Liz, a singer, came to me as a last resort before getting surgery for TMJ. ?
After just a few sessions learning how to apply The Art of Freedom® Method and the Alexander Technique, her music was feeling free and fun again, and she completely forgot about her pain.
When I bumped into Liz more than a year later, she literally didn’t even remember that she’d come to me for jaw problems to begin with! So much about her whole life and her singing had sky-rocketed ? that she had completely forgotten any plans for surgery.
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? I didn’t wave a magic wand or give her a magic potion…and I didn’t even manipulate her body with my hands.
Here’s what I did:
I gave her some surprising new ways to think about her pain and her approach to music, which allowed her to release excess tension, let go of the pain, and free her body to sing with ease.
As I do with all the musicians I work with, I helped her understand that her physical pain was just one small part of a much bigger picture, including the rest of her body, her mind, energy and emotions, and that she had the natural ability to change it all very quickly.
You see, a specific pain perceived in the body very rarely has its source in that specific place.
?? ?? ??
Sure, I know you feel the pain in your arm (or wherever you do), but any pain in a certain body part is always an indicator of something bigger, deeper, and much more important – something within that is crying out for your personal care and attention. ?
Your pain is connected to a deeper, more systemic problem, which most specialists and health practitioners either miss or ignore completely, because they aren’t trained to see or deal with the big picture.
As a culture, we tend to forget that the human being is a whole, unified organism, which lives and moves as an integrated whole. ?
If you want to get to the real source of your pain and truly heal for good, your mind, emotions, and how you play your instrument (!!) ? MUST be addressed and integrated along with the pain you feel in your body.
Otherwise, the pain might subside temporarily, but it’s extremely likely to crop up again somewhere else in your body, or leave residues of pain that keep coming back over and over again…like persistent weeds that keep returning when the underlying root system isn’t removed.
Like many musicians, I’ve also had jaw, back, arm, hand, and shoulder issues in the past.
All of these have been resolved – and my violin skills have improved dramatically as a result – FAR beyond what I ever thought would be possible. ?
It is now my passion to share what I’ve learned by helping other musicians see the bigger picture and heal themselves deeply, without prolonged endurance and suffering, and without depending solely on risky drugs, surgery, or uncomfortable exercises.
There IS a better, faster way out of your pain, and it’s based on logic, experience, sound practices, creativity, and the innate power of your own natural healing mechanisms. And there’s plenty of scientific research to back it up. ?
? If you haven’t been completely successful in healing your pain for any length of time, and it’s getting in the way of your music and your joy, please ask yourself:
* Am I trying to heal parts of me… or do I want to heal ALL of me – more than just my body?
* Is it possible I might be missing something, and the problem isn’t exactly where I think or feel that it is, or where I’ve been told it is?
* Are the people who are helping me including ALL of me in their treatment – mind, body, emotions, and how I move when I play my instrument?
These are very important questions, because pain isn’t static and it’s never just physical; therefore, the best solution can never be just physical.
With Love & Enthusiasm,
Jennifer