Too many musicians suffer needlessly from all kinds of physical and mental/emotional issues – such as pain, performance anxiety, and excess tension – that block their potential to enjoy great artistry. This is in large part because they haven’t realized the importance of developing essential mind-body awareness skills.
In this post and the accompanying video with complete commentary, I share 10 reasons (listed below) why developing a skillful practice of mind-body awareness with my Art of Freedom® Method (based on Primal Alexander™, the hands-free Alexander Technique method created by Mio Morales), is a dramatically better way to enjoy good health and happiness in addition to musical success!
10 REASONS Why Mind-Body Awareness is Essential for Musicians:
#1: BE YOURSELF. Become more fully yourself, more conscious and a better observer of yourself. You can get to know yourself and your habits so that you can choose to improve and change your life for the better.
#2: REDUCE STRESS. Reduce the negative effects of stress, relieve overall tension, calm the nervous system and feel more relaxed, and develop more conscious control over your self.
#3: IMPROVE HEALTH + OVERCOME PAIN. Improve your health, become more aware of basic needs for self-care, reduce tension, relieve and prevent pain, overcome injury, become more sensitive to your internal and external environment, increase energy, feel more comfortable in your body. Please note: if you have a lot of tension or pain when you play your instrument, pain is NOT normal for musicians! It won’t just go away by itself and stay away if you’re not listening to your body. You need to learn to think differently to get different results!
#4: OVERCOME ANXIETY. Overcome performance anxiety, social anxiety… fear of speaking… all kinds of anxiety. Feel more comfortable in your body.
#5: IMPROVE RELATIONSHIPS. Improve relationships by becoming less reactive and more tolerant, become a better collaborative musician, improve your ability to connect with colleagues and audiences.
#6: THINK BETTER! Declutter your mind, think more clearly, focus better, improve concentration, make better choices, get smarter (!) and “quicken the conscious mind” (F.M. Alexander). Stop thinking of “mental vs. physical” and start seeing the Self as a whole, calm mind + calm body. Become more conscious and have better control over your actions.
#7: MAKE BETTER MUSIC. Become a better musician by improving your mind-body coordination. Improve your technique, become more flexible and responsive, learn how to access flow and effortless movement, and become more musical.
#8: BE MORE CREATIVE! Be here now, and access creative inspiration with consistency and ease. Become more aware of how your ideas influence your body, choose your next thoughts/actions, do Constructive Thinking
#9: FEEL MORE! Live and feel with more depth and range of emotion, become more authentic and freely expressive. Make great art that moves you and your audiences when you let go.
#10: ENJOY LIFE! Be empowered to enjoy your life and music more!!! 🙂 Learn how to use the power of your mind to get what you want – in your body, life, and music. Learn how to get out of your own way so you can manifest ideas into reality with ease!
Watch the complete video for extensive commentary on each of these reasons why mind-body awareness is essential for musicians.
Can you relate to anything in this post? I would love to hear about your experience in the comments! And please share this post if you enjoyed it so that more musicians can benefit from the ideas. Thank you!
Want to learn how you can maximize your potential by increasing YOUR mind-body awareness? Contact me for details about my online private coaching and group programs for musicians who want to get at the root of why things aren’t working optimally for them in life and music. I’d love to chat with you about which program would be best for you!
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Email: Jennifer@ArtofFreedom.me
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