Yoga for Performing Artists: 6 Relaxing Yoga Positions for Instrumentalists

This is the third article in a series designed to help you identify a handful of yoga positions that will be most beneficial to your particular performance genre. This article focuses on instrumentalists (not including marchers). The previous two articles were for marching band members and dancers. Check back for the series’ final article, focusing on stage crew.

Practicing yoga offers performers many significant benefits, including lowering stress levels, promoting physical and mental relaxation, improving balance, and maintaining or improving flexibility. All of these things can help keep your immune system functioning optimally, maintain a healthy body weight, and reduce the likelihood of falls that can cause injuries. Additionally, regular yoga practice can improve body awareness, which can improve precision of movement, improve aesthetic qualities of performance and movement, lower unnecessary muscular tension, and improve posture.

To get the most out of your yoga practice, follow these simple tips:

• Practice somewhere quiet and peaceful, where you will not be distracted or interrupted – this includes distractions and interruptions from your phone, the TV, and the internet. Take a break from your phone.
• Don’t practice on a full stomach – some of the positions require you to press on your stomach and this is very uncomfortable on a full stomach
• Always warm-up first. Your stretches will be more effective (so you can get larger improvements in your flexibility).
• Breathe in through your nose instead of your mouth. When you breathe in through your nose, the incoming air is filtered and warmed by your nasal passages.
• As a general rule, breathe in when you are coming up out of a pose, are raising your arms, or are doing movements that expand your chest (like bending backwards). Breathe out when you are moving downward, lowering your arms, or bending forward.
• Perform all motions fluidly and with intent. This means that you should focus on the movements you are making, instead of just flinging your body into the next position.

Instrumentalists place a great deal of physical stress on their bodies: repetitive motions, long hours of playing with insufficient breaks, and not-so-great non-playing posture, inadequate cross-training regimens (or none at all) – the list goes on and on. Instrumentalists can help their bodies better respond to these stresses by exercising, eating nutritious meals and snacks, getting enough restful sleep on a regular schedule, staying hydrated throughout the day, and using proper hygiene habits to avoid illnesses. The breathing patterns and relaxation aspects of yoga may even help combat performance anxiety that some instrumentalists face. To reap yoga's benefits, incorporate some or all of the following yoga positions into your regular exercise regimen (in addition to cardiovascular conditioning and strength training).

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