Your Health as a Composer

#1

Just realized that there was a topic that was not discussed on this website (as yet :slight_smile: ) and that is our health.

We as composers are under a lot of stress due to external (or self-imposed) timelines to complete work, sitting in one position for hours on end in sometimes non-ergonomic seats, lack of proper sleep and a myriad of other factors that may affect our performance and overall health.

So I’ll start the discussion: What do we do everyday to improve our overall health as we continue to do the thing we love?

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#2

Great topic, for me health is both physical and mental. I go out for a walk in nature (as close to nature I can get at least) for 30 min every day! :slight_smile:

I also take a lot of short breaks, making sure I never sit more than 60min without taking a break. Walking around, stretching a bit, having a snack, and re-setting my focus by “not doing anything” for a while. :stuck_out_tongue:

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#3

Great suggestions :+1::+1: I’ve also found that getting up and walking around (to combat thrombosis - the same condition that can affect you on long distance flights) gives you much more endurance. I’ve also started weight training a few months ago. Got to get my back muscles strong so I won’t slouch so much while I’m working. :slight_smile:

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#4

Haha, well I have an advantage: I can not sit still for long sessions. Got a bit of “physical ADHD” or something. So it comes natural for me to just get up every now and then and walk around.

I am also planning to some day in the future re-make my studio setup from the centre-point of a standing desk.

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#5

if you are not in good situation ( health, relation ship, familly,…) it will be very hard to have clear idea to compose

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#6

Very true. That is why it is VERY IMPORTANT to have some form of stability. Even if a person is not in a relationship and/or have close family members taking care of yourself (not only to do your job but for your overall well-being) is of high priority.

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#7

If you’re into that kinda thing head to the gym. In the morning for a few hours wakes you up nicely, also have a fun hobby like martial or something to keep your physical exercise up.

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#8

I wake up at 5am everyday and go to my jiujitsu academy. We work out, run through drills and techniques, and then roll/spar with each other. Its a great way to wake up, relieve stress, and learn something new. I like jiujitsu a lot because you can relate it to real life stuff. It forces you to think outside the box to achieve a goal sometimes. Its drasticslly helped me through writers block lol

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#9

Meditation really helped me, as well as short walks around the day :slight_smile:

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#10

I don’t : smoke, drink take drugs, read news and listening to Russian music. Very good for my health.

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#11

Hi everyone,
I am in my very early 50’s and I have something called migraine vertigo so move around a lot is hard to do something losing weight is very difficult

So What I Do
I have a app called Keep Focus that I set to go off every 30mins

Then I try to stretch and do squats and calve raises and use stretch bands
And hardest thing I do to keep my core and my lower back from hurt is do different planks and yes this makes me very dizzy
But it needs to be done

For my neck I do isometric exercise
To strengthen my inner neck muscles

I keep trying to work my way back to the gym we have a small one here in our apartment complex in the main office
just not their yet but I keep working towards it

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