The Aligned Musician

Check out my blog posts that relate to this topic:Performing Without Unnecessary Tension Are you nervous or is it your nervous system?Trauma Informed Music Teaching (or this podcast episode)The Best Way to Practice

For more musicians wellness content and FREE weekly practices visit alignedmusician.substack.com

For more about me, visit my website! alignedmusician.comGet a 1:1 session with me when you sign up for my Yoga for Musicians Course.Join me for online and in-person concerts and movement practices by visiting my Event Calendar.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alignedmusician.substack.com/subscribe

Weekly Practice and Musicians Wellness Content alignedmusician.substack.com

Yoga and Meditation insighttimer.com/alignedmusician

Performing Arts Medicine Association - Referral Directoryhttps://pama.memberclicks.net/referral-directory

For more on avoiding injury, check out these articles: 5 Tips to Avoid Injury this Holiday Season10 Things I Do To Avoid Playing With Pain

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alignedmusician.substack.com/subscribe

Move, breathe, and bring your awareness inward with this audio-only yoga asana practice.

I start with updates, some ideas for consideration during your practice, and then we begin at 9:50.

Please read this short disclaimer before you practice with this recording: https://alignedmusician.com/disclaimer

Here are ways to stay in-touch with me:

alignedmusician.com/eventsCalendar of all upcoming events

insighttimer.com/alignedmusicianFree yoga and meditation

alignedmusician.substack.comFree Musicians Wellness content and live yoga for musicians classes

instagram.com/alignedmusicianConnect with me on instagram!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alignedmusician.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I break down my overall strategy for staying organized, avoiding stress, and maintaining motivation. I’ve included some ideas from my substack articles: Time Management - Part 1, Time Management - Part 2, and My Ultimate Practice Journal.

Here are some of the tools I mentioned:

Google Calendar

Sugar Paper Planner

Focused Space

ClearSpace

*I am not sponsored or endorsed in any way; I just want to share because these tools have helped me so much!

Here are ways to stay in-touch with me:

alignedmusician.com/eventsCalendar of all upcoming events

insighttimer.com/alignedmusicianFree yoga and meditation

alignedmusician.substack.comFree Musicians Wellness content and live yoga for musicians classes

instagram.com/alignedmusicianConnect with me on instagram!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alignedmusician.substack.com/subscribe

17:20 - On the practice of Yoga and the Eight-Limbs as described by Patanjali.

24:15 - Talking through the Yamas and Niyamas and things for musicians to consider or journal on.

alignedmusician.com/events Calendar of all upcoming events

insighttimer.com/alignedmusician Free yoga and meditation

alignedmusician.substack.com Free Musicians Wellness content and live yoga for musicians classes

instagram.com/alignedmusician Connect with me on instagram!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alignedmusician.substack.com/subscribe

Soprano Jenna Siladie has earned warm acclaim, praised by the New York Times for her "endearing sweet voice", and hailed by the European press as having a “both warm and shimmering tone".

​The 2019/20 season has heralded in a string of successes, including the role debut as Marguerite in Faust, as well as Arianna in the Handel opera Giustino: "The soprano Jenna Siladie, who in the role of Arianna shows vocally, why she is the star of the young ensemble."
​In  2018 Jenna joined the prestigious ensemble at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria, singing the lead heroine of Élisabeth in Verdi’s Don  Carlos. Der Standard noted, “the most harmonious performance of the production goes to Jenna Siladie whose beautiful Élisabeth combines elegance, fullness, and vocal warmth and luminosity.”

In the autumn of 2017, she made her Germany debut as a guest at Oper Wuppertal, singing Gutrune in Götterdämmerung, being praised for singing  “with passion and sweet soprano sound which is seldom heard” (Die  Deutsche Bühne). She saw the addition of two new roles in the spring of 2017 as Adina in L'elisir d'amore with St. Petersburg Opera Company and then Lauretta in Opera Company of Middlebury's production of Il trittico.

Ms. Siladie's additional operatic credits include Micaela in Carmen, Iolanta in Iolanta (Tchaikovsky), Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. She made her NYC debut with Gotham Chamber Opera in 2014, performing the respective leading roles of Popelka and Armande in a double bill production of Bohuslav Martinů's operas Veselohra na mostě and Alexandre Bis. Other NYC highlights include the leading role of Léontine in the U.S premiere of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges' 1780 opera L'amant anonyme (March 2016).

A  frequent concert and recital soloist, Ms. Siladie made her Carnegie Hall debut in June 2017 as soloist in John Rutter's Mass of the Children and has been a favorite guest with Carolina Philharmonic. Further concert appearances throughout the United States have seen her in Santa  Fe NM, New Haven CT, and Vero Beach Opera in Florida. She has also appeared in Lieder programs throughout Austria. Ms. Siladie earned her Master of Music from Yale University, where she "showed fine, round tone in the title role" of Tchaikovsky's final opera Iolanta, and was "particularly impressive and created a very memorable character out of Lucia" (Hartford Courant) in The Rape of Lucretia. Ms. Siladie also earned her Bachelor of Music from Stetson University, where she notably appeared as soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah with the  Stetson University Orchestra and Choral Union.

"Jenna Siladie, an EBULLIENT soprano with great stage presence SPARKLED" - Wall Street Journal

Website: https://www.jennasiladie.com

Facebook: Jenna Siladie, Soprano

Instagram: @jennasiladie @upwardfacingsoprano

In this episode we talk about:

- Jenna's health and wellness journey during the pandemic

- Being a professional musician / opera singer in Europe vs. US

- Teaching Yoga in Ukraine

- Performance Anxiety

TW: exercise bulimia, disordered eating, performance anxiety, mental and physical health

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alignedmusician.substack.com/subscribe

Ashley Downs MS, RDN, LDN, CPT has worked as a dietitian and personal trainer in various settings. As a dietitian, she has worked with athletes and designed wellness programs for clinical outpatient settings. 

She earned both a BS and MS in NutritNutritionon and Dietetics from Saint Louis University and her Master's Thesis was on the nutrition habits of collegiate performing artists. 


After she started working as a clinical dietitian, she felt like something was missing. She found that missing piece in acting and earned a BFA in Acting from Lindenwood University Belleville. 

Instagram: @Performing.Wellness 

Live Group Movement every Thursday at 12:30 pm on Instagram

Website: https://www.myperformingwellness.com

In this episode we talk about:

- Ashley’s wellness journey

- Importance of building habits to create sustainable wellness success for performers

- 15min Warmup 

- Applying the ‘wellness wheel’ to performing arts wellness

- Being a neurodivergent human and performing artist

- Having ‘me’ time as a form of spiritual wellness

- Occupational wellness and the differences in sports vs performing arts wellness

- It’s ok to ask for help!

- Goal and task planning

- Advocating for our own wellness as a  professional performing artist

Sensitive Topics: mental health, diet culture, hospitalization, neurodivergence

App mentioned:

Toggl Track https://toggl.com/track/toggl-desktop

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alignedmusician.substack.com/subscribe

Randall used to live the corporate life, working in big advertising agencies and video game companies in NYC and California. But after he lost his father, his job, his house, and his music studio all within a few months, he retreated from the matrix and found refuge in Yoga. With time and practice, he’s been able to find peace, balance, and joy despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

Randall completed his RYT200hr in Sri Lanka during 2020; received his Pranayama certification through The Breath Center in 2019; graduated from LSU with a degree in Communications in 2013; and has been playing music since 1998. 

Website: www.switchtheflip.com 

Instagram: @randallhead @switchtheflipp

In this episode we talk about:

- Randall’s path to becoming a yoga and breathwork facilitator in Sri Lanka

- The importance of Sacred Masculine work

- Yoga beyond the physical practice

- Kirtan and the beauty of helping people find their voice

- Meditation and musical experiences

- My experience of healing trauma through yoga, finding yoga about 14 years ago, becoming a breathwork facilitator

- The power of holding space

TW: death, suicide, trauma, ptsd, natural disasters, guns, looting, theft, homelessness

Bhakti Fest 

Sacred Sons 

Michael Brian Baker

Books: 

‘King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine’ by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette

‘From Chivalry to Terrorism: War and the Changing Nature of Masculinity’ by Leo Braudy

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alignedmusician.substack.com/subscribe

Caroline Weeks, RDN, LD is a pediatric Registered Dietitian who has a passion for educating families on how to provide nourishing meals from the beginning of life. She is a postpartum nutrition and child feeding expert and has a particular interest in teaching the “baby led weaning” approach to starting solids. In her full time career, she is a clinician who works with families of children with chronic medical conditions such as GI disorders and Cystic Fibrosis.

In addition to work in clinical nutrition, she is passionate about nutrition communications and has over 7 years of experience in professional nutrition writing for several publications including USA Today and Eat This Not That. Check out her ebooks on pediatric nutrition on www.theclinicdietitian.com as well as her social media pages for more educational resources.

Website: https://theclinicdietitian.com/

Instagram: @theclinicdietitian

In this episode we talk about:

- Nutrition and its role in my own healing journey

- Caroline's background as a musician turned Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (and current Physician Assistant student)

- Her wellness journey and struggles with repetitive stress and anxiety as a music student

- Finding balance in life

- Nutrition concerns to consider as a musician

- Finding the courage to pursue your passion, especially if it lies outside of being a professional musician!

Resources recommended by Caroline:

https://www.evelyntribole.com/resources/intuitive-eating-resources/

Books:

The Anti Diet by Christy Harrison

The Intuitive Eating Workbook: Ten Principles for Nourishing a Healthy Relationship with Food

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1626256225?pf_rd_r=5D5C2BY2WS07AJH6DJGD&pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8

Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach

https://read.macmillan.com/lp/intuitive-eating-4th-edition/

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alignedmusician.substack.com/subscribe

What are boundaries? How do we learn to honor ourselves and avoid stress and overwhelm? 

In this episode, I share my perspective on the importance of healthy boundaries and some of my own thoughts and experiences where a lack of boundaries effected my stress levels or ability to regulate my nervous system.

Some questions for contemplation:

What are your boundaries around work, relationships, and yourself? 

What things are draining or powering up your energy levels?

How can you develop a stronger sense of awareness and be more willing to enforce your boundaries?

Let me know if you found this episode helpful! DM me on Instagram: @thealignedmusician or send me an email at: [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alignedmusician.substack.com/subscribe