Health for Musicians

I created this stretching routine for myself to help prevent playing injuries and to help get me centered.  I am one of those people who has to warm up before I play.  I designed this standing routine so I could easily do it at the concert hall before a rehearsal or concert while wearing my dress black.

There are three versions for you here:  a recorded guided version, a PDF with written explanations of every pose to get you off to a good start, and a reminder card.  You can easily download the guides to your phone and use it wherever you are. 

These stretches are to be used to gently warm up your body to prepare for playing.

Hold each pose for a few breaths.  Feel free to hold them longer.   You should not feel pain.  Do not stretch to the point of shaking or extreme tension.  These are gentle stretches.  If I write “hold”, this means to hold the pose and breathe, not hold your breath!  I am not a trained yoga teacher, and do not claim to be an expert.  This is simply the routine I do to get ready to play or start my day.  If you have never taken a yoga class before, you might want to look at videos or images of the following poses:  Mountain Pose, Yoga eagle arms, and Lion Pose.

Injury prevention: To prevent injury, it is important to stretch/cool down after practicing or performing. After your next practice session you might want to revisit the upper body stretches.

Reminder Card

Once you are familiar with the routine, download this card and put it on your case or on your music stand to remind you of the sequences of stretches.