One of the great joys of the holidays is playing music with my boys. Some times we sit and play the old family favorite folk songs. This year Justin and Luke played a number of “new”songs that they had learned and Luke played a song he wrote after our family visit to my mother in the hospital. (I can’t even think about the song without getting emotional… it is beautiful). There are times I join right in with the guitar, times I sit and soak it in, and times I stumble along on my stand-up bass.
One afternoon, Luke started playing the piano and I picked up my bass. He was playing Christmas tunes. I fumbled along and after several songs I had a profound realization. I had been learning the bass (scales, arpeggios, structured progressions). I had been practicing the bass. But.. I hadn’t been playing the bass. The operative word her being play. I was so dedicated to the structures of the lessons being taught that I didn’t allow time to play with the instrument and explore.
Yesterday I was working with a riding client who was asking about how to deal with her fear and the intrusive “What if…?” thoughts during her rides. And it hit me. She rides, just like so many of us, in the structures of her lessons, sticking closely to the traditions of her chosen discipline and her chosen mentors. She is practicing riding and had very little time invested in play.
This is so important for dealing with our fears. When we stick to rather constrained structured practice, especially if they are similar to the contexts in which we had an accident or injury, both the context, familiarity, and focus on performance (or not making mistakes) create an optimal environment for anxiety and negative thinking to creep in and fester.
When we truly play and explore, it captures and focuses our attention in a different way. That, in and of itself, sends the worries into the background. Then the knowledge and experience gained from the exploration, informs our riding in new and different ways. With anxiety and fear, knowledge is power. Knowledge gives us options, it feeds effective problem solving, it supports creativity, it inspires us to challenge ourselves, and more. The kind of debilitating fear and anxiety that robs us of our joy has a hard time taking root in spaces and places where we are excited and invested in exploration and play.
This morning I searched for folk music back-up tracks on YouTube. I picked a few simple ones and I played. I played with different sounds and progressions. I played with different positions on the neck. I played with searching out sounds that I first imagined in my mind and sounds that I discovered by accident. It was the first time in a long time that I genuinely had fun “practicing” the bass.
I strongly encourage everyone to play in their time with their horses. Explore different disciplines and traditions. Challenge yourself to build deeper understanding by asking questions like, “What does it really mean to have your horse in front of your leg?” Then see if there are different ways to understand it. And , last but not least, play with your horse. Explore and be curious and see what you can learn. ~ Paul
#playingmusic #powerofplay #explore #equestrian #equestrianlife #sportpsych #equestriansportpsych #sportpsychology #equestriansportpsychology
One afternoon, Luke started playing the piano and I picked up my bass. He was playing Christmas tunes. I fumbled along and after several songs I had a profound realization. I had been learning the bass (scales, arpeggios, structured progressions). I had been practicing the bass. But.. I hadn’t been playing the bass. The operative word her being play. I was so dedicated to the structures of the lessons being taught that I didn’t allow time to play with the instrument and explore.
Yesterday I was working with a riding client who was asking about how to deal with her fear and the intrusive “What if…?” thoughts during her rides. And it hit me. She rides, just like so many of us, in the structures of her lessons, sticking closely to the traditions of her chosen discipline and her chosen mentors. She is practicing riding and had very little time invested in play.
This is so important for dealing with our fears. When we stick to rather constrained structured practice, especially if they are similar to the contexts in which we had an accident or injury, both the context, familiarity, and focus on performance (or not making mistakes) create an optimal environment for anxiety and negative thinking to creep in and fester.
When we truly play and explore, it captures and focuses our attention in a different way. That, in and of itself, sends the worries into the background. Then the knowledge and experience gained from the exploration, informs our riding in new and different ways. With anxiety and fear, knowledge is power. Knowledge gives us options, it feeds effective problem solving, it supports creativity, it inspires us to challenge ourselves, and more. The kind of debilitating fear and anxiety that robs us of our joy has a hard time taking root in spaces and places where we are excited and invested in exploration and play.
This morning I searched for folk music back-up tracks on YouTube. I picked a few simple ones and I played. I played with different sounds and progressions. I played with different positions on the neck. I played with searching out sounds that I first imagined in my mind and sounds that I discovered by accident. It was the first time in a long time that I genuinely had fun “practicing” the bass.
I strongly encourage everyone to play in their time with their horses. Explore different disciplines and traditions. Challenge yourself to build deeper understanding by asking questions like, “What does it really mean to have your horse in front of your leg?” Then see if there are different ways to understand it. And , last but not least, play with your horse. Explore and be curious and see what you can learn. ~ Paul
