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Music & Calming

Here at Oils by Jo I am always thinking about ideas that can support your health and wellbeing and I thought this weeks’ guest blog maybe of interest to you. It’s using music to calm these busy lives that we lead. I hope you enjoy and please feel free to contact Mark for further information.

 

Stress. I’m no expert. But I think we all recognise it when we feel it.

And let’s face it, right now stress is manifesting itself in more ways than ever.

  • We’re worried about the virus.
  • We’re worried about our friends and family.
  • We’re worried about running out of money.
  • We’re worried about our jobs and businesses we’ve spent our lives building.

And ALL of us need to find a way to switch off.

We hear a lot about the importance of mental health, wellbeing, and a need to de-stress. I recently did my first jigsaw and found that I LOVED it. Whilst I was very conscious that this might make me even more of a geek than my wife tells me I am, it made me feel a bit cooler that it was a Metallica album cover but that’s another story…

The point is that whilst I LOVE music… it’s pretty much the most important thing in the world to me other than my wife and my family (oh and my dog Herbie!)…. it’s difficult for me to use music to switch off because I make a living from it, and have lived and breathed music for as long as I can remember.

But a musical hobby CAN help so many people, be it listening, writing, or playing it yourself.

One of the things I talk about a lot is helping people who are busy, stressed, & think they don’t have time for a musical hobby, to discover that they do, and they CAN do it. They’re usually busy with work, kids etc and want a way to de-stress or unwind away from their job, & want something to improve their mental wellbeing.

They usually say things like “I always wanted to play piano, but…”.

The rest of the sentence often involves a lack of time.

I hear it all the time: “I don’t have time to play piano”. But I don’t think that’s your problem. I think it’s that you either previously had an experience of piano lessons that subconsciously put you off because it was boring, or the way you’re currently trying to learn isn’t working, so you’re finding something else to do that at that moment you’ve decided is more important. Because no one wants to sit at the keys and feel like they’re not getting any better. That they’ll never be able to do it. That they’re not as good as they want to be. You want to be motivated. Excited. Pleased. You want to play something you love, not something you’ve been MADE to.

And you want to be able to enjoy the process. Enjoy the journey (god that’s SO reality TV). And you want to PLAY not PRACTICE. Cos PRACTICE soon equals …. you guessed it… “I don’t have time”.

But let’s put that in some context – you’re probably not wanting to take years of lessons in order to learn enough skills to become a pro. That’s my story, not yours.

  • You want to switch off for 10 mins before bed after a bitch of a day at the office.
  • You want to unwind for 15 mins playing a song you love after you put the kids to bed.
  • You want to have 10 mins a day that improves your mental well-being.

So let’s reframe what we’re actually talking about being possible You’re not trying to “Learn PIANO” over the course of YEARS.
But you COULD be playing a famous song that gives you all the de-stress and mental boost you’d love in maybe weeks, or even days.
Even if you’ve never played before. How does that sound? Maybe a lot less stress than you thought?
For a free chat to see how easily you could get started please just click HERE to contact me.

Mark Deeks Piano