If you are just sitting,
Stand.
And if you have been standing,
Sit.
Neither on a chair or on the ground in a comfortable position.
Close your eyes.
Or have a soft gaze downward.
Listen to the sounds around you.
What is the farthest sound?
Nearby?
Very close?
Within your own body?
Notice these sounds as vibrations in the air.
Neither good nor bad.
They,
Like you,
Exist in the here and now.
They are a part of this moment.
Breathe gently.
Focus on the parts of your body touching the ground.
Notice the firmness of the ground beneath you.
Moving your focus upward through your body,
Use your core to straighten your spine without strain.
Inhale deeply.
Inhale your shoulders up to your ears,
And then drop them with a sigh.
One more time.
Inhale your shoulders up,
And drop them with a sigh.
Breathe gently.
There is no instrument that needs tight shoulders.
Let them go.
Relax your jaw,
Your neck,
The tiny muscles between your eyebrows,
And around your ears.
Again,
Relax your jaw,
Your neck,
The tiny muscles between your eyebrows,
And around your ears.
Even if you are not a singer,
Use your voice now to clear and cleanse.
Breathe in deeply,
Fully top to bottom and 360 around.
Drop your jaw open and sigh out.
Breathe in deeply again,
Without strain.
Drop your jaw,
And then starting at your highest pitch,
Slide your voice down.
Breathe gently.
We're going to slide our voices again,
But this time imagine the sound traveling from just above your head through your body and out into the ground.
Breathe in deeply,
Slide it down and out.
Breathe gently.
This time we'll let the sound wash away anything that happened in the moments before a previous class or student,
A conversation,
Other work or life occupying your thoughts.
Let it flow down and into the ground.
Breathe in,
Fill in your lungs.
Breathe out a sliding down and out.
Breathe in deeply,
And let your own instrument cleanse you as you slide down.
Breathe gently.
I am a music teacher.
My calling is sacred.
The knowledge I am passing down has been part of humanity from the beginning.
I am a conduit of this powerful force of good.
Each student is my honored guest.
Let me continue to bring the joy of music into the world.
Open your eyes,
Being relaxed and ready.
Namaste.
