etc. But what we really need to do is increase the level of education about Universal Precautions that very few of us pay any attention to in our daily lives. Then push these precautions.

We should also allow clear-headed reporting to take over instead of scare reporting which is happening across the political news spectrum. When in a crisis, or even a perceived crisis, it is never helpful to yell at the top of your lungs that the sky is falling and we are all doomed! No one seems to be doing that very well.

AIDS and Hepatitis are far more easily transmitted than Ebola (lifestyle questions aside) and all it takes is common sense health precautions to stay safe. If it didn't work with more dangerous diseases we would all have contracted AIDS by now since it, like Ebola, is spread from contact with bodily fluids.


End of health rant.

For today.

More Than Just Pedaling

I wrote last summer about some of the mindfulness I was discovering commuting 6 miles to work, mostly on bike trails in our city. The other day I was riding the stationary bike at the rec center and realized that stationary cycling has a whole range of possibilities for mindfulness and meditation. After all it is highly repetitive with few distractions, like oncoming traffic.

I spent some time Googling the web and found some interesting sites. I am still looking at that, but thought I would simply post a quote I found there for today:

A bicycle is a magic mirror. You get your own personal reflection back from the bicycle. The inner journey parallels the outer one when you ride.

— Joel Solomon

Quote found on Bicycle Meditations web site.

A Neat Video

Earlier this week a video came across the Facebook feeds of some of my friends. It was a video I had been showing to patients to describe the power of yoga and Tai Chi as part of a strong recovery program. I realized I hadn't shared it here.

On one level what Arthur does in his own life is develop a strong physical therapy program. But more than that, as we all know, a strong physical treatment program needs a strong spiritual component. That's where utilizing the double-sidedness of programs like Yoga and Tai Chi can be of such a strong benefit.

I have also found a good starting video that is helpful in getting into the early phases of Tai Chi. Embedding is not allowed, but here's the link. It is an 8-minute daily introduction. Well done and easy to follow for a beginner.

Such an Important Holiday

How have I ever missed such a day as today, January 3. It is National Sleep Day.

Here's a link to an article on Huffington Post on 8 new findings about sleep and our health. A quick summary would say that healthy sleep helps us stay healthy; pushing sleep away or too much sleep (??) can hurt. But there are many things about sleep that we don't know.

So, I think I will do my own research... and take a nap.

I'll Take the Compliment

Co-worker 1:

There sure is a lot less of you these days.

Co-worker 2:

Seeing you in that sweater, it's clear how much weight you've lost.

Co-worker 3:

You sure are looking spiffy these days.

All these within the last couple weeks as I hit my latest plateau of weight loss. I am down about 30 pounds- about 15%- since March 15. That was my second goal made and it feels good.

No, not just the compliments, but the actual feeling of being 30 pounds lighter. The other evening I was carrying my big band music bag and my trumpet up the stairs. I guess together they weight in the 30 pound range. As I got to the top and thought about how much more difficult it was carrying that load I was struck by a thought:

I carried that much weight around for a long time.

Wow.

Next goal- another 15 pounds by the end of January. At this point I am still on a plateau within a couple pounds of that 30 pound decrease. It will soon be time to pick it up again and keep the downward trend going to my ultimate goal. Back in March I would never have believed this was possible. Now, I'm excited and looking forward to the next 15 pounds.

Just keep me away from the doughnuts.

Causing a Double-take

Driving down the highway I couldn't make out what in the world was on that billboard.

Until I got close enough:

I thought it says it all.

Then I saw this one a few days later.

Yes, they ARE put up by the Minnesota Department of Health. They are pushing the border on taste, or lack thereof. But it does get your attention.

Would it get you to have a colonoscopy?

Link

Dirt Digging

No, not any gossip. It's just what I did on Saturday. I have mentioned here sometime in the past about the psychologist friend of mine who would talk about the healing quality of playing in the dirt. Gardening was a real source of healing in his opinion. I have always agreed.

Living in apartments for the past 6 years has curtailed my ability to go out and play in the soil. But this year we are living in a place that gets good sun so I bought some containers along with a cherry tomato, a beefsteak tomato and a sweet pepper plant. In the evening, after a few hours of rain, I went out dug my hands into the potting mix, ran it through my fingers breaking up the big clods of it, and planted the plants. For good measure I got some flowers and put them in a big pot. These all sit on my back patio now.

I looked down when done and saw the telltale sign of dirt under my fingernails. A sign that my soul was a little better that evening than it had been just a few hours earlier.

There are many ways our nature deficit can impact us. One of them, I believe along with my psychologist friend, is that when we lose our connections with the earth we lose some important part of what makes us human. To become isolated from the created world is to become isolated from much of what God made around us. The earth and all that is in it are as essential to our lives as food and water. When I "play in the dirt" I am in touch with the stuff we are made of, the raw elements of life.

I don't think it is stretching it too much (or being too "punny") to call that a down to earth reality of our selves. Flowing water, the rolling of the oceans, the songs of birds, the smell of lilacs are similar. They renew our senses and our touch with the Creation.

Nature Deficit

It's not listed as a medically recognized disorder, but I know I have it. Richard Louv in a 2005 book about children not having enough time in nature came up with the phrase, Nature Deficit Disorder. According to Wikipedia:

[H]uman beings, especially children, are spending less time outdoors resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems....

Louv claims that causes for the phenomenon include parental fears, restricted access to natural areas, and the lure of the screen.

Louv argues that sensationalist media coverage and paranoid parents have literally "scared children straight out of the woods and fields," while promoting a litigious culture of fear that favors "safe" regimented sports over imaginative play.

In recognizing these trends, some people argue that humans have an instinctive liking for nature—the biophilia hypothesis—and take steps to spend more time outdoors, for example in outdoor education, or by sending young children to forest kindergartens or forest schools.

Louv has a book now, The Nature Principle, that says the same is true for adults as much as for children.

I agree. Wholeheartedly.

Last week several people at work asked me either
Are you feeling okay?

or

Is anything wrong? You don't seem yourself.

No, it's not seasonal affective disorder. It's not about the amount of sunshine available in my life; it's the amount of nature time that I'm not able to get at this time of the year. Add to the cold (frigid at times) the fact that we haven't had the snow to be able to get out on my snowshoes and you have my low energy and lack of pizazz in my life, actions and affect.

It isn't about exercise, either, since I still get a lot of that. I've done over 70 miles on the stationary bike this month- and i haven't even been pushing it.

The treatment is obvious. Get outside. Bundle up and move my body to the great, wide outdoors. Which in Minnesota is easier said than done, of course. In a few weeks I will be able to get out and get my winter quota of beach and gulf water, sun, and sand. I will be refreshed. Until then, well, I am whining to all of you about it. That's a start. Talking always helps.

Then I can look at pictures like this one:

That gets me thinking about the summer ahead when outdoors is easier.

Or this picture:

Which reminds me of how wonderful the world around me is, even in winter.

And one more:

That tells me that an outdoor baseball stadium is still the way to watch the game.. 

and opening day is only 9 weeks away.

Recuperation Ended (Mostly): Part 3

-----Not quite this yet

but approaching this ------

Well, mostly free. I am now officially  weaning off the collar after 12 weeks under wraps. (The process is to take ANOTHER 9 weeks. Bah humbug!) Twelve weeks ago today I had my anterior cervical corpectomy with fusion. I have been a good and obedient patient. I have worn the collar as instructed. (Alright- I loosened it once in a while, but I had permission to do that if I was just sitting and watching TV.)

I have learned patience and how much we move our heads on our necks. I have learned to be a (very slightly) better passenger in a car driven by my wife. I have learned that people are concerned when they see the collar and usually express concern that it wasn't caused by an accident. I have learned how many people have actually had to wear one of these things.

But the greater lessons actually came from the time of surgery and early recovery when things I had taken for granted were not as easy as they used to be. Swallowing- food or water- became a chore and at times even a slight sense of fear. Speaking clearly was a joke. Surgery is a major trauma to the system and I wonder how much two surgeries between August 15 and December 29 affected me in ways beyond my understanding.

I also learned a little bit about aging. Okay, maybe a great deal of bits. One morning in the hospital, probably on my second day- about 24 hours after surgery- I was being walked into the hall by a nurse. I was pulling my IV pole while the nurse held my other arm. I glanced over as we passed a mirror and was shocked by the "old" guy in the mirror. I felt every bit of my 63 years. And I think I looked it, too. Ragged around the edges, slightly slumped over, neck in a brace.

It reminded me again of the fragility of life. We never know what's ahead, regardless of what age we are. Back at the start of 2011 I would never have even considered that I would be having two surgeries by the end of the year. It reminded me that as we age the options can change rather quickly. Our health can flip in no time. It also became clear that time does get shorter. This is something I have been wrestling with but that "old" guy in the mirror brought it into focus.

Chances are I have 2-4 more years of doing what I am doing now. Sure there may be more- and I plan on it- but I have to be realistic. Which brought it all home- I want these years to be fun, meaningful, and filled with hope and joy, and love in whatever ways I can give and receive that. I want my work to be fulfilling to me and those I work with. I want to enjoy life. The old, cynical, whiner can get in the way of that, I know.

There are bicycle trails to ride; rivers to walk along; people to visit; sights to see, baseball games to go to. I would love to do the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain- at least 300 km by bike for retirement. And books- wow- so little time for so many books. Not to mention taking pictures and writing and well, living.

What a joy. I'll keep you posted. After all, if Peyton Manning can go back to football after the same surgery, think what I can do if 300 pound defensive ends aren't trying to tackle me.

Truth is True

A quote from John Muir:

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.

It took me back 50 years to the scripture lesson on a Sabbath in August 1961. It was from Deuteronomy 8: 2-3:

Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (NRSV)

I can't say it's been a Watchword, but it never seems to be far away from my awareness. Recently, for example, a term coined by Richard Louv in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods, "Nature Deficit Disorder" came into awareness. Originally it was about children (No Child Left Inside) but has since been expanded to all where people don't get out and get into the natural world as often as needed in Louv's book The Nature Principle.

Those words that come from the mouth of God? You can- and will- hear them out there in the wilderness, even the tame wilderness near most of our homes. That natural world is speaking loudly and clearly to those who will stop and listen.

Last winter I decided that I could not manage another whole winter without the healing and hope from the natural world.  So I bought snowshoes and used them until we went south for a few weeks where I rode my bike and did lots of walking.  This winter I had surgery and went south for four weeks. No bike riding, but plenty of walking and sitting listening to the endless sound of the surf. I won't go so far as to say that is why I have healed so well so far from the surgery, but I'm not about to deny its strength in moving me back to health.

Not by bread alone? Not on your life. As Muir noted, we need the healing that goes far beyond food; the hope that goes deeper than today's experiences. Sustenance is for body, mind, and soul.

Back to Work

Well, after a little more than three weeks off on medical leave for a back surgery, it was back to work today. Over the last three weeks I

• Started and finished seven books
• Finished three other books that were hanging around
• Took naps almost every day
• Walked at least 15 minutes every day (usually 20-25) for most of the last 2+ weeks
• Didn't watch any movies I had planned on catching up with
• Sat on the balcony and read and took pictures of Eagles and Herons
• Have maintained my weight-loss regimen and did not gain any of the 20 pounds back
• Took it easy

The surgery itself, the second of its kind I have had in the past 2 1/2 years went very well. There was more pain than the previous with a day longer stay in the hospital and a day or so longer in using pain meds. But little if any of the previous surgeries difficulties (sleeplessness, for example, and continued pain in the lower back from the surgery) showed up.

I am grateful, as always, for the support of people around me and at work. I am grateful that people prayed for me and sent me cards. I know that a lot of things go into a successful surgery and recuperation and I have been blessed with many of those.

I have learned for myself something I "knew" but didn't really KNOW. When one is in better physical shape, recovery can be easier. I have been on a consistent daily regimen of working out for over a year and a half. I started a physical fitness and diet regime two months prior to surgery. I have no doubt about the positive impact all that had on my recovery these past three weeks.

Healing has many aspects to it. I am convinced that in each of our own lives, we have to be actively involved in our own daily recovery. That's what health and healing is all about. I am convinced that God wants us as partners in our own healing. That may be at the heart of Jesus' question to the man at the pool, "Do you want to be healed?"

While the answer may seem obvious, unless we go along with our healing and God's will, not much can come of it.

So, I am back on the healthy track. More surgery will follow, perhaps no later than this winter on some of the other back issues that are still hanging around. Until then, again, THANKS for all your thoughts and prayers.