Learn to Play Your Instrument Pain Free Once Again Via Online Zoom Lessons
Chronic Pain
I know from experience - physical pain from playing an instrument can be terrifying, frustrating, disheartening, and extremely threatening to our livelihood.
For many musicians, the traditional medical route of seeing doctors, PTs, chiropractors, etc. unfortunately does not provide lasting relief.
Through my own journey working through chronic pain, I discovered that the reason the medical model is often not effective is because it does not address the physical, mental, and emotional habits of how we are approaching our musicianship.
Most of us have learned to play with physical habits that require excessive strain in our bodies. This strain is very often compounded by the emotional pressures of our craft - insecurities, perfectionism, professional struggles, self-worth stories etc.
I have found that when we retrain ourselves to play our instruments with greater ease and simultaneously work through our emotional difficulties, our bodies are able to heal.
These sessions are designed to help you do this.
Benefits:
Learn to understand and overcome your chronic pain
Go from just surviving to thriving as a musician
Work through the emotional struggles interfering with your musicianship
Relearn to play your instrument in a way that leads to greater ease, better sound, and quicker results
Experience greater connection, authenticity, and inspiration in your musical life
To help you overcome your chronic pain, I draw upon tools from:
The Alexander Technique:
Chronic pain is very often caused by using our bodies inefficiently as we play our instruments. Most of us are not taught how to play with awareness of minimizing excess tension, and so very frequently we develop physical habits that cause the body to break down and chronic pain to develop. The Alexander Technique is a method for training physical habits of ease. In session, you will learn ways of helping your body release the excess tension it is holding onto, allowing it to come back into equilibrium. We will pinpoint the playing habits contributing to your pain, and you will learn ways of playing your instrument far more efficiently.
Somatic Experiencing®:
Chronic pain is our body trying to give us a message. Once we get the message, the pain is able to go away. Somatic Experiencing® helps us learn how to listen to what our bodies are trying to tell us. Often the messages that come through not only help the pain go away, but help shift our lives and musicality more into a place of authenticity and alignment personally, professionally, and spiritually. Somatic Experiencing® work also helps release any traumas that have been stuck in the body and contributing to our pain.
Mindful Self-Compassion:
Research has shown that the way we respond mentally and emotionally to our chronic pain strongly impacts how well we are able to heal. If we constantly meet our pain with strong aversion, negativity, or hatred for what we are experiencing, our healing journey is going to be slowed dramatically - “What we resist persists.” Mindful Self Compassion helps us learn to more fully embrace the physical and emotional aspects of our pain and build compassion for ourselves through it. The result is deeper understanding of our pain and increased ability for the body to heal itself - “If you can feel it, you can heal it.”
What do sessions look like?
During sessions we will:
Build your awareness of what is causing your pain so that you can directly understand what will help you overcome it
Develop self-care tools that will help your body heal and reduce the strain on your body both with your instrument and in other areas of life
Process and work through the mental and emotional components that are contributing to your pain and other musical difficulties
Sessions are uniquely tailored based on the connections and challenges of each student.
Private sessions are 1 hour in length.
Good quality internet connection is required.
How enrollment works:
Complete a 20 minute consultation phone call to see if we are a good match for working together.
Complete an introductory session where you will have a direct experience of the process and we can determine the best way to move forward.
Currently sessions are 1 hour long at at rate of $180 per session.
Credentials
I am an Alexander Technique and have a masters degree in mental health counseling. I also have completed trainings in Somatic Experiencing trauma work and Mindful Self-Compassion.
I have personally overcome chronic wrist pain induced by guitar playing and have been pain free for many years now. I have also been a private guitar instructor for the past 12 years.
*To read more about my journey through chronic pain, see the Jack’s Story page.
