YOUR BODY AS YOUR INSTRUMENT
Before we dig into the human energy centers, I want to pivot for a moment. A common phrase I would like to introduce here is “the body is your instrument”. But what does that even mean? Well, this is actually something I completely believe in now, but also used to question before this method was revealed to me. It sounds nice—cool, even—, so what part of my body is the instrument? My body? My voice? My energy? The answer is all three.
So, how do I learn how to play my body as my instrument? Well, first, we have to understand how to break the body down into notes before we can play anything. Believe it or not, we have seven energy centers, which are located along the spine, from the base of your tailbone all the way up to the crown of your head. Each of these different energy centers correspond to different frequencies and sounds within the body.
When an actor is tapped into his or her chakras (these energy centers) in their performances, an audience will absolutely feel the difference big-time from one chakra to the next. Even if they aren’t aware you are even using chakras, they will notice the differences and understand the fact that the energy has shifted. Qualities of energy is a universal thing that is innate within us; we understand it without even knowing we understand it. And the best part is that the more specific you are, the better your performance will be—which is how we will without a doubt engage your audience every single time! Finally, right? A concrete applicable way to ensure your performance will be effective each time! Those are odds I am willing to bet on!
The voice comprises about thirty-six percent of your instrument. This percentage relates to how humans actually communicate to one another—and tone of voice has been proven to make up thirty-six percent of how humans communicate. Breath is included in this percentage, too.
The majority of how we communicate is through body language, at fifty-five percent. We will be getting deep into how the chakras are communicated through the physical body in the coming pages.
You are probably wondering about the remaining nine percent of how humans communicate. Well, the remaining nine percent is the actual text on the page—the words! Crazy, huh? Turns out we actually rely on what we see and the tones we hear the majority of the time.
Side note here: music is just an aural medium, completely dependent on the thirty-six percent and the nine percent (musical tones and lyrics). Let’s just take a moment to think about just how effective music is at affecting your emotional core. Yep, pretty spectacular. So, imagine what happens when we add the visual medium into this incredible mix! You get film. Mind. BLOWN.
Notably, you do not have to be musical to work in this way; when I mention tones of voice, I do not mean singing; rather, I am referring to the completely innate stuff. You will actually be surprised at how much you already know and perhaps aren’t utilizing in your work!
This approach works for those from all walks of life, even if you aren’t spiritual. You do, however, need to be open to doing things a little differently so you can learn it. It can be a bit tricky to layer at first until you realize you do it all day long in real life! In simple terms, we will be uncovering the body’s natural notes (or energy centers), which include different sounds and energies that relate to each energy center.
Think of this as a warmup for a runner: would a runner run a race without stretching or training? This is the same thing.
Ready to get into it? I thought you would never ask! Start by seeing my signature Chakra Warm Up in action to learn how to break the body down into notes!
~Murisa Harba (Artistic Director of ABOUT THE WORK)
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