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It’s rare to see an orchestra playing in the park, but we did and it was great!

Recently, while conducting a regular boot camp, in Edinburgh Gardens in the distance we heard what sounded like an orchestra. While all sorts of musicians and artists play in the park, from bands to DJs, I have never seen an actual orchestra. The music sounded very similar to a band called Beirut from their “The Flying Club Cup” album.

It’s great to see our beautiful parks attract a multitude of different activities, while some people may simply go for a casual walk or to exercise the dog, some people take a more creative approach.

And it was awesome to see people letting their hair down and enjoying the groove of the music without being concerned about those around them.

Even more awesome with seeing people letting their hair down and enjoying the groove of the music without being concerned about those around them.

It’s also interesting to note how good playing music is for you. There have been many studies showing that playing a musical instrument improves your mood and mental health.

In this busy world it’s easy to become distracted, letting our minds wander so we are oblivious to everything else around us. But playing a musical instrument can be very meditative by focusing the mind on producing beautiful harmonies. Due to the complexity of playing music it makes it extremely difficult to become distracted by other fractured thoughts that might be swirling around in your mind. As with yoga and other forms of meditation, playing music clears your mind and controls your breathing while you focus on a single thought.

Our daily lives are a lot more complicated and stressful than they were 50 years ago, we give ourselves very little time for the appreciation and enjoyment of those around us or participating in activities that are for ourselves.

How often do you walk down the street and find yourself in deep thought, thinking about work or something else that is causing you concern or stress? Maybe it’s time to explore playing a musical instrument, even though it may appear to be extremely complex and challenging it is well worth the rewards.

In the Age today was an article about how there is a movement away from owning physical stuff such as DVD’s, CD’s and books to digital versions or electronic formats.

What is being experienced is by owning less stuff and having less attachment to physical stuff is leading to lower levels of stress and more freedom. The other benefit is saving on $$$ as you don’t need such a large house to accommodate all of this stuff and less time to organise and manage all of this stuff.

So having less possessions and things is actually creating more freedom both physically and mentally. A crazy concept in today’s world of mass consumption.

Kelly Sutton, who was featured in the article commented that “The less you own, the less you have weighing you down and the less that’s stressing you so I couldn’t be happier and more mobile . He has a website documenting all of this at “www.cultofless.com/items”.

So by having more time in your life you can look after yourself with more exercise and have the time to cook healthy meals and more importantly something we are all missing, “me time”.

It’s a bit of a cliche but you have to treat your body like a temple and worship it regularly, quite often we place higher importance on everything other than our own body, working long hours, poor diet, too much stress, limited R & R, so ultimately what we put into our body we get out, GIGO, Garbage in Garbage out.

When taking a break over the Christmas holidays, resist the tempatation to stay at home to “catch up household chores”.
This is one of the few times throughout the year when we get the opportunity to have some time away from the familiar so pack the car and head out of town.

There have been vaious studies that have shown that it can take anywhere from 5 to 14 days to completely unwind and relax.

So what do I mean by relaxed? well you’re not in a hurry to be anywhere, do anything.
The ultimate test is to see whether you have had a relaxing break is the “care factor” test.
Take note of how you react to work stress and tasks within the first week of returning to work.
If you feel anesthetised, in a relaxed state without being too concerned, you have had a relaxing holiday and successfully relaxed your mind, Congratulations!!

If however on returning to work you feel like you never left the place and the stress levels return back with vengeance, guess what, maybe your holiday wasn’t as relaxing as you may have thought.
So on your holiday, did you disconnect?, did you check emails, phone messages, sms messages? Are you still dreaming about work, feeling anxious & stressed?

So what will it be these holidays, switching off and relaxing, or will you return from your Christmas holidays stressed?