I was driving to Monmouth this morning and I felt the need for some seriously loud music to sing along to. I was on my own I hasten to add! It brought back some wonderful memories of a time when I was lucky enough to design and run a global networking event for a client in the one and only Nashville, Tennessee. Wow, what a place it was. Music everywhere. I loved it.
As part of the event I partnered with a wonderful UK-based organisation who use music to help managers and leaders truly understand what it takes to be part of a team. To lead with humility and know that whilst an orchestra can’t play at its best without a conductor, without the orchestra the conductor has no role. In order to get a real experience of this they invited me to join one of their ‘taster’ days where you go and sit with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as they are practising in the Royal Albert Hall. Taking different places at different times within the various sections of the orchestra. I shall always remember what a humbling and moving experience it was.
Our event in Nashville was a big success and very rewarding. Phew. Circling back to this morning I remembered that BKS Iyengar described yoga as being like music: ‘the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.’ I love this metaphor. If we can attend to every part of our body, mind and soul then the orchestra of the body truly can work in symphony. I shall hold that in mind and body during my next practice and be curious about which parts of the whole are not quite in tune, which parts I can’t quite hear and if I am even aware of them at that moment in time. Perhaps you might like to try the same. Let me know how it sounds to you. Happy practising. x
