Movement Practice
better than "exercise"
We are musicians 24/7. We may be doing household chores or another job, but we are musicians. I frame all of my activities in service of my music. This allows me to use virtually any moment of the day to learn about movement and mindset. Cool! This gives me more practice time, which I don’t have enough of.
I love to learn and I love to move. Every day during the shut down, I have taken an online Parkour class, and in every class I am challenged to move with more ease or in new ways, breaking down the barrier of what I thought I could do.
My movement practice serves my playing. It is a time where I can break down barriers and I can learn to move using my whole body. This is how I have learned to recognize and harness the power of connections. These connections include the power of the breath to facilitate coordination and how the arms can move with more ease when the legs and spine are in motion as well.
Today, I invite you to begin a movement practice. This will help you tone up but it is better than exercise, it is more about the quality and connections of movement than it is about sets and repetitions. My movement practice begins when I get in up in the morning. I do 15 min of movement that starts with a rolling sequence and can progress to simple tone production with the flute.
My good friend, Drew Ricciardi has laid out great movement progressions on his instagram, @themonkeybody. When we move well, we play better, we learn better and will perform better!
Be curious…
P.S. If you ever want to try Parkour visit Parkour Classes. First class is FREE!