Health and well being

Quick post today (a little reflection?)

Today I took myself off to have a sports massage as rehearsals for a new trio and my active day job were starting to take their toll on my back and shoulders. The therapist was a specialist in treating musicians and we had a very interesting conversation about well being and injury among professionals within the arts. 

He said that in similarly physically demanding jobs (for example professional sports) people treat injuries immediately and often have therapists on staff to make sure the players bodies are functioning correctly. However, he sees musicians in professional orchestras who have similar issues with carpal tunnel or shoulder problems from playing a full season and touring, yet they don’t have the same facilities for keeping their physical health up to scratch. Alongside this, they often feel shame and nerves about treating an injury as they worry about loss of future work if their employers find out! 

This made complete sense to me, and I added that performers are self employed so the worries about future work are real. Also, due to the nature of being our own business, the onus is often on us to stay healthy through demanding schedules, teaching, auditioning and working in the arts. One of my areas of learning in module one was ‘maintaining vocal health’ through professional contracts as I’d had issues in the past and had learnt from the short period of vocal therapy I had at the time. It’s so important for us to think about the longevity of our careers and also our own health/lives outside of performing! 

All in all, a fascinating discussion which ended with a quote from him that absolutely struck a chord with me. He said that performers and teachers who come to see him are often hesitant to spend time and money on treating injuries and prevention, basically just the last people to look after themselves. The irony of that statement being that before I booked the massage, my fiancé Tom had said the same to me: that I wasn’t taking care of myself. He said that I needed to do it more often, with the same level of care that I put in to my career and my day job working with children.

So happy that I went today as I feel so much lighter and it definitely made me think about how performers need to take care of themselves more often and invest in themselves as much as they all invest in other aspects of life. 

And if you need a good masseuse and some sage advice, go to Zoltan at Adagio Hands in Clapham Common! 




Comments

  1. Thomas' BA PP BlogMarch 3, 2020 at 11:37 AM

    Couldn't agree more! We use our bodies for everything we do, especially in this industry, so it's good for us to take care of it. Especially as there's a growing movement to take care of our minds, but our bodies often get forgotten about!

    ReplyDelete

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