Daily practice has always been a problem for me and the last few months of activity in my life have proved to be the kryptonite to me. Between work and relationships, between only having 24 hours in a day and also minding my own self awareness...shakuhachi practice has suffered. Last week I had decided this was going to cease and I would get back on the practice schedule. Since then, it has worked and I have been getting the lungs, fingers and embouchure in shape for essential learning. It always amazes me how quickly my lung capacity and dynamics disappear after only a few months. Fortunately, the embouchure remains and I can play.
The internet has lately become a great place to scurry back to for refreshers on basics and to get caught up to where I was before life crept back in. YouTube, individual blogs, shakuhachi sites...all have been invaluable to me. And getting the few songs in my fingers back helps a great deal,too. I have been doing my best to stay away from Facebook as it has been a horrible place to be for the most part. No need to detail as to why, with the current political climate in disarray. And this has helped me focus on my Buddhist philosophical studies as well as shakuhachi lessons.
This brings up the playing of my shakuhachi when meditating or in mindfulness. Fellow shakuhachi player, performer and teacher, Kiku Day, discusses this so very well in her work entitled "Mindful playing, mindful practice: The shakuhachi as a modern meditation tool".
I won't go into great detail here as the work is on the internet to see and read in full (highly recommended), but she brings out some delightful points about meditation and musicians of which I agree..." I believe it is not an easy task to apply meditation to music playing and that it requires as arduous training as any sitting meditation form. I find that people, myself included, are confused by the notions of concentration, flow, and meditation." This I wholeheartedly agree with! And I have struggled to find that connection between the three dynamics of music, meditation and mindfulness.
So, I have been trying to re-shape how my meditation and practicing are done, hoping that I can find a happy medium that keeps me stimulated in playing and not "bored" with routine that eventually has me wandering away. Now, this doesn't mean I stop all shakuhachi related activities, far from it. I listen to it daily, watch videos and research history,etc. But the PRACTICING...never something I have been good at.
Therefore, I shall try my best to play and meditate daily, to combine the two when and if it is appropriate and works. This is my goal for the rest of the year. When December arrives, I hope to see what has happened and where I stand in all of this.
Kiku Day's blog and page ... Kiku Day
