Classical music is big in my family. My mom’s father sang opera and played the piano, cello and organ. One of my aunts was a concert pianist trained in Europe. My mom sang for many years in the Niagara Symphony Chorus. Both my sister and I studied classical piano at the Bradley Institute in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
I remember that part of my training was performing at small concerts at the school. My teacher, Miss Barnes and I would work on a piece or two for months and then I would present it at one of these concerts.
I still recall feeling the butterflies and the urgency of wanting to just get it over with. I remember learning the pieces, key by key, line by line, memorizing it. For this to happen I had to play the piece over and over again, listening and feeling my way through constantly checking to make sure I was hearing the right notes played at the right time.
Adding to the complexity was the interpretive aspect, where I would play pieces with my own interpretive overlay; call it artistic expression that respects the original form.
When I first started learning how to play, all that I wanted to do was to get through the piece without a mistake. But as I matured, my focus expanded to include my own artistic expression and the experience that the audience was having.
In learning to play the piano, my nervous system had to learn a number of strategies. Learning is after all the creation of nervous system connections between nerve cells that are learning to wire and fire together. I had to learn complex finger movement patterns with both the left and the right hands simultaneously. I had to learn those patterns with a certain rhythm and inflection, making the sound louder or softer, slower or faster. I had to learn to listen and monitor while I was playing so I could adjust what I was doing in real time. And I had to learn to manage my emotions and thoughts while performing. Talk about a juggling act!
I get that this is why we practice. To make certain actions automatic so that we can clear some of the clutter off the desk so to speak. Practicing helps us to focus on what’s important or what’s needing our attention more.
Whatever you’re practicing or performing, it takes both the motor and sensory parts of the nervous system. And when you consider that only 20% of the nervous system is motor (meaning taking action), sensory functioning is pivotal. And this is where chiropractic shines, especially NeuroSpinal Optimization.
Try to imagine what my performances would have sounded like if I couldn’t hear what I was playing? Sometimes they did!:) Or if I couldn’t adjust in real time, the tempo or volume or rhythm. Sensory feedback is key in whatever or however you are performing. And you don’t have to be on a stage to perform.
Most people would incorrectly agree that our performance decreases as we age, BECAUSE we age. Actually our physical and mental performance typically suffers as we get older because we are not receiving enough sensory feedback to inform our reactions. A prolonged stress response such as is experienced with NeuroAdaptive Syndrome, causes a lessening of information coming from the body to the brain. We become tentative with our movement; our thinking slows down to accommodate more processing time because the brain is waiting for sensory information to trickle in.
NeuroSpinal Optimization helps to ensure a clear nervous system; A system that can transmit sensory information from the body back to the brain more quickly. This helps to speed up our reaction time, to give us more confidence with balance and coordination and strength and it gives us more clarity of thought and regulation of emotions.
Lord knows that I didn’t always appreciate my time at the Bradley Institute and I didn’t understand why I needed to practice so much. I am grateful for much more of it now, especially for the patience that Miss Barnes showed me as well as the foundation that my nervous system received at such an early age. And since we now know that as we age, our brains remain quite plastic, we can create new connections, and we can improve our performance, whether you’re in front of an audience or not:).