Welcome to another week in the pandemic ukulele family.
Have You Been Paying Attention? host Tom Gleisner was asked how he was spending his time in lock-down?
"I’ve taken up the ukulele. You can’t come out the other end of this period without having developed at least one new skill."
So be like Tom, take up making music on that little box of joy that is Ukulele.
We live in an age of hustle bustle and hyper productivity; now with the COVD19 lock-down and isolation maybe it is your time to take a breath, relax and embrace learning for learning's sake.
Society is giving you time and permission to stay home on the couch, but rather than binge on Netflix and TV put that time to good use. Pick up that little box of joy that is a ukulele, indulge in the Zen of some mind muscle connection and learn a skill that’s great for your mental health as well as your cognitive brain health.
I am here for you, if you need a ukulele or have a question about learning ukulele / music please feel free to contact me hello@ukuleletradingcoaustralia.com.au
Listening to music is well known to alter our moods, lift our spirits and call forth memories and help lay down new memories. But it is immensely pleasurable to make music with your own mind and hands; to take an inanimate object and make it sing is akin to magic.
I am a fan of approaching ukulele practise as if one was to meditate on the physical act of making music. Practise is by definition a repetitive process, but if you get into “the zone’ it can take on a Zen like quality that has wonderful benefits for your mental and physical well-being. Feel the strings under your fingers, listen to the sounds you make, feel the vibration of the body of your ukulele, focus on how your fingers move from chord to chord, note to note like a dance move, lose yourself in the rhythm of the repetitive task.
Learning to coax music out of your ukulele is learning for its own sake, ukulele is most defiantly not a competitive sport. Learning Ukulele Skills is unlike learning work skills. Ukulele doesn't have to have an achievement-based focus, or a competitive capitalistic outcome to be valuable.
Music is a science-backed way to boost mental health during stressful times. Many psychological music therapy studies have shown that taking part in a fun activity helps improve your mood and allows you to function better on a day-to-day basis. Ukulele will give you a positive boost in cognitive stimulation, mental health, and enjoyment.
Approach your lock-down ukulele as a fun hobby, be kind on yourself and it will become your mental health haven. A little bit of joyous fun time from the uncertainty of life right now. Expressing your artistic musical self has positive impacts on your mental health and well being during times of stress.
#mentalhealth #ukulele #music #isolation #zen #learnnewskills #musicteacher #ukuleletradingcoaustralia #musiceducation
