Movement for Musicians

If you’re a musician, or actually just a human being for this matter, you’re probably familiar with some common aches and pains throughout the day, whether it’s from sitting at your computer in endless zoom meetings or practicing 4 hours straight and losing all sense of time and being….anyway most of us probably experience some (if not all) of these afflictions at some point, including an aching back, or a tense neck and shoulders, or cramping fingers or a clenched jaw, etc. etc.

Of course, no one wants these aches to last! Or potentially develop into something more serious like carpal tunnel or tendonitis! It’s certainly easy to get caught up in the mindset of being on the grind and working so hard until your fingers bleed, but you know what? Why can’t we still work hard but practice mindfulness?

In my own personal experience, after developing frequent numbness and cramping in my fingers (onset of carpal tunnel?!!) I knew that I had to do SOMETHING to prevent this affliction from becoming ultra serious. Countless times you hear about professional musicians who have gone out of commission because of a serious injury from playing…and that’s already scary and horrible to hear about, but then you realize it could happen to you, even as a young musician in your 20s or 30s! But this doesn’t have to be the case! After the numbing sensation in my hands, I decided to take Alexander Technique lessons (definitely check out the Alexander teachers in your area!), which helped me to become more aware of my body and my own habits, both when playing and doing everyday activities.

I also began doing yoga pretty much daily, in the mornings before every practice session. This practice of morning yoga has become more of an obsession now, so deeply engrained in my everyday routine that I feel incomplete when I don’t include it. After becoming more aware of my habits and my own body, and actively including yoga every day (especially poses such as Warrior II, Tree, and Cat/Cow) I found myself much more balanced both physically and mentally. Including these practices greatly helped decrease the numbness and cramping, and I rarely experience these ailments today.

So if you’re experiencing any aches as a musician, or you’re someone looking to include more movement and general balance in your everyday life, yoga is greatly beneficial to both the body and mind. I cannot stress enough the importance of stretching and including more mindfulness in your practice sessions as well as everyday activities.

There are numerous resources online to learn more about yoga, exercises for musicians, Alexander Technique, and all the good stuff we should honor our bodies with. Here’s one fantastic yoga video-

Feel free to reach out if you have any suggestions or points of discussion!