40 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2018

HEALTH & WELLBEING: YOGA

I have been practising yoga for four years and it’s made me feel more balanced in body and mind. It has

given me breathing techniques to use in tricky situations and it’s helped even out areas of my body which have been worked into particular knots through years of violin playing, as well as through everyday life. So it was especially interesting for me to go along and meet pianist Penelope Roskell and hear about her yoga for musicians, which is a professional focus alongside her piano teaching and playing.

Roskell’s DVD Yoga for Musicians is available online and is something I realise could have been the key to a happier back when I was putting in the really hard practice years ago. It gently takes me through a series of simple warm-ups, loosening and freeing the arms, neck and shoulders. As Roskell says, ‘instrumentalists have sensitive hands and arms and particularly if you’re in pain, you shouldn’t be putting weight on them.’ The exercises on the DVD work through the body, looking at twists and movements,

YOGA IN A NUTSHELLYoga is an ancient tradition which unites physical postures and breathing with spiritual philosophy and meditations which are designed to improve wellbeing. There are many different branches of yoga, some more physical than others, and it is important to find a class which is suitable to your level and flexibility.

Yoga incorporates physical postures and breathing with spiritual philosophy and meditations

© JA

VI IN

DY

Violinist Coriander Stuttard speaks to Penelope Roskell, who has developed a style of yoga specially suited to musicians

Finding your centre

CM0618_040-041_R_Health & Wellbeing 0105KC_OK.indd 40 21/05/2018 15:03:40