Healthy Practice Community Drop In – supporting you to develop and sustain your healthy practice as a performing artist
Knowing what you should do to keep healthy is one thing, adopting healthy practice as routine in your life is another. It can be hard to create new habits and behaviours. Human beings are incredibly efficient and the way that we learn to do things is always to follow the path of least resistance. Our weekly Healthy Practice Community Drop-in is helping performing artists to set goals and stick to healthy practice routines. It includes new techniques and strategies to help maintain mental and physical health now and into the future.
The sessions are facilitated by Dr Pippa Wheble, a GP who specialises in the physical, vocal and mental health issues for performing artists and teaches conscious breathing for improved mental health and well-being. A violinist and singer based in Edinburgh, Pippa is experienced with performance anxiety and burnout and is passionate about promoting health and well-being for musicians and healthcare professionals. She runs the BAPAM clinic in Glasgow as well as providing online consultations across the UK.
Sessions are accompanied by a healthy practice diary which helps participants to identify health goals and share experience of how they are progressing with peers. They are encouraged to score themselves using a physical and mental health and wellbeing score. https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/923NK2P.
There are healthy practice resources available https://www.bapam.org.uk/healthy-practice-resources/
Participants are joined by experts during these sessions for short guided practice in different aspects of health and wellbeing
June 9: Vipassana Meditation: Denise Devenish
June 16: Values and Intentions: Pippa Wheble
June 23: Pilates: Lou Curley
June 30: Conscious breath and Movement
July 7: Mental Practice: Ellis Pecen
July 14: Stretching: Lou Curley
July 28: Vocal Health: Lucy Heyman
August 4: Posture: Sarah Upjohn
August 18: Alexander Technique, letting go physically and mentally: Alison Loram
August 25th: Mental Health: Beverley Hills
The group starts with a check-in and some housekeeping. Pippa introduces : “These sessions are for performers who wish to develop healthy practice. My role is to support the group as you share your practice and experience and the aim is to encourage you to use the COVID-19 period to reflect on your current healthy practice, identify and overcome any barriers, build up your knowledge and skills and get you to include healthy practice in your daily routine”
The sessions run as follows:
· 0-5 minutes: welcome and check-in (using various tools/exercises to arrive and settle)
· 5-20 minutes: housekeeping, sharing goals and practice, following up on previous week
· 20-45 minutes: introducing a new practice
· 45-60 minutes: reflecting on the practice, how to include in a routine, plan for next week
There are separate free webinars intended to increase knowledge base of healthy practice in the performing arts which run alongside the Drop-in
Topics include:
- Physical Health & Injury Prevention
- Keeping Mentally Well
- An Introduction to Vocal Health