It seems crazy to me that I have to make time to relax. Something so...well...relaxing, shouldn't that be spontaneous? Rather than planned and scheduled and organised? One of my harp teachers used to actually shout at me to tell me to relax- well you can imagine the reaction.
I have picked up another injury, this time in my right forearm. Once again, the week before a gig. It is completely self-inflicted, and not the harp's fault at all.
The harp is an extremely physical instrument - every part of your body (hmmm maybe not your nose) is required to play it. It makes mincemeat of necks, shoulders, backs and arms. To add insult to injury, my day job involves sitting at a desk working on a computer and my commute time is about 2 1/2 hours per day in the car.
Lately I have been feeling a lot more relaxed emotionally - after a really tough couple of years, things at last seem to be falling into place and I feel more in control of my own destiny and able to make decisions about what I want and how I am going to achieve it all.
However, the physical side of things is most definitely not relaxed. I was reassured to read the cyclist David Millar's book just before Christmas, and he finds it almost impossible too.
Last time I remember feeling really relaxed was in Italy on last year's harp course - in July ffs!, having spent a wonderful practice session with a very dear friend and a very gifted couple of teachers. Finally I knew what it 'should' feel like and what I was aiming for.
Late last year, in an attempt to get my body to stretch out, I was doing Pilates, a bit of yoga, lots of Davina DVDs and enjoying the odd Zumba class. Then things got busy and it all went to pot :-(
So.... time to put relaxing back up the priority list. No excuses. Pilates tomorrow morning once I have taken the dogs out!
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