Miri Ziskind, Pantarei Approach Practitioner

Melody of the body – Communication through the body

It is February in Berlin and it’s icy cold. Yet sunlight floods the room; and, looking out through the window, we see a crisp and clear blue sky. It seems as if winter has opened up some more space for us to slowly start this year. I am meeting Miri for an online interview and we dive into the topic of music, connection, and communication through the body.

Miri tells me that she was born into a world of music. Her parents are both musicians and their home was always filled with melody. In her early childhood, she would fall asleep at her mother’s concerts. She was always surrounded by music. And this path led her to start playing the piano and the bassoon.

8 years ago she moved to Berlin from Israel. “I came to Berlin to study music and to fulfill my dream of becoming a musician. Through the course of my studies, my perspective changed. Music studies are often very strict. You learn amazing things, but you have to have a lot of discipline and work hard. Early on, I noticed that for me something got lost through this process. I felt we were not really taught to listen to ourselves and to our body. It became so extreme, that when I got injured, I continued to play even though I probably should have taken a break.

After one year of chronic pain, I started having somatic coaching sessions with Adi Keter and it completely transformed my life. Even today, I cannot be more grateful. Already after the first session, the pain stopped for a day of freedom.”

What brought you to study the Pantarei Approach?

“For me, the Pantarei Approach led me to discover a world of connections. How we connect to ourselves, others, and our surroundings. The music world would sometimes feels very far away and very detached from the type of connection I was seeking so much.”

Miri describes that reaching out through the body made it much easier for her to understand what the underlying problem was. This started a journey that would change so many things and brought her a lot of lightness, happiness, and acceptance. Her own process was deeply inspiring and exciting for her. “While I was going through my own personal healing process with Adi, I began to think how this knowledge could support so many musicians. The question for me was, how can we integrate more of our unique being as musicians and use our body in better and healthier ways?”

Melody of the body’ – Connecting sound through the body

“I always preferred to play smaller concerts, with up to 50 people. This is where you can use the time to truly connect with the audience and leave something of yourself with every individual. I notice that when I, as a musician, can be fully in my body when I play – when I’m aware of myself and my body, but also of the environment and the audience, something magical happens. It then becomes possible to influence and touch the audience on a deeper level. If I choose to have positive energy towards myself and the audience, the feeling immediately flows towards everyone in the audience. This enhances their experience, regardless of whether I have one listener or a thousand.”

The feeling immediately flows to everyone

‘Melody of the body’ came to life, because I feel that each of us has a unique vibration inside our body. From my experience as a musician, we were taught to almost leave our body behind when we go on stage. This feels as if we are missing out on an opportunity to create something unique. We can create beautiful experiences for and with others by being connected to our body. After many years of disconnecting myself and entering the stage like this, I began learning to play again from a different space of mind. I learned how to connect to myself again and perform from this experience. If we are able to tap into our bodies, it’s not about not making a mistake, but rather allowing what is inside of us to come out.”

Music is about letting go

“It is beautiful to allow yourself to experience your emotions with the music and let the music truly touch you. Naturally, we need to stay focused and connected to the other musicians, but most of the time music is about letting go. It’s very rarely hard and stiff. I think, if we as musicians are being hard with ourselves it is not organic with the movement of the music. In the Pantarei sessions I give my own clients, I offer them a space to learn and experiment. My mission is to connect their body to the experience of letting the music flow through them. They can then create a really unique moment that is completely their own. And this transforms their way of playing music.”

Two sides of the same coin

“Musicians are often told that music must be our only passion. But from my experience, the more I allowed myself to enrich my life by learning the Pantarei Approach and working with clients, the better a musician I became and the more I enjoyed myself. I feel extremely grateful to have these two beautiful and meaningful elements in my life.”

What do you think made you play better?

“When I come to rehearsals or concerts feeling open, I manage to have a much more holistic experience of every interaction. When my body and mind are open and accepting, it gives me the opportunity to both perceive, receive, and give much more. I can feel my colleagues more clearly. I feel their energy and the sound created around me extremely well. And at the same time, I’m still very in tune with my body and its needs. It somehow creates much more space for the moment and a bigger experience of every interaction I have on the stage.”

Finding freedom in your body

Miri adds: “When we talk about music and sound, we musicians create sound with our bodies. If our bodies are closed, we are still producing sound. But at the same time, we are literally blocking its vibrations. The sound cannot travel as far as we want it to. And it also costs the body a lot of wasted energy. It is important to understand where we need to be engaged, in order to create something bigger and communicate more clearly with our audience. In addition, we need to identify where we need to let go.

Finding this flexibility in your body will allow you to let the music flow through you and enhance the communication through the body. I think there is a different route, which has nothing to do with pain and distress. In the end it’s a path of happiness, lightness and acceptance. And for me, this path achieves much better results, while at the same time, allows much more time for fun, creativity, connection, and freedom.

As a Pantarei practitioner, I chose to focus on working with musicians and performers. And just as I could make a change for myself, I wish to make a change in the music world.  I help each individual discover their unique voice, enjoy their work, and free up their creativity. This definitely brings some spice onto the stage!

 

Miri gives one-to-one sessions in Berlin and online. You can get in touch with Miri via her Website or write her an email

me*************@gm***.com

Photos by Mark Taratushkin.

Written by Lena-Philine Zinser.