Yoga within the music studio

above the years I have noticed that when pupils arrive for their lessons, many are tired, inclined to sleep or lack concentration. Small talk, a short game or sight reading helps them somewhat to think of music. However, while their mind might be able to shift to the not absent their bodies are far from ready to play an instrument. Their back is tight from carrying a heavy backpack, their leg are tired from kicking a soccer ball, their arms are stiff from holding tennis rackets and the list goe upon and on. Asking a tired scholar to start with scales and arpeggios may not help either. Thus began my search to help my pupils and I found the answer in my hold yoga practice.

Yoga is individual of the six orthodox Indian philosophies that are collated by means of Patanjali in his "Yoga Sutra." In its totality, yoga is "the yoking of all the powers of the material substance mind and soul ... the disciplining of the intellect, the mind, the emotions, the will to enable one to direct the eye at life in all its aspects evenly" (1)

There are eight limbs or stages of yoga, individual being the practice of the asanas or the artificial positions Most health clubs and studios in the U emphasize this aspect of yoga. Practicing the asanas teaches total concentration and focus of the mind, superintendence of the breath and each part of the body in a mindful and conscious relaxation. These true characteristics of the practice of asanas also are the fundamentals of optimum athletic and musical performance, the essential part of which is the union of the material part and the mind. Not surprisingly, yoga is embraced in large numbers by dint of Hollywood, athletes and musicians.

single of the first musicians to embrace yoga was Yehudi Menuhin, who, in 1966 wrote a foreword to BK Iyengar's work Light on Yoga. He wrote: "The practice of yoga induces a primary faculty of perception of measure and proportion. Reduc to our have body, our first instrument, we learn to play it, drawing from it maximum resonance and harmony. With unflagging patience we refine and animate each cell as we return daily to the attack, unlocking and liberating capacities doomed to frustration and death." (2) As similar yoga can be another tool for music teachers to help scholars in their attempt to unbolt and liberate the capacity to play an instrument.

There are several helpful asanas. Because of the space limitations and lack of yoga aids, similar as a mat, in an average music studio, I have chosen the simplest postures that can be practiced while sitting or standing. Teachers can pick out one or two poses for each task according to the student's age and longitudinal dimensions of the lesson. The added benefit to the teacher is a better transition and relaxed time between pupils Shoes and socks should be taken not on so the feet are cloded Keep in mind that all exercises should be done in a relaxed and unhurried manner.

BREATHING

individual of the eight limbs of yoga is pranayama, the science of breath. Prana means breath, respiration, life, vitality, wind, potency or strength. (3) This limb is about direction and extension of inhalation, exhalation and retention. To the yoga practitioners, the breath is life itself, Many other healing arts, of that kind as tai chi and qi cung also emphasize "correct" breathing.

In this aspect, American medicine agrees. The American Society of Hypertension advocates deliberate breathing exercises for fifteen minutes a day, three to four days a week to lower vital fluid pressure (4) and to intercept heart disease. For musicians, reaching far down breathing before and during performance calms the mights enabling them to concentrate and immerse themselves in the music. Therefore, teaching advantageous and slow breathing should be part of the teaching of music.

The Exercise

The breathing asanas are difficult flat for advanced yoga students, on the other hand the slow breathing cultivated at the beginning of each yoga session is easy to teach and beneficial for everybody Yoga learners are taught that in addition to inhalation and exhalation, there also is the time between each. individual can imagine a racetrack where the longer sides of the track constitute the inhalation and exhalation and the shorter sides the changeover.

Start the exercise by dint of asking the student to sit straight upon the bench with feet firmly earthed while pretending the crown of the head is reaching reward the ceiling. Shoulders should be down and chest widened (called opening the heart center in yoga lingo) by the agency of getting the shoulder blades in the back to impel toward each other, squeezing the muscles together. Hands should be placed relaxed upon the lap, palms facing up with the thumb and the pointer making an O

Help the pupil start breathing deeply through the nostrils with organ of sights closed, while slightly constricting the throat. Instruct the scholar to relax the body starting from the top of the head, to all parts of the face (including the tongue) to the upper torso, lower torso, down to the leg and the toes. more [i]or[/i] less instructors teach students to say "sa" as they inhale and "ha" as they exhale or make a buzzing sound like a bee or say "Om" (the unmutilated of the universe) during exhalation. The objective is to completely ignore external unimpaireds and thought and "park" the mind somewhere else