Hello and welcome back to Musician’s Maintenance Weekly where it’s my job to find interesting movements and ideas to help you level-up your movement practice in ways that will compliment your musical practice.
Here’s what I’ve got this week 1) Physical wellness resources for musicians 2) The Secret to Longevity 3) 12 Feel Good Movements
(Note: If you enjoy these newsletters, please consider forwarding this email to a friend, colleague, teacher or classmate. They can sign up here and then you won’t be the only one you know talking about movement variability and natural movements).
1) Physical Wellness for Musicians
Kimberly Hankins of the Aligned Musician has put together a great list of physical wellness resources for musicians (although I’m a little biased since she included me on the list).
There are options for live-stream classes for fitness, Pilates and Feldenkrais. She’s also included options for personal online training, telehealth physical therapy, online courses, YouTube channels and a few books. Find something that fits your needs and check it out.
Read: Physical Wellness for Musicians | The Aligned Musician
Sponsor: Playing Less Hurt by Janet Horvath
Playing Less Hurt is one of the first books on musician’s health, written by cellist Janet Horvath. It’s a call to action for musicians to take responsibility for the care of their bodies with concrete tips on how. Her advice stands the test of time, so I think this is a must read for any serious musician, especially if something hurts.
Sponsor: Playing Less Hurt: An Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians by Janet Horvath
(Affiliate: If you buy the book through this link, I get a small portion of the sale at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the Musician’s Maintenance mission!)
2) The Secret of Longevity
Ido Portal is one of the deepest thinkers on the topic of movement out there. Take a look at this short video in the link below for his thoughts on the secret to keeping your body healthy for the long term. To him it’s all about movement variability and not specializing.
Now, as musicians you are definitely what he would consider “movement specialists” and there can be consequences to that (hence the 80% injury rate). But I think his advice represents the best way to mitigate your risk. It’s not by just stretching or strengthening individual body parts. It’s becoming a movement explorer, which is also more interesting than just exercising.
I’ve explored his approach and I think there are parts of it that would be great for musicians, and others that are not appropriate. In future newsletters I’ll present movements and ideas of his that I think will be most beneficial.
Watch: The Secret of Longevity | Ido Portal
3) 12 Feel Good Movements You Can Do in a Tiny Space
Speaking of exploring movements that aren’t your standard “exercises” MovNat is another group that is doing some great work. Here’s a post that they put up on 12 Natural movements you can do in a small space.
As you’ll see, the movements are less focused on isolating a specific body part and more about practicing positions and transitions that you don’t encounter much on a day to day basis.
Move: 12 Feel-Good Natural Movements You Can Do in a Tiny Space | MovNat