“Self-care is never a selfish act — it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others.” Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak Self-care has always been at the core of ancient traditions which evolved to help us seek and maintain balance in body, […]
The Choral Life
The Conductor as Yogi: This Is Your Brain on Stress
One of the most common reasons people come to a yoga class is to de-stress. Stress is at the center of our modern lifestyles, so engaging in the physical practice of yoga, as well as the meditation, mindfulness, and breathing that are built into the eight-limbed yoga practice, go a long way to helping us […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Letting Go
“Letting go” is hardly a surprising topic for a yoga blog. But for the conductor? Now there’s an interesting exploration. Letting go is central to yoga and other wisdom practices. We sit on the mat and focus on our breathing, letting go with each exhale. We consider the words of poets and sages, of scripture […]
The Conductor as Yogi: The Illusion of “Done”
We are list makers, task accomplishers, and detail managers. We juggle between our professional and personal lives, never really stopping for long because there is always one more item on the list, one more email to send, one more errand to run. When we finish that, we think, then we will be “done.” The only […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Lighten-ing Ways
As I write this, it is 5:47 AM on a Saturday morning. It is light outside and has been for a while. While I prefer sleeping in a little later, there is something about these longer spring days of earlier sunrises and later sunsets that creates an expanded sense of space and time. We can […]
The Conductor as Yogi: It’s Time for Savasana
The season and academic year are ending. The concerts will be finished. We feel a sense of accomplishment, relief, and celebration, colored with the bittersweet realization that it is still an imperfect world both in and out of our choral lives. Our limbs may feel heavy, our energy is drained, and our exhales are getting […]