Musical Self Care

I love to sit in the morning sunlight, meditate, and tone with my voice or improvise on a soft instrument such as a hand pan. Early morning rain is also beautiful in its own way, it is peaceful. The gradual emergence of life at sunrise is a magical moment between sleeping and waking. It is a time when I offer myself the gift of stillness, a beautiful transition to a day of activity. The morning is my best time. I have come to realize that I need to give myself that time. Waking up and rushing around to start my day is a total no-go for me anymore. I did it in my younger years, and it never worked for me. 

I learned to love mornings when I started practicing yoga in 2009. For various reasons, I have not always been consistent, but when I go back to it, I feel so much better. When I am in silence, musical ideas come - something tells me I must try my hand at composition.  

So what about musical self care? It is about nourishing the imagination, body, mind and spirit through improvisation. It is about incorporating exploration into one’s musical life. It is about freeing oneself momentarily from goals and expectations. 

This weekend I am at a music retreat in Wallingford PA where I will join my longtime MfP friends in improvisation. What a treat for me to be a participant! It is a chance for me to replenish myself and play with other like minded musicians. It nourishes my work and soul. 

Improvisation opens new pathways if you offer yourself the freedom to:

• Play your instrument in different ways or create different sounds with your voice

• Play with a mode or scale you have never played before

• Create your own mystery chords

• Play an instrument you have never played before

• Drum with your fingers or hands on anything around you

In my online and live classes, I create opportunities for this kind of exploration and musical self care. If you have never experimented with improvisation or it is uncomfortable for you, doing it with encouraging guidance is super helpful. 

Through improvisation I found vocal freedom and a deep trust in my musicality. I learned to calm my mind-chatter and listen. Remember that our thoughts can manifest physical tension that can interfere with playing and/or singing. 

Embracing a Creative Life

Through my years of teaching, performing, and facilitating, I have been blessed by the opportunity to meet many incredible people who have inspired me. I believe it is vital to connect with other like like-minded creatives. It only adds to the richness of our own creative path. 

With this in mind, I want to begin a new section of my blog where I will feature artists I have met along the way. My intention is to inspire you to keep the creative fires burning in your life. 

Maaike M

I met Maaike M when I started my creative journey with Music for People in 2013. She lives in the Montreal area so I was super excited to have a local MfPer to improvise with. 

Maaike is a dynamic, generous, nature loving, and creative octogenarian. I went to visit her last week with one of my wonderful young MfP facilitators in training, Sam D. Maaike donated her beautiful instruments to our growing Music for People community in Montreal. I can’t wait to share them at our May and June classes at the Center of Musicians of the World.

Here is a beautiful poem Maaike shared!

sing voice of my heart and soul, sing

sing of the beauty that lays within

may the music rise and flower

born from a place of eternal love 

and creative power

sacred sound, divine song

I pray to feel that I belong 

a mantra is singing in my heart

healing what made me feel apart

I learn to listen and to be

to let the music flow through me

my heart shares it new melodies

amazing grace and joyful peace

I want to sing, I want to dance

to beat the drum, to shout and prance

to open all the windows of my soul

and finally be quiet, be me, thankful and whole

sing voice of my heart and soul

sing of the beauty that lays within

May the music rise and flower

born from a place of eternal love

and creative power

3 Generations of Music for People!