Developing presence practice blog 8 April 2015
I start my session just working on sitting and centring my attention. Attention on how my back is, am I sitting on my sitting bones? Head balancing on the top. Not held, not forced, just balancing. Head free. Arms hanging. The cello peg is in my neck but I try not to be bothered. I could have had a posturepeg, but I can also adjust the instrument slightly. Feel the contact with the string. I play long notes. Keep this contact, in the body and with the string, all the time. The rhythm is anchored in the body. I feel the pendulum moving if I imagine it.
Stop myself from time to time to check on the balance and the point of contact with the bow and the body. It’s easy to lose while playing, I have to check constantly.
It is like the wonderful experience of flow actually disappears the more I work trying to create it. Do I have to lose it to find it again, or am I just messing everything up?