Discover how yoga can benefit your body as a pianist & performer through prep, maintenance and recovery routines.
Playing the piano in itself can be a relaxing and even meditative activity, however if we are in a stressful or anxious state when we come to the piano, those relaxing benefits are harder to achieve.
In this article you’ll discover how the Yoga for Pianists course is designed to help you discover and maintain a body that is free from pain, strain and any tension that you may be holding.
Watch the video below or read on!
Yoga for Pianists is formatted into five different routines with specific aims for each.
mini-sequence for upper body
This is a quick 5-minute sequence that you can go through anytime you are in a hurry to get playing the piano. Do this quick sequence before and ideally, also after - your piano practice session.
The list of things in our daily life that affect how much tension we hold in our body is endless – something as quick as 5 minutes spent stretching out your upper torso can relieve muscle tension due to poor posture, stress, anxiety and injury.
Over the long term these stretches will help to improve your posture when sitting.
mini-sequence for legs & spine
Another quick 5-minute routine that focuses on the legs and spine. Perhaps surprisingly, the legs are a crucial part in playing piano. We require the power of rooting down through our legs and feet in order to play forced, powerful passages at the piano - we also require our legs for a balanced seat at the piano where we can move freely to the edges of the pianos range - we also require our feet for pedalling.
So it’s important to make sure our legs are ready for action and our spine is limber and free to extend to it’s full range of movement both forward, back and side to side - as well as maintaining an upright posture at our piano bench.
This 5-minute routine can be done for quick effect and can be perfectly paired with the Mini-sequence for Upper Body as a ten-minute yoga program for busy people.
To get the full effects of the Yoga for Pianist program, you’ll want to regularly delve into the longer routines.
Piano Prep Routine
The Piano Prep routine is a 15-minute program especially designed to limber up the full body ready to play the piano for an extended amount of time. If you have a marathon session of 1 hour or more planned, this is your go-to preparation.
maintenance routine
This 10-minute routine follows perfectly on from the Piano Prep. It works on strengthening the key areas for pianist bodies, as well as working on releasing the areas of the body that we hold the most tension.
recovery routine
This routine can be done after every practice session or after you’ve been sitting for a length of time at any part of the day: desk-bound, driving, sitting in a lecture or watching a film.
This routine is begun in an easy cross-legged pose and helps to wind down the body.
Who is this course for?
FOR students
Perfect for students to engage all parts of the body before sitting at the piano to ensure a full range of healthy movement, use post-practice to reset your body before continuing your day and use the maintenance routine to work on range of movement and dexterity.
These routines are the perfect preparation before a performance, particularly if you are nervous or tense at all. It relaxes not only the limbs and muscles of the body, but the nervous system: bringing calm to the breath and the mind.
FOR TEACHERS
Also a great resource for teachers who want to promote healthy playing with their students: Use a mini-sequence in the final minutes of your lesson to loosen up - or provide the prep, maintenance & recovery routines for students under exam or competition stress. Teach your students to relax their body before a performance!
