The 13th of October was World Sight Day. For those of us who have sight, a massive amount of brain power is taken up by the visual cortex: the part of the brain that interprets the light, shapes and colours that come in through our eyes. It’s not a part of our selves that we … More Seeing is believing
It’s interesting to me that touch is often equated with being emotionally moved: “I was touched by his musicmaking.” As a musician I aim to move our audience simply with soundwaves reaching their ears. Touch, being touched, and connection is a basic building block of being human. I think one of the things so many … More Self care: Feldenkrais for Performers
You are your primary Instrument… Whether that’s a Strad or a factory violin is up to how you use what you have! All of our technique, whatever we play or sing, boils down on movement: we move ourselves to create music. The less effort and tension we use, the better, and more efficiently, we can bring across to … More Feldenkrais Method for Musicians – Why do it?
Today is Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of Atonement. It’s a day on which we fast and and repent, and symbolically hope we behaved well enough to be inscribed in the Book of Life this year. Actually, the first service of Yom Kippur starts the evening before, and ends just before sunset, called Kol Nidrei. It’s … More Habits of Gratitude
I read a great quote last week that I wanted to share with you: “You grow up, mature, stop looking for people to give you validation. It’s got to come from within” Appropriately for the last weeks of football fever, these are the thoughts of Raheem Sterling, one of the England football team, one of … More Our unavowed dreams
So often people come to me with sore shoulders, or tension in their shoulders. And they’re looking at where the problem is in order to find a solution. Which in my experience is usually the wrong place! Our shoulders are amazing, both flexible and and strong. And their flexibility comes from that they are only … More Shoulder support…
This week my film-loving partner was horrified to realise I hadn’t seen the cartoon Inside Out. Some hours later, once work was finished, and dinner plates were in the sink, we curled up on the sofa to watch it. Perhaps you’ve already seen it! If you haven’t, I can recommend it. It’s a beautiful cartoon that looks at … More The Body Patterns of Joy
I’d like to talk a little about touch. It’s interesting to me that touch is often equated with being moved: I was touched by his gift: I was emotionally moved. Touch is something we communicate with before we have language. I think one of the things so many of us have found difficult in the … More Finding ways to be touched.
I’ve always been interested in sound. Perhaps because I was born deaf, and learnt to understand sound later than most. Whilst I couldn’t hear I had a massive amplifier with headphones, (it was the end of the 70s) that I would apparently drag and heave to the dinner table so I could hear the conversation. … More Creating the sound in your head, out loud:
This week was Mental Health week across the UK, something of a hot topic after a year of isolation, non-touch and Covid-19 complications. When we’re under physical or mental stress over any long period of time, our nervous system responds by preparing: to run, to fight or to freeze. In all of these there is … More The body patterns of fear: shifting it the easy way.
