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Thank you – With Gratitude for YOU!

5/29/2019

Dear Friends,

For over 40 years, my life followed the academic calendar. There were three truths that held true:

The beginning of the year is September. School starts after Labor Day.
The year ends with a flurry of concerts and performances in mid-June.
Vacations must be scheduled around school holidays.

Even though I’ve been out of the classroom for a dozen years now, these things still feel true. Numbers one and two are totally out of sync with life in the south, where school ends in May and starts on August 1, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that.

Since I still keep my toe in the academic waters by directing and teaching Kodály at George Mason University every July, and my piano students follow the academic calendar with July and some of August off from taking lessons with me, right now is definitely the “end of the year.”

I’ll be in my studio teaching Alexander Technique lessons (and Piano lessons) through the end of June. If you’ve been wanting to come in for a tune-up lesson, or get started with an introductory lesson to see if you’d really like to plunge in, I’d love to see you for an appointment before I take off for Virginia.

I’ll be back again teaching Alexander Technique the week of August 5, and piano lessons will resume the week of August 19.

Before I go, I want to simply say “Thank you” to all of my students, former students, colleagues and friends for your support this year. It’s been a great pleasure writing my weekly blog series, which kicked off with a bang in January with 21 weekdays of blogging. If you’ve read all of those blogs, bless you! I’ve had some wonderful folks in the studio all year long for Alexander lessons, and the joy of my week has been my Actor’s class that has been meeting on Thursday mornings. YOU are the reason I do what I do. I love practicing what I preach, but it’s so much more fun to share it with others.

After this, the blog will also be taking a summer hiatus from my writing a weekly post. I’m in need of some fresh ideas and inspiration, and I’ll bring that back in September as well. If something incredible pops up that I feel I need to share with you, I certainly will.

In the meantime, stick to principles - stay Aware in the glorious summer weather of all things in nature (including you,) be sure to Pause to notice them and release any tension you’re holding in your neck or elsewhere, and then ask yourself to Direct “forward and up!”

Wishing you a lovely summer,
Robbin Marcus

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AT, Kodály and Whole 30! (oh my)

5/14/2019

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Every music teacher has their own way of teaching. In my first college music methodology class, it was clear to me that I had a strong attraction to Kodály teaching. I love its clear sequences, and the idea that each concept you teach needs to be prepared before it is presented, and then practiced before you move on. I’ve been at it a long time, long enough to now be the Director of “Kodály at George Mason University,” our annual summer program in Virginia.

Last Monday, wanting to be in better shape for trekking across the George Mason campus in July, I started the Whole 30 Diet. Deep in the middle of food prep for the week, I found myself trying to come up with just the right sequence of foods that I could pre-prepare and have ready to eat. What dinners could I use for lunch the next day? What quantity would I need to prepare to make that happen? What kind of healthy snacks could I make to give myself a break from protein, fat and veggies? It took me a while to plan out and prep food for the entire week, but now having survived week one (and lost 3 pounds!) I can tell you that it was well worth the ease in coming home and having dinner ready in less than thirty minutes each night.

Eating breakfast on Sunday and getting ready to do all that again for this week, it dawned on me – this kind of planning came to me naturally because it was just like Kodály lesson planning!
Whether planning meals for a diet or lessons for my music classroom, I do think in monthly plans. I know what my goals are for the month (losing weight; preparing a musical concept) and in the weekly plans I carefully break down how to get there. I can switch up foods for variety just like I can switch up activities in the classroom. Each day varies that process just a little bit (a different protein; a different song) and for fun I can insert a new (snack; singing game.)

Wow! No wonder I’m enjoying my new diet. I’m losing weight, eating three delicious, nutritious, fresh meals a day and practicing what I preach.

From an Alexander Technique perspective, this realization is all about pausing, becoming aware of correlations between the kind of habitual choices I most like to make and, figuring out how the directions I am used to following in teaching can now apply to my diet. I used to do this kind of meal planning (with less food restrictions) when I was younger, working full time with a child in the house. I don’t think I could have survived without weekly meal prep. In recent years I’d let all of that organization go and have been living more like an Alexander person than a Kodály person. Dinner preparation has often been “Wow – what are we going to eat tonight? I have no idea. Let’s eat out!” That’s lovely and freeing and in the present moment, but it isn’t very healthy. Restaurants offer lot of salt, a lot of sugar, and portions way too large for me that I tended to eat anyway. It was definitely time for a re-boot and a detox.

I know from years of experience (and I’m learning again!) that in the beginning this kind of planning takes time. But once you get started, it gets easier and easier. I wouldn’t teach any other way – and my husband certainly hopes that we won’t eat any other way since he’s getting three square meals on the table every day. Just like the kids loved my Kodály classes, my husband loves the food I’m feeding him now. Healthy, nutritious and fun. A great combination.

Know someone who might be interested in Kodály Music Education training? Check out our Kodály at George Mason University program.

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How is Kodály teaching like the Whole 30 Diet?

5/13/2019

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Every music teacher has their own way of teaching. Sometimes, it takes us a long time to decide what methodology is right for us. Sometimes, if you’re like me, you know right away. From my first introductory Orff-Kodály-Dalcroze class, it was clear to me that I had a strong attraction to Kodály teaching. I love its clear sequences, and the idea that each concept you teach needs to be prepared before it is presented, and then practiced before you move on. I’ve been at it a long time, long enough to now be the Director of “Kodály at George Mason University,” our annual summer program.

Last Monday, wanting to be in better shape for trekking across the George Mason campus in July, I started the Whole 30 Diet. Deep in the middle of food prep for the week, I found myself trying to come up with just the right sequence of foods that I could pre-prepare and have ready to eat. What dinners could I use for lunch the next day? What quantity would I need to prepare to make that happen? What kind of healthy snacks could I make to give myself a break from protein, fat and veggies? It took me a while to plan out and prep food for the entire week, but now having survived week one (and lost 3 pounds!) I can tell you that it was well worth the ease in coming home and having dinner ready in less than thirty minutes each night.

Eating breakfast on Sunday and getting ready to do all that again for this week, it dawned on me – this kind of planning came to me naturally because it was just like Kodály lesson planning!
Whether planning meals for a diet or lessons for my music classroom, I do think in monthly plans. I know what my goals are for the month (losing weight; preparing re) and in the weekly plans I carefully break down how to get there. I can switch up foods for variety just like I can switch up activities in the classroom. Each day varies that process just a little bit (a different protein; a different song) and for fun I can insert a new (snack; singing game.)

Wow! No wonder I’m enjoying my new diet. I’m losing weight, eating three delicious, nutritious, fresh meals a day and practicing what I preach.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to have a plan, to know where you’re going, to never have to wonder “What am I going to do in class today?” five minutes before the bell rings, then the Kodály method (or maybe the Whole 30) is for you. (Come to think of it, most of the Kodály at George Mason University faculty has been on the Whole 30 at one time or another...)

I’d love to invite you to join us this summer. We’ll give you a great, well-planned education in two weeks of Kodály levels, and model the kind of teaching I’m talking about for you. You’ll go home with a year’s worth of music materials to use in your classroom, some great new games, and a plan for the year – broken down into months, weeks and days. You’ll meet some great new colleagues and join our support system, so that you can have people to ask questions of all year long. We offer credit and non-credit options, and now have a wonderful hybrid-online Master’s program – come for your Kodály levels on campus for three summers, and do all your other coursework online.

I know from years of experience (and I’m learning again!) that in the beginning this kind of planning takes time. But once you get started, it gets easier and easier. I wouldn’t teach any other way – and my husband certainly hopes that we won’t eat any other way since he’s getting three square meals on the table every day. Just like the kids loved my Kodály classes, my husband loves the food I’m feeding him now. Healthy, nutritious and fun. A great combination.

Got questions? I’d love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected].
You can find all the information you need about registering for Kodály at George Mason
(July 15-26) on our website https://masonacademy.gmu.edu/teacher-training/ .
If you’re interested, please sign up for our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/KodalyGMU/

Hope to see you in July at GMU!

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30-Day Challenges

5/8/2019

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I never even considered participating in a 30-day challenge before January of 2019. The idea of trying to do something intensely in front of others in a group for a whole month just intimidated the heck out of me. Since the start of 2019, however, I’ve participated in two. Now I’m embarking on day 3 of challenge three, which might be the most intense yet – the Whole 30 diet.

So, what’s going on with me? I haven’t entirely figured that out yet, but I’m working on it. Maybe it’s the approaching new decade birthday coming up in August? Maybe I’m realizing that if I want to make changes, I’d better start already? Maybe I just need new challenges? It’s probably a bit of all of the above, but I’ll let you know if and when I figure it out.

The first challenge I undertook was the New York Times 30-day Well challenge. It was a short, 10-minute HIIT program, or a relationship activity, or a meditation every day for a month. Friends and I formed a small Facebook group, and we kept each other accountable. Did we always do everything every day? No, but there were days when I put 3 of those HIITs together and did 30 minutes of exercise to make up for the ones I missed. There were also some fun challenges, like creating a date night where you and your partner did something completely new to both of you.

Right in the middle of that started the 21-weekday blog challenge. I wrote about habitual behavior – changing habits, why some habits are valuable, why we need habit in our lives, etc – from my own experiences for a solid month. I did keep up with that for all 30 days – even writing from the waiting room of a surgery center. Phew. I learned a lot about accountability, integrity, and honest writing during that challenge. I certainly got myself more interested in changing my own habits.

Among the things I have noticed examining my own habits is that my sugar cravings have intensified, almost to the point where I can’t say “no.” I need a serious dietary change, as the pounds are packing on and I’ve been feeling lousy. Suddenly, my gym announced a 30-Day Shape Up Challenge. Before I could talk myself out of it, I signed up. On Monday, I started on The Whole 30, a keto-based diet. No dairy, no sugar (!), no grains, no beans. Low carb, high fat. Oh, my. It’s day 3, and my body is detoxing in the most interesting ways. Yesterday, I woke up with an enormous headache (apparently normal) and brain fog set in big time. I couldn’t remember my cell phone number. I walked into work leaving my trunk open, with my purse in it, for 30 minutes. Thankfully everything was still there! I left my credit card at Dancing Goats coffee. I mean, seriously! I am so not that person. And we won’t even talk about how HANGRY I was by 3:00 pm.

The good news is that I’ve got lots of support – this 30-Day Shape Up challenge is happening through my local gym, FITWIT, and there’s a nutritionist on staff helping us out. I have an accountability partner in my regular twice-a-week work out class who’s going through this as well. I have a dear friend who is an old pro at Whole 30 whose shoulder I can cry on. And Dave is at least pretending to do it with me – he’s just thrilled to have breakfast, lunch and dinner made for him every day. Did I mention that I prepped meals all day on Monday?

I suspect that for the next three or four of these blog posts I’ll be examining my habitual behavior yet again as it applies to the 30-Day Shape Up. Stay tuned for adventures in diet, workout, using Alexander Technique like crazy to do both of those well, and what happens to me along the way.

Have you ever undertaken a 30-Day Challenge?
If so, how did that go for you?
What happens to you physically when you think about making changes?
Are you breathing?

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What is "Success?"

5/1/2019

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“The foundation of greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment,
instead of pursuing the idea of greatness.”
– Eckhart Tolle

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be “successful.” There’s so much information out in Cyberspace about “Running a successful business” and “How to get rich” from marketers, but mostly those of us in the small business trenches are working on “Making enough money to live.” Funny, no one ever talks much about that one – most people just want you to dream big about getting rich by following their program.

So, what does it mean to be “successful?” It could mean a number of things. It could be being rich in money. Or, success could be having a full schedule every day. Both of those are nice. Seems like the second one would impact the first one in a positive way, as long as I’m charging people enough money for my services. In my mind, though, making a lot of money is a side benefit and not my number one goal. I’m really the most interested in making enough money to live and judging my personal level of success in other ways. Probably because I understand this model very well.

All my life I’ve been underpaid for my work. I spend a quarter of a century as an elementary school music teacher. In a private school. I made about 2/3 of what my colleagues who taught in public schools made by the end of my career. (Public school teachers are not known for being rich, either.) Yet, I was an extremely successful music teacher by the standards of my profession. I remain nationally known as a clinician for music teachers, I direct a summer institute at George Mason University to train teachers in the Kodály method. My choir sang at the White House, at the opening of the Marine Mammal Pavilion at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, on stage at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with the Concert Artists of Baltimore, at Camden Yards, and lots of other places as well. I gave children some amazing musical opportunities over the years. I have directed, sung and played in places I never imagined possible. I never set out to be “great,” but opportunities presented themselves over the years and from a place of being present to them, I moved into some very interesting career choices. I’ve served on national boards for my professional organizations multiple times, met people from all over the world, had some fantastic experiences. What is all of that, if not success?

My children's choir singing at the White House, Washington, DC in December, 1998.

Moving into my second career as an Alexander Technique teacher was quite a shift. Suddenly, as a beginning teacher in a new field, the world was not going to come to my door to find me anymore. I became responsible for my own income. No one told me I was going to have to learn to market. Talk about on the job learning! Building a small business is not for sissies.

When you start looking, there are all kinds of marketing techniques out there. “Choose a niche.” “Don’t choose a niche.” “Create a funnel.” “Create a referral network.” You can pay a lot of money to learn them, too. None of those ever appealed to me, until I met Megan Macedo and her idea of “Telling your story.” I’ve been playing with this for about a year now. I’m building a body of work in writing, which greatly appeals to me as a creative person. My name is getting out there in a different field. I’m enjoying myself while giving play to my creative expression. I get to be present, to really think through my ideas, to write in a style that is right for me. It’s a codification of what I stand for as an Alexander Technique teacher, a music teacher, a pianist, and most fundamentally as an artist.

Ultimately, my idea of success lies in fulfillment of artistic creativity. Every Alexander lesson I teach is an exercise in improvisation, in creativity, in listening to and working in harmony with my students. Only by being present to them can I work this way. It’s just like making music and it’s what I love to do.

Would I like to be paid more? Sure, I would. Mostly, what I’d like to have are additional students so I get to share this experience more often.

What is your definition of “success?”
Do you feel successful and fulfilled in your career? Why or why not?
What is your creative outlet?

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Robbin Marcus

An occasional post from me, about stuff that interests me.

2024 blog selections: Resistance

2023 blog series:
Slow Forward

2020 blog series:
1) Processing - Experience, Thought, Action
2) Diving for Light - Shedding light on a dark time

Thank you – With Gratitude for YOU!

AT, Kodály and Whole 30! (oh my)

How is Kodály teaching like the Whole 30 Diet?

30-Day Challenges

What is "Success?"

Robbin Marcus

2019 blog series: Exploring the Power of Habit

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2019 blog series:
Exploring the Power of Habit