‘Seven wonders of wellbeing’ – for musicians

It’s a privilege again to be on the faculty at the European String Teachers Association (ESTA) summer school, this year held at Dean Close School in Cheltenham. Check out their Facebook page for updates on signing up.

I’ll be presenting a broad range of themes for attendees under the heading ‘Seven wonders of wellbeing’.

First of all, we’ll take a deep dive into tackling performance anxiety with the help of the latest research as well as five practical visualisations which can be shared with students. Next, I’ll be guiding participants on how to hone the body map. Simple understandings of how the body works can make a big difference: when the body map is accurate, movement becomes freer and less susceptible to tension and injury.

Then I’ll be looking at how to defeat perfectionism. Perfectionism is bad news since it can lead to anxiety, muscle tension and underperformance. We need to look at what can replace it. Fourthly, I’ll introduce kinematic sequences which are well understood in sports, but not commonly understood among musicians. Learning how well-coordinated movement relies on exquisite timing through our whole musculoskeletal system is empowering.

Finally, we’ll approach the Alexander Technique through the lens of the latest science into how it encourages muscles to work in a way that is adapted to the task at hand.

All in all, it’s going to be an exciting and fun week!