Finding Flow

I think it's very interesting that for many of us there are all sorts of blockages that prevent the natural flow of creativity from emerging.....for singers in singing workshops there may be long-held beliefs about the validity of their own voices, for example which prevents them from releasing their natural voice and sharing it with others.  And for me, there is an interesting moment that happens when we are working on a new arrangement after we have identified a 'feel' and found our way into a song a bit, and then we start to use the material to work an instrumental section.  It's a moment when there is a blockage between the flow that has happened in the vocal bits and the desire to translate that into an instrumental passage......and I have found that the way to unblock the blockage is to gently give it time and attention trusting that the deeper forces at work will allow the instrumental to emerge.  This notion of the flow in creativity is a very physical thing - our whole bodies are involved in our music-making - and by actively working to develop a greater physical fluidity I think we can hugely assist in the flow of music from within us.  One way of developing this fluidity is the practice of Medau - which I usually describe as a sort of danced yoga.  The quality of movement is paramount in Medau which encourages participants to literally breathe life and movement into their bodies.  The learning from Medau helps us translate this physical flow in to the musical flow both in our own playing and in playing and singing with others.
Lissie