Our last trapeze class I incurred an injury to my pectoralis minor. So what happened and what can I learn from it? I had been practicing my ‘pullover pump shoot’ trick mentally and kinesthetically while I was waiting…my turn came, got the safety lines on, was ready to jump…and then my teacher decided to change the trick that I would execute. It was our last round before practicing catches, and my new trick is not ready to catch yet, so she wanted me to have a run at the trick I would be catching. I briefly thought through the movements of the trick, but somehow felt a bit discombobulated. I jumped, swung my legs up, and then my mind and body both seemed to sort of forget which trick it was I was trying to execute. My legs fell back down (bummer). I eventually got my legs back up, but not before the momentum of my swing was gone (which means a lot more physical effort). After all of this, the trick culminates in a position which is challenging for the pecs (a sort of back bend). Oy vey!
The lesson: beware of the frustrations (and possible injuries) that might result from jumping with anything less than perfectly clear intentions! If the brain isn’t utterly clear about what’s coming up, the body doesn’t stand a chance. Music is the same (though there’s significantly less chance of a bad pec strain from playing a single phrase with foggy intentions 😉 ). If you’re not utterly clear even before you begin, how could you possibly expect your phrases to come across in a clear and powerful manner? If you are needing to change your movement to increase facility or to recover from pain at the instrument, it is necessary to start with intention. Intention and attention before everything.
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