Music is for everyone. Rock, pop, folk, hiphop – whatever your taste, it simply makes our world a better place to be!
My passion is classical. As a classically trained flute player, I have been part of the immersive world of orchestral playing from a young age. There is nothing quite like being at the core of a body of musicians, pouring your heart and soul into bringing those little dots on the page to life. It is incredible, absorbing and totally fulfilling. A collective, malleable machine that intuitively communicates and connects with each other and the audience without the need for words. When I’m playing I can think of nothing else – all energy and concentration is focussed on and harnessed in the present. A truly meditative state, you could say.
Meditation does not always have to be sitting completely still, invoking a quiet, relaxed state of mind. Daily activities or everyday tasks can be an excellent vessel through which to focus the mind. You have all experienced situations when you have had no awareness of time. Perhaps you felt 100% alive and free. It is very likely in these times you were ‘in the moment’ and engaged in a special way – in a state of flow. The key to achieving this ‘flow’ with everyday tasks is to pay careful attention to the activity, being present with it and fully absorbed. In the same way that a symphony is a musical process in motion, so too is meditation like a planned flow activity.
People who practice mindfulness and meditation are more easily able to access and stay with flow states.
We learn more about flow as part of the 8-week courses I teach. Check out my website to find more information about courses on offer.
Image courtesy of Anthony Delanoix at https://unsplash.com/
