Guitar like a Yogi

I’m not a yoga teacher (yet), but I have been doing yoga since I've been teaching music (almost 20 yrs) and I think there is something yogic about learning an instrument. 

I know how it feels to feel like something is out of reach (figuratively & literally), like it’s not for me, like my hands are too small, my voice not good enough (figuratively & literally), etc.

AND I know how it feels to see that IT IS possible to achieve something despite what I think or feel. So much like with yoga, it is through that unavoidable, simple yet complex, new-agey idea thrown around not often enough. Mindful practice.

Sometimes I see potential musicians/artists avoid their calling because they think all the things above and more. “Who am I to do this,” “I suck,” “I can’t” and so on. I teach all ages, and it is always a bitter pill to watch that childhood naiveté switch to awareness, fear, self comparison, and judgment of self and others. With that, our child-like permission to play is essentially revoked.

We become paralyzed by the idea of ourselves...but that’s the thing about learning an instrument or a song or anything new, it will always move you forward if you let go of the idea and just do the work, one step, note, finger, fret at a time.

(Note to self and to any readers out there, this first blog post is that for me. A big pain, fear, wall to break through, all the questions of why, who would read this, blah blah blah are loud and clear. What is not clear is what would happen if I finally take this plunge. As a forever student and teacher of the arts...that's the question that keeps me going. What's scarier? Are you scared enough?)

Breathing. Zooming in (a tech term I think is good to tap into mindfulness and what is being asked of it) and connecting to the smallest details in the moment, in the hands, the tips of the fingers, the sweet spot on the fret for the least resistance and crisp sound. I wish I could say if you can play a chord then you can face anything, but that’s not true. 

What it does do is give you a chance to sound like shit until it doesn't. Over and over again. The chance is always there to inch forward, mistake your way through, running it over and over again until every wrinkle is ironed out. You learn a chord, and then a two chord song, and then a four chord song, and with those chords, you can play thousands of songs.

The idea of being someone who can play an instrument makes a mountain out of a molehill. You don’t have to pursue success like [enter celebrity here] to participate. You don't need an invitation to join a band. To play, all you need to is focus on one thing, one note at a time, one song, and another, and another. And eventually maybe there will be that chance to play the song around a camp fire, an open mic, a chance to perform on a stage, or dare I say it, write and record your own song. None of that need happen in any particular order, or need happen at all. Nothing needs to happen more than the moment of picking up the instrument, and giving that moment a chance to exist. That's what makes music such a unique experience for the artist and audience. The time it takes to create and to listen, the exchange itself. Fleeting and present moments.

Learning an instrument, a song, an art form, gives us permission in life to do something when so often we are faced with the opposite. It gives us a chance to create, to find new opportunities, be in the moment, and take another chance, over and over again. Sounds a lot like mindfulness to me.

On that note, if you've always wanted to play guitar, or any other instrument, and you’re not afraid to bend your way into odd positions and breathe into the pain, do it like yoga. Go find that old guitar tucked away in the back of the closet, and give those strings and permissions a stretch, literally and figuratively. Your inner self will thank you for it!