Balanced Lifestyle

Time for an Afternoon Nap

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

“Done well, there’s something special about a nap. A short sleep during daylight hours is a moment of quiet in a world of noise… for a while, you can switch off.”

Ceci Browning, The Quiet Art of Napping

I am going to let you into a secret: whenever I can, I take an afternoon nap. I have even programmed space for it within my teaching schedule.

It’s not simply that I am getting old, convalescing from an illness, or even because I am lazy, but because I find it makes a significant difference to my overall wellbeing, mood, and productivity.

Spring Awakening

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

The Chinese New Year heralds the fifteen day Spring Festival, and culminates in the Lantern Festival.

It perhaps seems odd to celebrate the arrival of Spring as early as February, several weeks before the equinox, but the stirrings of new life and fresh shoots are surely well under way, and the blossom appearing on the trees in our neighbourhood suggest that the Chinese have it right!

Wisdom for the Winter

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

As Autumn turns to winter, dead leaves wither on our pathways, migrating birds have headed off in search of warmer climes, insects are crawling into holes, and many animals are settling down to hibernate until the spring thaw.

In Chinese medicine and Qigong practice, the human metabolism also slows down in the Winter, and our energy can become dormant. And yet we seem to largely ignore the challenges of the season. Instead, we work and play even more frenetically than usual as we head towards the Christmas season at breakneck speed.

There is a real danger that our over-exertion in the early winter leaves us physically depleted, mentally and emotionally exhausted, and more susceptible to infection, illness and a general sense of feeling “run down”. We need to take stock…

Avoiding Excess, Cultivating Balance

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

In this short post, I want to address our need for a balanced approach to our piano practice and playing. But first, let’s take a step back and consider some more universal principles.

It seems to be our Western way of thinking to categorise and put everything in separate boxes. We are not always so adept at making connections. We explain our world using artificial constructs that polarise, and that fixate on opposites. We speak of good and evil, black and white, hard and soft, male and female, hot and cold, fortissimo and pianissimo, night and day.

We may think that these opposites are mutually exclusive, but our experience of the world around us teaches a different lesson. Just as positive and negative ions charge the air we breathe, so too energy, movement and a living narrative are all impossible without the interaction of opposing forces.

The Supreme Good

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

What are we to say, and how are we to live, in times of trauma, escalating suffering and conflict? On this site I often quietly apply the wisdom of Daoism to our piano playing journey, but what of its broader relevance? Faced with misery on multiple fronts, can Daoism offer any hope?

The great Daoist sage Lao Tzu lived in tumultuous times, too. The details of his life may have been obscured by the mists of time, but the conflicts of that era are well known, and they were brutal. Reading his classic Tao Te Ching, no wonder his deeply-considered response to the world as he found it continues to resonate with so many to this day.

The Pianist’s Silence

Pianodao Wellbeing • Mind, Body, Soul

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

These days perhaps more than ever, the world is a pretty rowdy place. And by definition, as pianists we add to that noise (albeit of course, very positively!). Lest we lose our way, let’s consider how we might bring a little bit more peace and quiet into our lives.

Okay, so the practicalities of making space for silence in our lives probably require little explanation: surely all we need to do is switch off the gadgets, stop the music, find a spot where we won’t be interrupted, and spend a few minutes quietly minding our own business.

We can (and of course I will…) expand on that. But first we should perhaps consider an important question: why does it matter?

To help answer that, I will offer a few observations about environmental noise, mental chatter, and suggest a few really simple ways to introduce a few moments of respite into our busy daily routines.

The Pianist’s Breathwork

Pianodao Wellbeing • Mind, Body, Soul

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

Breathwork is a form of meditation that relies on the body, rather than the mind, to do the work of calming. It lowers stress by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system and increasing oxygen to the brain.

Breathing is the first and last thing that we do as humans. And yet most of us breathe in unconscious and restricted ways, leading to dire consequences for our bodies, physical health and emotional wellness.

But as Jennifer Patterson advocates in her brilliant The Power of Breathwork (2020),

“Breathing happens unconsciously all the time, but it can also be consciously and intentionally engaged with. How present you are to your breath is how present you are to your life. By bringing consciousness to the breath you can interrupt automatic responses, reactions, thought patterns, and more.”

During breathwork practice we intentionally focus on and systematically adjust our breathing patterns. Such exercises have been a core element of meditation, yoga (pranayama) practice, and qigong for centuries, but have recently been popularised worldwide by the wellness movement and as a mindfulness technique.

Breathwork is now also recommended by the NHS here in the UK as a tool to overcoming stress. Many find that this practice promotes deep relaxation and leaves them feeling energised.

In this article I am going to consider the value of simple breathwork practice for pianists, explaining how and when it can be a helpful tool, and introducing you to some easy and popular breathwork exercises that you will be able to try for yourself, straight away.

The Pianist’s Self-Care

Pianodao Wellbeing • Mind, Body, Soul

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

At the time of writing, most of us are feeling uneasy. We are, after all, in the midst of a global pandemic, concerned for ourselves, our loved ones, our finances, and fearful of what our world might be like in a few months time.

But as we spend more time away from our usual routines, we might also discover a deeper unease. A rock has plunged into the pool of our lives. The ripples are still clearing, and a lot of mud has been churned up. As the waters settle again, we are coming to see things that were perhaps unclear to us before.

As pianists we might hope to see glimpses of answers to life’s most profound questions sat before our piano, absorbed in our playing. And certainly, as I’ve written here before, piano playing can provide a sanctuary from all else that is unfolding around us.

But while some presently find they can use their piano playing as an escape from grim news, many others are experiencing frustration at their lack of motivation, focus and inspiration.

In this article, I will consider some basic elements of self-care from a Daoist (Taoist) perspective in the hope that readers will find some helpful suggestions, and that each of us can enjoy a piano journey that reflects an easier, more connected and settled experience of life.