You're in the middle of a performance. Your back is killing you. What do you do? Part 1.
You're in the middle of a performance. Your back is killing you. What do you do?Pretty good question, huh? ;)
Many musicians suffer from back pain during long rehearsals or performances. Imagine sitting in a performance, dressed in your slightly restrictive formal attire, your back is throbbing, and you know you still have another 30-45 minutes on stage before the curtain closes. What do you do when you’re in circumstances when you can’t take a break, go put on an ice pack, or stretch it out with some yoga? In today’s episode I’m going to share with you three excellent techniques for inconspicuously, yet effectively, relieving back pain during performances.
On the menu for the next two posts:
What are the causes of the kind of back pain that can make a performance a living hell?
As you may have learned in previous episodes I have a particular point of view on the causes of overuse injuries and chronic pain that musicians face. I’ll summarize it briefly here, but if you want a more in-depth exploration I’d recommend going back and watching the first couple episodes of this online masterclass.
This kind of back pain is not caused by your set-up, your chair, your instrument, or any other outward circumstance. Rather, it’s a particular set of conditions which, all combined, cause this pain. Here they are:
You have a set of habits of how you use your body. These habits often involve using too much effort and tension in your body, but are also often difficult to notice since you’re so used to them.
When you use too much tension in your body while playing music your muscles tend to get stuck in place for long periods of time. This does two things: one, it makes the fascia, or connective tissue, turn solid (which is why your shoulders might feel like they have ropes or knots in them). Second, because your nervous system does best when you’re in movement, when your muscles are static your nervous system doesn’t know what to do with this and starts sending one of two signals - either pain or numbness.
Thus, over time, the tension in your movements while playing music and doing other things leads to a chronic static state in your muscles’ movements, and then pain or numbness signals in your nervous system.
And because this is your habit - what you’re used to - you keep perpetuating this cycle without changing the underlying conditions that cause the pain. A massage or chiropractic adjustment can loosen the fascia and get your nervous system to stop sending the pain signals… for a while. But then, again, because this is a habit of yours the pain inevitably comes back.
The way to overcome this cycle is two-fold: to learn how to move those muscles which are otherwise continually stuck, and to deal with the force of habit. This is what the Alexander Technique, the basis for Pain-Free Music, is specifically designed to address, as are the two techniques I’m going to share with you.
Technique #1 - Sitting is a movement
Many of us think of sitting as a static activity. But as we shall see, it’s not! Sitting is a movement… or, at least, it can be if you’re not stiffening your body.
As you sit reading to this, begin to notice your body. Notice, in particular, any movements that may be happening in your body. Breathing, balancing, shifting your weight, your tongue and jaw moving, your eyes, any movement in your back, your backside on the chair, movement in your legs, feet shifting on the ground, or movement in your arms. Just sit and notice that for minute.
You may notice that there’s quite a lot going on here, or you may notice not much at all. If you fall into the latter camp it’s probably because of one of two things: either you’re noticing your body accurately or you’re noticing your body inaccurately. If you are noticing your body accurately, you are probably sitting with so much tension in your body that you’ve stopped moving your body altogether - you’re as stiff as a board, and that’s what you’re noticing. In the other case, which is just as common, you are so unused to the simple act of noticing your body that you’re unable to sense the movements that are, in fact, happening. This means, of course, that you are noticing your body inaccurately. Many of us experience a combination of the two - and this is not a problem! Noticing this, in fact, is a sign that you’re on the first step to relieving your pain.
As you read this, come back to your body and just see what you notice. What kinds of movements do you notice? What quality of movements - tight or free, fluid or stuck, etc. This is our starting place and, sometimes, noticing that movement is already happening in your body is enough to reduce pain while sitting. As with anything, the more you practice this the better you’ll get at it, so I recommend noticing the movements of your body as much as you can remember to.
Tomorrow: More techniques and helpful tips for when your back is giving you hell during a rehearsal or performance.
- Joseph
