Friday, May 15, 2015

Breath in, Strum out

I had a few of "those" days last week. Like we all do from time to time. When anxiety and stress just seem to squish your poor little heart, and you can't catch your breath. I tried a few relaxation methods when I was in the thick of things, but they would last for 2.5 seconds before I remembered something else and had to jump up and attend to it right then (or so I told myself). That's not very relaxing.

Finally I tried just sitting down with a ukelele. I have never played the ukelele, and have just a very basic understanding of the guitar. But I thought I'd try strumming a few chords to see if it brought me some repose from the anxiety. Oooooh boy. My body immediately relaxed and my heart slowed to a regular beat as I (poorly) plucked out a few songs. It kept me interested enough so I didn't abandon it quickly to do something else "more important", and the music itself just brought a lot of comfort.

I am not good at the ukelele, or at playing music at all, on any instrument. But that doesn't matter one bit. The act of creating a little bit of music, just for me and just for those moments, was what I needed to center a bit each evening. I probably never will be excellent at playing music, I'll leave that to the experts, but if I can harness the power of music for my own health and wellness I'd say I have an excellent thing going.




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