I heard many times that stopping to play didgeridoo for a while will benefit your playing later. I was really an investigator for two months to find out how and why is this true. I came to realization for my own mind/body and I would like to pass on the experience to others, who might benefit from it.
For the first time since I started to play, I had a break of playing didgeridoo for about two months. This was due to the heavy HOLP building schedule. These two months revealed to me what is behind the saying that no playing will benefit playing.
Didgeridoo playing is a thing of body and beyond
Simply put my body missed playing. I believe it refers to any body that has been exposed to more or even more of didgeridoo playing. The body missed the exercises, the walkabout, the fresh air and fantastic landscapes regular practice was giving to it. Beyond that, I was not really allowing myself to think. I am not prone to missing, but I would miss a lot more if I thought about it.
Didgeridoo playing is a gift we can be so grateful for
In those long days I yearned for any kind of playing. Instrument wasn’t important, technique, gear… I just wanted to be alone with the tube, see if the “old memories” were true…
Didgeridoo no-playing after long time asks for soft start
My body simply couldn’t cope with the old exercises, nor could even my mind. I wanted to enter slowly and carefully. Entering a home that has been empty for a long time asks for gentleness to awake the ghosts in a good way. So I started with really basic basics.
Didgeridoo playing for fun
Soon after we start we can stop if we put too many tasks in front of us. So I just continued to play whatever came to be played. Basically, I was allowing myself to have fun and to have fun was the highest priority expectation.
No skills without attention, intention and structure
The more I played for fun the more I started to realize that I will never reach my former level of playing just by having fun. Now I could decide not to go beyond, but the feeling was different. During playing, especially songs, I realized things don’t sound outside as I hear them from the inside, which was not the case before. So it is like a road trip I know. But instead of my usual car I got a prototype model of something like it, but 20 years older. And the mechanic bastards didn’t fill my tank, left me with half flat tires, the speed meter I dare not to look as it misses the second half, and I must close my eyes a little bit when I enter the curves…. So yes… I can enjoy the ride, as I do enjoy the ride, but with memory of the old rides, I want that! I resonate like that!
Didgeridoo no-playing conclusions
I don’t want that. Give me playing. It just helped me realize I don’t want to be without didgeridoo playing ever.
Very important appendix
The appendix hides a really big secret that is not a secret at all: the answer is again in this moment. I can start to play now, not in the future. I can put my attention to breathing now. Putting it into the moment when it happens improves my (or anybody’s) breathing deeply and drastically. Putting attention to my possible future breathing doesn’t change anything at all. So to be able to walk the longest way, the attention must be put to just this one step, just this one move of the foot that is happening at this moment. This way we can go on forever.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Glad to see you finally came back to your magic wands!
Returning in your magic secret home is indeed a strange thing. That’s the same thing when I take holidays from drawing: catching up your former abilities and rythm is hard, but you can see things more clearly as you walked away from it for a fleeting moment.
Your feet are clumped for an instant, but at least you know where to go
Keep up the good work!
He heh! Thank you for the words and for the support!
You know… after this break I could not even see things more clearly inside of didgeridoo playing… I could only clearly see from the outside that I need to be inside. This is something I could guess from the inside, but not really check and know.
It would be like checking if you really need air, so you dive your head into water. This blur of water is also the blur I got… but this first breath deep clumsy breath after taking the head out of water is where the gift of realization was for me. I REALLY DO NEED (to move) AIR!
So I would say things you doo deeply in general do not need breaks just because, unless felt by true intuition.
I hope this makes sense.
Du
Hi Du! I realize since a while that when you do stop for a little time it does give your muscle a break and when you start over again it seem to be better ?? That the physical side ! With all the year it seem that when you go at it mostly for fun it seem to be better but it not it only a impression because your playing without any pressure to be good so you can listen to it without judging yourself hihi!!! I have to play the didgeridoo it make me feel better and it dam good for the breath of fresh air hihi!!! The vibration of the didj is so good for are health .
I love your style don’t stop it only going to be better and better play with fun and pleasure not for the money hihihihihihi!!!
Your didj friend Didjjack
I understand what impressions you are talking about, but on my opinion it might be important to part from what is truely intricately yours, because of this sensation of primordial breath when you pull your head out of the water. One might need to feel the lack of what is important, to know and feel how deeply important it really is.
It’s like on freezing winter mornings, when you are in your warm soft deep bed, and you have to get out of it to cut and drill and carve and chisel mighty trunks of hard wood in the frost (feel concerned? :p), you are so really very happy to go back to your warm bed on the evening.
In a sense we get up on the morning only to be sure we’re happy to lay down on the evening ^^ (well, it would make more sense if you had a less passionating work than building didgeridoos all day. And assuming the bed in the load of nonsense I just told is your love for playing didgeridoo. If ever it makes sense.).
On an other side of the question I think parting from what is your reason to live and work for a moment is important to close a chapter, and to open up a new one:
when you have a period of time doing other things and you come back to your work, it’s like if everything you did before is written in a book chapter. You can learn the lessons in what you did so far with more clarity, and write a new chapter starting from this point.
At least this is my point of view, and this is something I felt in some occasions for what is really important to be done.
Well, if you understood something in all this nonsense, I wish you can breathe again everyday a bit deeper the fresh air through your magic tubes.
And please keep on posting your discoveries and your newborn didgeridus, I’ll keep on being watching
Hey Makowh!
I read your words before I dive into cold. They are very warming occurrence. Also I have seen your art – fantastic!
I understand more and more closely what you say in what you say. I feel touching points to all this. I also feel every human form being a bit different, and the circumstances of “the break” being different it can be experienced differently, regardless of the primordial core that is always somewhere there.
I am practicing more and more seriously now, I still have to adapt to the breathing intensitiy, but I am advancing. Da and I started the nonsense with the everlasting tube creation, so something new will happen in not so much time stepping into the future.
Thank you!
Du
Hey Du, long time no talk. How is everything going?
Wow!… for two months? that’s a little extreme…
I never stopped playing for so long, but, from my experience, sometimes is good to stop for 1-2 weeks or so. I think this is important for our body (muscles…) to relax and evolve. When we are learning something new and difficult, it is good to pause for a short time, because it helps seeing from a different perspective… I realized that even my ears are more alert.
I can give other example: when I’m mastering a recording. If I’m listening, day after day after day the same song, but with different set-ups for EQ, Dynamics… eventually I’m unable to recognise the difference between set-ups, because they sound all the same to me. When I finally decide to take a break, for some days, and hear the recording again, I can immediately recognize what I was doing “wrong”, and make the recording sound better than ever
Thanks,
Nuno
Dear Nuno,
without your contribution this website really wouldn’t be the same. It makes me very happy that (people like) you follow this (didgeridoo) journey, just one of all (didgeridoo) journeys.
Du
everything is simple..
a felt very encourage with this words. nice words!
the Dream needs to breathe, the Didge needs the Drone to live. everything is simple..
keep d i d g i n g !
a big Hug !
Zhºr
Hey Ruben!!!!
Long time, no see, no hear! I enjoy your message, it is for all of us!
Hug big back!
Du
Dear Du,
You build for a while on your fundaments , now you can even build heaver stuff on top of it! Breaks are in fact, the concrete for what’s coming on top of it..
with great love, Hans and family
Dear Hans,
I have always resonated with your poetics, always enjoyed your wisdom. I would also say your message goes toe veryone-everyone!
With great love from a very small family back!
Du