Learn the Clarinet
{A Written Practice}
Learn the Clarinet
Pranayama for your face and voice.
Dr. Stephen Porges, PhD, Developer of the Polvyagal Theory, shared with us that the theory has two origin stories. One is the professional, academic origin story of his research on Heartrate Variability. The other, more personal story, is his history with the clarinet. He explained to us that during highschool he played clarinet, and practiced for an hour a day. Unbeknownst to him, at the time, he was engaging in a profound pranayama practice (pranayama, from the Sanskrit, is prana (life force) and yama (life extention). Traditionally taught as part of yogic philosophy, and known to yogis and other meditative types throughout the millenia, pranayama exercises utilize breath to transform awareness.
Dr. Porges explains to us that the clarinet, which harnesses our breath, and the way in which a player applies the mouth to the mouthpiece to generate sound (embouchure- from the French- em (in) bouche (mouth)) combines it with movement of all of the muscles of the face to both generate sound (intended purpose) and tune and tone your Connection System. The combination of breath, voice, and face is, literally, the perfect recipe for stimulating the ventral vagus, aka the social engagement system, aka the Connection System. So it turns out that learning the clarinet is, in fact, a Connection exercise par exellence.
If you are musically inclined, and looking for a restorative practice specifically to turn on the Connection System, this may be the practice for you.
Related Practices:
In the way that we are focusing on this, related to practices that turn on your connection system. If you'd like to learn more about the Connection System, check out A Brief Illustrated Guide to the Polyvagal Theory, and our film Turning on the Connection System. For other exercises focused on making friends with your nervous system, see Turning Your Nervous System into Your Ally. Related to other practices that Use Your Hands, practices of Singing, and Dancing. Related to all kinds of creative practices, perhaps including Painting, Sculpting, knitting. Related to campfires, don't you think? Campfires are always better when there is music. If you'd like to hear Dr. Stephen Porges, PhD, who developed the Polyvagal Theory, talk about how playing the clarinet is part of the origin story of Polyvagal Theory, see The Future of Medicine and Mental Health.
Photography: Stein Egil Liland | Licensed from Pexels.com, used with permission.