Blue Zones, ikigai and how to adopt a Musical Mindset!
If you're a regular follower/listener of mine you'll know it’s been a massive couple of weeks of learning and growth here at the Moovers and Shakers Music headquarters!
From attending professional learning workshops and conferences, to hitting 1000 downloads on my Music & Mindset Matters Podcast, to hosting an online "Tune into You" workshop - all the little seeds I've been planting over the last 12 months are starting to become visible and I feel very much in a cycle of harvesting and abundance now which is so satisfying! All the personal and professional development I’ve done is starting to be integrated more deeply in my daily routines and rituals and that’s when you know that there has been real change in the brain - as in there’s a tangible effect from the rewiring that has been done. Remember this growth and rewiring is very possible for adults - not just young children as we previously thought in the world of neuroscience and developmental psychology.
So you guessed it - in this week's blog (and podcast) I’m talking about Mindset, how we can learn tools to change and rewire our mindsets, and in particular what I believe it means to have a Musical Mindset.
In a nutshell it’s about knowing the value of integrating musical learning and mindfulness practices for the transferable learning and wellbeing benefits. Developing and growing on a deeper level across all areas - social, emotional, physical, cognitive, language: AND within a community perspective rather than an individual. Because humans ARE social creatures - I’ve just finished watching the amazing documentary on Netflix about Blue Zones - it follows several particular zones across the world that have above average numbers of centenarians. People that are living to 100 and beyond with above average health, vitality and independence! Among other things such as diet and lifestyle, what these zones all have in common is a strong connection with community - family and friends and a sense of purpose- the reason why they get up in the morning. For the Japanese its ‘ikigai’, for the people of Nicoya in Coast Rica it’s the ‘plan de vida’.
When I think about the underlying philosophy that guides both my personal AND professional life - it’s that everyone has a musical bone and when we love music, we love learning, we love life! This underlying purpose guides me in how I then interact with myself and others - and in a professional sense it informs the Moovers n Shakers Music learning framework: I call it the 3 Cs: Connect, Captivate, Collaborate:
I created this framework because for me it makes the most sense about how we engage with each other and learn and thrive as human beings.
Connect with self first then others including the environment, for Aboriginal Torres Strait Islanders and other Indigenous cultures there’s an inherent connection with country but this connection is really available to all of us wherever we are, and whatever age or ability.
Captivate means to engage your audience with vibrant energy, enthusiasm, confidence because you believe in what you're doing and are passionate about sharing it!
Collaborate means you value working as a team, reciprocal relationships, working in partnership as both a “teacher and a student”. You are the expert in your chosen field and your story is important. Yet you also have the capacity to learn new information and make meaning from other peoples stories!
So the 3Cs to me is a great framework for my consultancy business, for when I facilitate music and movement sessions with young children AND in general life as well! But it was only when I intentionally made the time to sit down and ‘create this’, to really nut it out and look at the ‘evidence’ in a way - that I could see recurring patterns, values and beliefs.
So this is really an example of mindfulness - the act of putting awareness into practice. The lessons I have personally learned from over 40 years of musical training COUPLED with my current studies into mindfulness, trauma and neuromusical research have all led me to this 'bigger picture' approach to education and development through a musical mindset lens.
It's about using music and mindfulness DAILY and from an early age so that we gradually 'train the brain' to have strong connections across ALL areas and so that children are ready to thrive when they enter into formal schooling. We know that for many of our young students this can be a challenging time socially, emotionally and cognitively, so for me it's a no-brainer to use musical learning and mindfulness in the early years to set them up for success! I don't know where you are reading this but I know in my home state of Tasmania our literacy rates are among the worst in the whole of Australia!!! That is an appalling statistic. AND it is an opportunity for change, for growth and new ways of thinking, doing and being.
What parents, educators, and teachers need to know is that there are easy, practical ways to adopt a Musical Mindset - even if you don't feel you are musical (we'll cover that myth another time!!)
engaging with music and movement activates our reward centre (the feel-good hormones)
singing together aligns our heart beat, body temperature and increases feelings of connection
playing with beat, rhythm, tempo and pitch boosts our executive functioning (the parts where we make decisions, pay attention, learn to control our impulses)
using imaginary games and guided meditation with a focus on breathing, helps co-regulation of educators and children (and therefore enhance wellbeing and resilience)
If you would like to find out more about ways to integrate music and mindfulness practices into your daily routines, check out the self-paced online module
