By Ramona M. Wis

Earth and Sky.  

Two deeply embedded experiences in our lives, embedded since we took our first breaths.  Images, sensibilities, metaphors, and even the gravitational pull of Earth and Sky show up in our everyday life: in our speech, our actions (or lack of action), and our sense of felt wellness, of “being right with the world.”  And because our lives include our teaching and our making of art, Earth and Sky show up in our work, as well.

Earth.  Where we spent our first year gaining our “grounding,” learning from the energy we feel when we connect directly with the ground as we learn to walk.  Earth sensibilities are reflected in everyday language:  she is “well-grounded” or they need to “stand on their own two feet;” he is “earthy” (hmm, hopefully that doesn’t mean smelly) or “down to earth.”  

Beyond physical stability, Earth gives us a sense of emotional, intellectual, and artistic stability.  With a healthy sense of Earth we have the confidence, clarity, and strength to meet life’s challenges, whether large, pandemic-size challenges or those on the daily to-do list. We know who we are; we have direction and are less likely to be swayed by the impulse of the moment—by fears, judgement, or competition (even with ourselves).  We are “rooted,” “sturdy,” and calm, with a long, steady exhale and a sense of peace in the midst of the frenetic pace.  

But Earth can have a downside (sorry, bad pun).  Too deep a sense of Earth can make us, what yogis would call, tamasic: we experience inertia or stubbornness; we avoid trying something new or we may be limited in our thinking.  When Earth is too strong, we can be lethargic, even depressed, and professionally uninspired or just plain stuck.

Enter Sky.  

Do you remember, as a kid, laying in the grass or a hammock and idly looking up at the Sky?  (I still do this and even take sky pictures when I am not buried in the minutiae of my life.)  

Sky is vast.  It represents unlimited possibility and the sense that there is something larger than ourselves.  Sky is air, wind, atmosphere or “heavens.”

Sky may evoke a sense of God or Universe or Spirit . . . of inspiration, the root of which (inspirare) can be defined as “to breathe or blow into.” Breath, air, spirit, inspiration, prana or life force . . . all are fueled by our awareness of and experience with, Sky.

Sky encourages growth.  Trees grow up, reaching toward the Sky, energized by the atmosphere, by the sun.  Thinking of Sky can increase our inhale and physical energy and encourage a more lifted posture or optimistic tone of voice or facial expression.

But Sky, like Earth, can lead us off balance.  Too much Sky, and our “head is in the clouds;” we can be “flighty” or overwhelmed.  We take on too much and have trouble making decisions, suffering from FOBO (Fear of Better Options) because we have to research just a little more before we finalize our virtual concert program for the world to see.  Too much Sky can leave us anxious, unfocused, or erratic in thinking or action.

When we feel pulled in one direction, residing too long in Earth or Sky, we feel “off.”  We experience a sense of dis-ease that can show up in physical symptoms or just a broader sense of something missing, and we find ourselves searching endlessly for something to unify us towards center, to make us and our work, whole.

Do you tend toward Earth or Sky?  Know that your natural inclinations are not bad—you were designed with those characteristics precisely because they—you—are needed in this world.  Great teachers, great leaders help ground and stabilize those around them; great teachers, great leaders also catalyze themselves and others to new possibility.  But if you are not in balance, you won’t be living your best life.

Too much Earth? Move.  Physically move, regularly, and move your thinking, ideas, patterns, and habits to loosen the “stuckness” of your world.  Surround yourself with people who move. Deepen your inhale.

Too much Sky?  Adopt slower, steady, contemplative movement (a walk that is more meditative than competitive).  Limit options, say no, make a decision and stay with it.  Stop Googling for more answers (aka “distractions”). Surround yourself with people who are grounding.  Extend your exhale.  

Know that your singers are just like you, sometimes stuck in Earth or frenetic in Sky.  Work from where they are (each day or over a period of time) and gradually move them toward balance, toward sattva.  Do singers need security or variety?  Do they need more structure, a clearer routine (more Earth) or a fresh perspective and new goals (more Sky)?  Evaluate how you spend your time and energy and develop strategies to shift, as needed, towards Earth or Sky.  We, as teacher/conductor/leaders, are a balancing agent for our singers, in rehearsal and often, beyond.  

The wisdom of Earth and Sky is only understood when we take time away from our devices and the mental chatter and look to nature to help remember who we are.  Only then can we bring that wisdom back to our work and to ourselves for a better sense of wholeness, always willing to shift with grace between Earth and Sky for a greater good.

Dr. Ramona Wis is the Mimi Rolland Endowed Professor in the Fine Arts, Professor of Music, and Director of Choral Activities at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and the author of The Conductor as Leader:  Principles of Leadership Applied to Life on the Podium.  Dr. Wis is a 500-hour CYT (Certified Yoga Teacher) with training in yoga history, philosophy, meditation, energetics, pranayama (breath work), anatomy, Sanskrit, and the teaching, sequencing, and adaptations of asana (posture-based) practice.

For further reading:

Tamas  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamas_(philosophy)

Sattva  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sattva

Prana  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prana

Inspirare  https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-origins-of-inspire

Or check out Walter Bitner’s blog from last week on inspiration:  https://choralnet.org/2020/09/off-the-podium-inspiration-part-1/

By Ramona M. Wis

“Movement is essential.”  Katy Bowman, M.S., biomechanist

I just finished my first week of fall classes:  five rehearsals and two non-performance class meetings, all online.  While it was different, the experience was enlightening, connected, and inspiring on many levels.  The unsolicited feedback from students after the first day of rehearsals was very positive and while I would like to think I had some kind of magic formula, it was clear to me that the breathing and moving we do together are more important than ever for creating normalcy.  It centers us and connects us to each other, even from our personal choir rooms on Zoom. Movement has become the new throwback, the essential that has been shelved in an increasingly sedentary and virtual world.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about breath as fundamental to developing the “well” choir.  Teaching singers to use breath awareness to change one’s state—from anxious to calm or from lethargic to active—can help restore balance and create readiness for our work.  While breath is essential to being alive it is also the tool we carry with us to help cope with life’s challenges and prepare for life’s possibilities.  Knowing how to move our breath, and our bodies, can dramatically increase our felt sense of wellness.

There are countless gesture and movement activities we can use in rehearsal.  What matters is that we move, that we move mindfully, and that we attach movement to our larger learning goals and experience.  Today, let’s consider how subtle movement, built on grounding activities, can enhance our ability to breathe, and be, well.

To start from a healthy seated position, ask singers to come to the front edge of their chair (or couch, bed, stool, whatever they are using).  Encourage them to find their “sit bones,” the bony ischial tuberosity (for the biomechanics fans out there) which grounds us in a seated position.  Yoga teachers cue students to shift their weight slightly and move the flesh out of the sitting area on one side, then do the same on the other, in order to make room for/feel the connection of the sit bones to the chair.  Pause to let singers know that being grounded is not just good for singing but also for our overall sense of stability and security.

Begin breathing practice from here or, to help open the body for better breathing, ask singers to place their hands on their thighs and practice several rounds of “Cat/Cow” (Marjaryasana/Bitilasana).  “Exhale as you round the back and let the head gently follow, looking down; then, initiating with the inhale, lift the chest and look forward, continuing slightly upward.  Repeat this flow, breathing at your natural pace, and notice the body opening up and releasing tension from all that time spent staring at screens.”  Remind singers that when they sing, they want to experience flexibility built on stability, a “both/and” experience.

Ask singers to stand.  Help them visualize their feet as having “four corners,” under the big and little toe and the back two corners of the heel.  Even with shoes on (though in a remote world, they can comfortably lose them), singers can lift their toes and reconnect them with the earth to feel stable.  “Bring your weight to the place where the heel meets the arch, perhaps shifting your weight side to side and forward to back until you find that stability.”  Remind singers to keep a micro-bend in the knees to prevent them from locking, especially under performance pressure.

From here, you are ready to breathe more fully, using the breath awareness practices I wrote about in my earlier essay or whatever you choose to do.  Invite singers to use simple gestures to “conduct” their breathing, using both arms to balance the body and create more space.  Some will prefer a lifting gesture on inhale, arms floating out from the sides and up to shoulder height and then releasing on exhale. Others choose to mirror the movement of the diaphragm by pressing hands down on the inhale, then gently releasing them to their starting position on exhale.  As singers become comfortable, they will create and adapt their gesture and breathing for what they need that day and they will develop their own movement repertoire to help them in their singing practice, which we can encourage them to call upon throughout our work together.

Observing singers during this breath and movement exploration allows us to make mental notes about individuals and by extension, about the ensemble as rehearsal begins that day.  Are they moving with energy or not much at all? Are they painting an expansive gesture and likely in a positive mood, ready to go? Do they show frustration with any part of this activity?  As always, we adapt to the needs of the day and to the singers, knowing we can build on their mind/body/spirit awareness each time we meet.

Even in our virtual formats, movement in breath and body can be the key to our artistic and community-building mission.  While we continue to innovate practices and learn new technology, let us remember—that which we know well can be our best strategy as we lead in new territory. 

Dr. Ramona Wis is the Mimi Rolland Endowed Professor in the Fine Arts, Professor of Music, and Director of Choral Activities at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and the author of The Conductor as Leader:  Principles of Leadership Applied to Life on the Podium.  Dr. Wis is a 500-hour CYT (Certified Yoga Teacher) with training in yoga history, philosophy, meditation, energetics, pranayama (breath work), anatomy, Sanskrit, and the teaching, sequencing, and adaptations of asana (posture-based) practice.

This blog is informational and is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical or psychological conditions.  Always consult your medical practitioners who know you and your needs and can advise you accordingly. 

For further exploration:

Short video with great visuals by Feldenkrais teacher Alfons Grabher, “Where are your hip joints and sit-bones? EXPLAINED,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6mBMrX4fss

Marjaryasana/Bitilasana https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/cat-pose and https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/cow-pose

Katy Bowman, biomechanist, author of several books, including:  Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement and Movement Matters:  Essays on Movement Science, Movement Ecology, and the Nature of Movement.  See her author page on amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B0057HLJY2?_encoding=UTF8&node=283155&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader

By Ramona M. Wis

Singing for the Greater Good has been our choirs’ “North Star” for several years, evolving as we became more and more aware of the broader, deeper, more impactful aspects of the choral music making process.  Singing for the Greater Good unites us, guides our decision making, and recalibrates us when challenges arise, as they have in big ways over the last several months and will continue to for an undetermined amount of time in our future.

In March, I took the ideas that we talk about in rehearsal and put them into a kind of open letter to our singers.  I am sharing a reframed version with you today to encourage us to remember that the unchanging, guiding aspects of our choral lives can still remain, even though they might look different.

Here is part of my letter to our singers, reframed for our virtual reality:

“Singing for the Greater Good can be understood as three concentric circles, like ripples from a stone tossed into a pond.  It starts with each individual—how can singing, creating music, contribute to your greater good?  How has it enriched or healed you?  How has it challenged you, developed your personal grit (argh, I have to go back to this piece AGAIN, it still isn’t where it needs to be) and resilience? How has it engaged you intellectually as you process complex rhythms or melodic lines that don’t seem to make much sense?  How has it demanded of you physically, as you learn to breathe more fully or understand the mechanisms of your voice and your body as your instrument?  How has it disciplined you and your time management or shaped you as a thinker and human? 

“Singing for the Greater Good ripples out to the community in which we create music.  After all, we are not solo artists; we are a CHOIR, the very definition of which is a group, a community of individuals who come together, even virtually, to create something that cannot be created alone.  

“Let that sink in a minute. 

“What we do as individuals—our musical preparation, our focus, our attitude, even simply our attendance in a Zoom rehearsal—determines the quality of everyone else’s experience as well as our own.  How different is it when we think of our vocal line as related to the line someone else sings?  How much more does this awareness develop our individual understanding of ‘why’ we do what we do and how much richer is the fabric of the music we make, the experience we have, and the relationships we develop? And how has singing in our choirs helped you understand how your personal health and wellness can contribute to the well-being of others around you, in particular, during a global pandemic? 

“Here is where we are on to something that is not only important for us to be a better choir but also a better participant in that widest circle, our world.  

“When we sing with others in mind—those who are very much like us or not at all like us—we demonstrate an ability to think bigger than ourselves.  To recognize our common humanity and spirit despite what might, on the surface, separate us. Choirs show what it means to be dependent on others at the same time we are empowering to others and how the physical, spiritual, and artistic energies converge to transcend whatever makes us grumble in our everyday lives.  

“And in times of deep challenge, the lessons we learn and experiences we have as members of our choirs can be an important force:  strengthening, enlivening, modeling, healing, and moving us forward to something better, healthier, happier, and more whole, even when, for a period of time, we cannot convene together in the same space.”

This fall, I have reframed our North Star as, “STILL Singing for the Greater Good.”  The challenges we have been anticipating and others we can’t envision do not have to take away our larger mission as a choral ensemble.  We will adapt our methods but stay on mission to keep singing, growing, and learning in different, even deeper ways, and building on the community we are and can become.

“When you find your North Star, you know where you’re headed. That alone feels good. Plus, your North Star is (presumably) wholesome and vital, so aiming toward it will bring more and more happiness and benefit to yourself and others. And you can dream bigger dreams and take more chances in life since if you lose your way, you’ve got a beacon to home in on.”

Rick Hanson, Ph.D., author of Resilient

My “North Star” sign-off to our singers:

“In the coming weeks and months, can we find “STILL Singing for the Greater Good” lessons that will help us get through a season of enormous challenge?  Can we start with our personal greater good and wellness and move mindfully towards how we impact others and the wider world?  

“I believe the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’”

Dr. Ramona Wis is the Mimi Rolland Endowed Professor in the Fine Arts, Professor of Music, and Director of Choral Activities at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and the author of The Conductor as Leader:  Principles of Leadership Applied to Life on the Podium.  Dr. Wis is a 500-hour CYT (Certified Yoga Teacher) with training in yoga history, philosophy, meditation, energetics, pranayama (breath work), anatomy, Sanskrit, and the teaching, sequencing, and adaptations of asana (posture-based) practice.

For context and his North Star exercise:

Rick Hanson, Ph.D. https://www.rickhanson.net/find-your-north-star/

By Ramona M. Wis

“Better breathing means a better and healthier life.”  B.K.S. Iyengar

Singers are professional breathers.  We take what is a normal part of our human functioning and turn it into a specialized art.  But have we perfected breath for the art of wellness, as well as singing?

I have been singing for a long time, but it wasn’t until I began to practice yoga that I realized how the breath was our always-with-us tool for managing our state, for bringing emotions, mind, and physiology into balance.  I also became more discerning about choral breathing exercises we may have inherited without examining their potential counterproductive effects.

Breathwork in yoga is called pranayama:  prana=life force and yama=regulation or control.  Breathing is central to meditative practices, a mode of purification of the energy channels in the body.  Put simply, breathing well is not just about sustaining life but also about improving it—from surviving to thriving.  

There are many breathing practices in the yoga tradition and volumes written about breathing in both yoga and singing.  Our focus today is on reframing our approach to breathing to help build the well choir, especially during this era of enormous challenge to mind, body, and spirit. 

Breath awareness (Anapana).  Breathwork begins by simply becoming aware of how we are breathing in this moment.  Ask singers to “become aware of” or “notice” their breathing, without judgment or feeling the need to change anything.  This simple but powerful cue begins to bring the room (even the Zoom room) into focus and allows singers to switch from their prior activity or bad commute or technology snafus to the new intention, making music.  Ask, “Is your breathing smooth or rough?”  “Are your inhales or exhales longer, or about the same?”  (Leave some silence in between to give them time to sense this.)  Remind singers to just notice, not criticize or fix.  Give them time to “be” and you provide an important meditative opportunity for focus as you move forward in the rehearsal.

Inhale (Pūraka) and Exhale (Rechaka).  Once singers sense their current breath reality, we can teach them how to improve their state by directing their own breathing.  This is an important distinction between yoga breathwork and breathing activities that we guide corporately in rehearsal, such as counting beats out loud for singers to follow.  By allowing singers to determine what they need, we teach self-awareness and give them a skill they can always call upon, whether in singing or in life.  “This can be a very useful thing to know when you need to either calm yourself down, prepare yourself for sleep, or increase your energy if you need to focus.  The breathing practices can energize you or slow you down.”  (One Simple Thing, Eddie Stern, p. 201) 

Stern describes the relationship between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, from which we can understand how to guide singers in their breath management:

“The sympathetic nervous system moves us toward activity.  The parasympathetic nervous system moves us toward rest.  When we inhale, the heart speeds up.  When we exhale, the heart slows down.” (p. 199)

How do we apply this in our rehearsal teaching?

Singers feeling anxious or distracted are likely experiencing shallow breathing and a faster heart rate (the sympathetic, fight-or-flight response).  Invite them to extend the length of their exhale, encouraging the parasympathetic nervous system (rest-and-digest response) to calm their state.

For singers feeling sluggish or depressed, invite them to take a deeper, fuller inhale to increase their energy and prepare the body for activity (the job of the sympathetic nervous system). 

Reassure singers that they can always return to their natural breathing pattern and should never do anything that makes them anxious or uncomfortable.  

There are helpful and interesting ways to incorporate physical gesture into the breathing exploration, which we will look at next time as we continue discussing practices to develop the well choir.  In the meantime, two cautions about breathwork for singers:

Though holding (retaining) the breath is an aspect of some yoga practices (Kumbhaka) and choral warm-ups, be wary of retention because it may create more problems than it solves.  In Yoga for Singers, author Linda Lister writes:

“. . . the practice of holding your breath can actually be counterproductive for singers.  Unlike that of swimmers, the breath cycle of a singer should not include a holding period because it will most likely cause the support muscles to grab or lock and thus will impede the flow of the breath cycle.”  (p. 23)

Be mindful of the effect breathing has on singers’ physiology, particularly with advanced practices like the rapid breathing of Kapalabhati.  Unless you have sufficient training and a population accustomed to these practices, leave them out of rehearsals.  Though we might have done certain exercises our entire singing life, we may not have understood their full impact on ourself and others.  That said, there are many forms of pranayama that singers find helpful, healing, and interesting when instructed mindfully.  

“The practice of pranayama develops a steady mind, strong will-power and sound judgement.”  

B.K.S. Iyengar

Dr. Ramona Wis is the Mimi Rolland Endowed Professor in the Fine Arts, Professor of Music, and Director of Choral Activities at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and the author of The Conductor as Leader:  Principles of Leadership Applied to Life on the Podium.  Dr. Wis is a 500-hour CYT (Certified Yoga Teacher) with training in yoga history, philosophy, meditation, energetics, pranayama (breath work), anatomy, Sanskrit, and the teaching, sequencing, and adaptations of asana (posture-based) practice.

Further reading:

B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Pranayama. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0007921284/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_miroFb5E5DHF3

Linda Lister, Yoga for Singers: Freeing Your Voice and Spirit Through Yoga.  https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Singers-Freeing-Spirit-Through/dp/125709212X/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Linda+lister&qid=1597514463&s=books&sr=1-2

Eddie Stern, One Simple Thing: A New Look at the Science of Yoga and How It Can Transform Your Life. https://www.amazon.com/One-Simple-Thing-ScienceTransform/dp/0865477809/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=eddie+stern&qid=1597514580&s=books&sr=1-1

By Ramona M. Wis

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), Christian mystic

I have loved these words since I first heard them in Joan Szymko’s “Vivos Voco” for women’s voices.  I began using this phrase in March as my email sign off and now, as we return to our choral rehearsals in their redesigned formats, these words resonate in new ways.

“Well” can be understood in the literal sense of “not ill,” the world’s great mission right now.  But “well” also means “fit, thriving, in good form.”  I have thought of wellness as “being right with the world,” resilient, filled with grace and grit, or as a state of loving, assured spiritual comfort.  However defined, wellness is an integration of mind, body, and spirit, a balance that is challenged every day, every moment.

My hope for all of us is that we would be well as we live this new school year or season.  That we remain safe and healthy and that, as conductors, we would embrace our roles as agents of wellness with our choirs and for ourselves. When I find myself distracted by so much that bombards us these days, I try to rewind and ask myself three important questions. Over the coming weeks, we will look more deeply into these questions, encouraging us to move toward wellness in a time that has never challenged us more:

Will I remember that singing, alone or even in virtual community, provides important benefits for building and maintaining wellness? 

There is a fascinating array of research on the effects of music, particularly singing, on our mood, blood pressure, increase in oxytocin, and other measures of wellness.  When examined in conjunction with research on the effects of breathwork, yoga, and meditation, these findings remind us of what we have known, experientially, for as long as we have been singing and conducting—that the overall experience of singing is a powerful avenue for building and maintaining wellness.  

Recently, this interesting read in Neuroscience News encouraged me to see how singing can continue its power even in safe, virtual formats (I want to underscore this point, that the benefits they describe can happen together “via video conferencing platforms” or “mass jam sessions online”):  

“Lockdown singing:  the science of why music helps us connect in isolation.”

Will I craft strategies that help build a “well “choir, trusting that wellness will fortify us as we learn and create in this era?

This is the “deep work” (Dr. Cal Newport’s phrase I referenced in an earlier post) that we are doing right now and must adapt as we learn what works and what doesn’t with our choirs.  Connection, humor, physical and meditative approaches to activities we have always used, skill building, and performance goals can all be part of our planning.

Will I commit to my own wellness, more than ever, and welcome this time as a catalyst for personal growth?

Tough question, right?  

Personal wellness is our source from which we give, create, grow, and nurture.  If the source is dry, so is our potential for helping others. Even now—more so now—we can strive to make changes within the reality we experience—even small changes like a walking meditation to encourage deep breathing, physical mobility, and a calm mind. 

(See “What if I Can’t Meditate?” https://choralnet.org/2020/07/the-conductor-as-yogi-what-if-i-cant-meditate/)

A final, most important, note: 

I know some of you reading this are struggling with decisions that have been made about the modality in which you have been assigned to teach and lead this fall; perhaps you are facing a tough decision between job and health for you and your family.  (A member of my family is making this decision as we speak.)  While I don’t know you personally, I do “know” you as a choral colleague and fellow human, and I hope that however life unfolds, you are and will remain, well.  

This Julian of Norwich text can be a kind of mantra, a phrase we repeat and meditate on to calm our thoughts and to invite insight, clarity, and direction.  We can remind ourselves—as we teach, lead, and live—that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.  As we make decisions and do our work, let us do our best to build our wellness and contribute to the wellness of our singers and all those we touch in this still wonderful, yet imperfect, world.  

Dr. Ramona Wis is the Mimi Rolland Endowed Professor in the Fine Arts, Professor of Music, and Director of Choral Activities at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and the author of The Conductor as Leader:  Principles of Leadership Applied to Life on the Podium.  Dr. Wis is a 500-hour CYT (Certified Yoga Teacher) with training in yoga history, philosophy, meditation, energetics, pranayama (breath work), anatomy, Sanskrit, and the teaching, sequencing, and adaptations of asana (posture-based) practice.

By Ramona M. Wis

I have to admit, I am feeling the heat.

Virtual rehearsal planning.  Technology.  Pandemic updates.  Constant communication. Summer heat.  

Conductors are tough folks—we know what it’s like to feel the heat and find ways to get through it.  Though “no pain, no gain” is usually considered an athlete’s mantra, musicians live this, as well.  Usually the gain is an end goal—an accomplishment of some sort, like an award or a concert well performed.  But there is a deeper way to understand the purpose—and the result—of “heat” in our lives.  This is the principle of tapas.

Tapas (here, not referring to the delicious Spanish small plates) is derived from the Sanskrit root “tap,” meaning “heat” (or blaze, burn, or shine).  In its historical context, tapas means personal discipline for the purpose of purification. One of the niyamas, the inner observances from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, tapas is often likened to the purification of gold.  When applied to our lives, we can view the burning off of impurities as the practice of using our time and effort in a focused way, getting to the heart of our work and letting the rest burn off to unveil what is the most valuable and precious.

Tapas can be understood in its strict sense as a practice of austerity, as when we deny ourselves a particular food or give up a behavior in order to gain greater physical health or spiritual awareness.  The larger understanding of tapas is our discipline in making choices which result in a cleaner, leaner mode of action, clearing or freeing us because decisions always involve a “cutting off” of options.  Going through the heat ultimately brings us to a better version of ourselves on the other side; we experience in our thinking and practice a kind of purification, which the dictionary defines as “refinement” or “distillation.” This is the defining construct of tapas.

On the yoga mat, tapas may mean working on a more challenging pose or staying with it longer to build strength or endurance.  This translates off the mat in much the same way—staying with the planning of virtual rehearsal and concert experiences or employing new technologies and strategies that can build our intellectual strength and missional endurance.  We are going to need our passion and will, the inner heat we have always depended on, in order to emerge from this season with a refined level of clarity for our new and future choral reality. 

Type A personalities may seem better built for tapas but if not careful, can find themselves moving ahead with force instead of wisdom, with speed and grandeur instead of discernment and elegant simplicity of action.  This may result in a lot of ineffective and hard-to-manage strategic baggage, while our more disciplined colleague finds a way that is effective and exactly what is needed, and no more.  

Tapas always involves a releasing of the ego.  

If we exert effort in any area of life in order to look good, be famous, one-up the next person, or have something to post on social, then the purification—the real transformation which occurs within us—never happens.  But if our focus is on the singers and programs we are given to lead, we might even, on our best days, begin to welcome the heat because we know it will mean we worked tirelessly for their greater good and we can trust that who we are at the end of it all will be a more refined version of ourselves and the unique gifts we are designed to bring to our corner of the world.  

In the Robert Frost poem, “A Servant to Servants,” the main character realizes, “ . . . [T]he best way out is always through.”  In our most difficult moments, we want “out” of this surreal time . . . but if we reframe all we are experiencing as a narrative we want very much to be a part of, and even lead through when we look back on it, we know down deep we just don’t want to miss this opportunity.

“The whole science of character building may be regarded as a practice of tapas,” wrote one of the world’s foremost yoga teachers, B.K.S. Iyengar, in Light on Yoga.  What will be our commitment to tapas as we prepare for and experience this fall season?  And how will we emerge when we stand on the other side of this era?  

Purified in spirit, strategy, and strength is my hope for us all.

Dr. Ramona Wis is the Mimi Rolland Endowed Professor in the Fine Arts, Professor of Music, and Director of Choral Activities at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and the author of The Conductor as Leader:  Principles of Leadership Applied to Life on the Podium.  Dr. Wis is a 500-hour CYT (Certified Yoga Teacher) with training in yoga history, philosophy, meditation, energetics, pranayama (breathwork), anatomy, Sanskrit, and the teaching, sequencing, and adaptations of asana (posture-based) practice.

For more on Tapas:

https://yogainternational.com/article/view/heating-up-your-yoga-practice-understanding-tapas