Nurturing 

Musicians

September 2024

In this month's SenseAbility edition we discover how can improve your skills and nurture your longevity, as a musician. 

Professional musicians often start early in life, playing from a very young age. They learn in environments that are competitive, feeling pressure to perform to extremely high standards. They aren't always taught how to look after themselves properly, physically and mentally. This can lead to high levels of tension and potential injuries from extended periods of doing repetitive movements. 

This is where the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education can really help, by embarking on a process of self discovery through movement you can start to develop a new (healthier) relationship with yourself and your instrument. Reigniting your spark for music and bringing the joy back into being a musician. 

Whether you are a casual musician or professional, you have probably encountered a healthy amount of frustration on your journey of learning how to play. It's a life-long process that requires plenty of patience and perseverance. The Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education provides both physical and emotional support during this process, assisting with persistent injuries and giving you new perspectives on how to look after yourself as your practice and perform.

In this months edition we discover how the wisdom of the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education can help your become a healthier and happier musician. We have a lovely interview with Erin Finkelstein, an experienced Feldenkrais® practitioner and a professional Clarinettist.

Erin discusses her own journey with being a musician and how the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education helped her learn to treat herself with respect and care, and most importantly, that it was OK to rest!

We also have an in-depth article from Lisa Burrell, which explores why musicians get injured and what they can do to prevent it. She also explains that our teaching environments need to stay up to date with current ideas on learning and self development in order to support these changes institutionally. 

It's an action packed edition and we hope it helps you become a happier and healthier musician!

Feldenkrais Communication Team

Jane, Michelle, Seth and Joe

An Article by Lisa Burrell

I recently returned from two international conferences where I had the honor of learning from the preeminent researchers, doctors, teachers, and practitioners in the field of musicians’ health and wellness. As I listened, taught, and talked amongst them, I discovered almost all of us had one additional trait in common – we had suffered injury as musicians, and, most often injury that had ended a performance career, or at least the aspirations of one. 

My personal injury story starts with early symptoms of focal dystonia in my violin playing in my mid-thirties. Musicians’ focal dystonia is a neurological disorder involving loss of control, involuntary muscle contractions, and/or tremor that predominantly affects finger movements in string players, woodwind players, and pianists, and the muscles of the embouchure in brass players. Since I was equally passionate about teaching and performing, I delved into injury-prevention methods with my students almost as soon as I sought professional help for my injury. Wanting more answers for both me and my students led me to train to become a Feldenkrais® practitioner...  

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