Embodied Musician

Thinking about how I coordinate my arms with the rest of my body in practicing & other activities is a constant source of exploration & discovery.

If you’re like me, you may notice a habit of sending your shoulders back when your arms move forward or up in space. When I do this with my flute, it almost looks like “good” posture because so many people play this way, with an arched, extended back.

What might not be as obvious is that in sending just my shoulders back, I create an imbalance in my torso that causes me to push my hips forward to stay vertical . Interfering with our torsos is a sure fire way to restrict breathing - & performers & humans simply don’t have time for that!

Next time you lift your arms, with or without your flute/phone/coffee/etc:

🙋Slow the movement down & see if you can invite your whole back, from pelvis through shoulders, to provide gentle counterbalance.

🙋Check in with your breathing so you can notice any moment when your breath becomes more restricted - a great clue you’re losing the coordination of your back.

🙋Think about your whole arm participating in the move, from sterno-clavicular joints to fingertips, so that you don’t get stuck in your shoulders.

🙋Let energy & support for arm movement come up from the floor through your feet, legs, sitting bones, & back.

🙋And, let your head bobble easily on your free neck!

What happens when you practice the flute (or any other everyday activity) with clear coordination between your arms & back?

In tandem with getting to know your sitting bones, I wanted to give a shout out to your hardworking hip joints!

It's easy to be unclear about where hip joints are & why we need them for optimal practicing & performing. But the ability to move & balance freely on your hip joints is crucial for flute players & anyone interest in breathing.

Here are a few thoughts to jump start your hip joint explorations:

🪈 Your hip joints are located in the middle of your thigh at the crease between your leg & torso - they may be a bit lower & further toward your center than you thought. Give your leg a wiggle & see what it's like to move at that spot.

🪈 If you habitually tighten or brace your hip joints to sit, stand, or support your instrument, you're probably affecting your ability to breathe freely.

🪈 This may seem obvious, but your hip joints are the top of your leg, which also means they're near the bottom of your torso (which continues a little bit lower to the bottom of your sitting bones). Knowing where your hip joints are can clarify how long your torso is & help you have more space for breathing.

🪈 There are lots of places you can bend & move from in your torso - people often bend at the waist, for example. But your hip joints, along with your knees & ankles, are optimally designed to help you move through space without disrupting all the business happening up above - again, helping maximize breathing efficiency.

So, the next time you're practicing, sitting or standing, take a moment to enjoy your hip joint mobility - what does more hip joint awareness do for you?

Let's check in about chairs this week.

For much of my practicing life, I've avoided chairs as I found standing to produce better results with less discomfort. Plus, many chairs seem to be designed with stacking in mind instead of sitting.

Since sitting is inevitable for a performer who loves ensemble music, enter Alexander Technique!

Chairs, with all their variety, provide a wonderful & practical opportunity to work on yourself in activity - the activity of sitting.

🪑 If possible, sit on a chair with a firm seat so you can receive accurate feedback about your connection to the surface & the support it provides.

🪑 Get clear about what part of your skeleton rests on the seat - your sitting bones. Wiggle your bottom on the chair to feel those bony connections.

🪑 Your sitting bones are the bottom of your torso, so letting your sitting bones connect to the chair & inviting the chair to connect back (down to go up) may help you support the length of your spine with less unnecessary effort - not to mention supporting all the critical systems housed in your torso (hello, breathing!).

🪑 Your sitting bones are rounded on the bottom - perfect for accommodating movement as you sit. Rock & roll!

🪑 With your sitting bones resting on the seat, feet releasing to the floor, & your head balancing high up on your a-o joint, how might your sitting & your performing change?

In my practicing this week I'll be highlighting my sitting bones in my awareness & working on myself as both a sitter & a flute player to achieve maximum musical sitting potential!

Keep me posted if you're working on a sitting conundrum.

If we let go of a habit (a tightened neck, for example), what kind of performer could we become?

What a great summary of the Alexander Technique approach!

I'm rereading Pedro's book, Indirect Procedures, this summer - which I highly recommend to musicians, performers, & others interested in AT.

I'm also revisiting the Ibert Concerto & will be taking this advice to heart in my practicing!