Author: HairWeavings Editorial Team

Welcome to Lesson 24! If you’re on my timeline, I hope you are enjoying a return to the cozy pleasures of the season: steaming cups of hot chocolate, extra blankets and sweaters, hearth fires, and beautiful music.

For the next two weeks, we will be learning My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean on p.72 in our Upper Hands Piano, BOOK 1, and continuing to learn holiday songs, or reviewing p.58.

[NOTE: If you are just joining us for the first time, you can find my previous Sixty and Me Free Piano Lessons on my Author page. You can join our lessons any time and move at your own pace!]

24.1 Ways to Practice Effectively

I’m often asked for tips on how to practice most effectively. Cognitive Science has much to offer people of all ages about the best ways to practice for optimal memory retention. But where older adults differ from children is in the time of day.

It turns out that as we age, our circadian rhythms change, and for most of us older adults, we are better able to remember things when we learn them in the morning rather than in the afternoon or evening. You can learn more on my blog post here, and watch my video about the two best times of day for older adults to practice:

Side Note: As I say in my video, just before bed is another great time to practice, because sleep helps to consolidate skills into long-term memory. However, if, like me, when you play just before bed, you can’t get your songs out of your head, don’t do it! Good quality sleep is so important, and if playing before bed disrupts your sleep, it’s better to just practice in the morning.

24.2 My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, p.72

At the top left of the song where the Tempo Marking is found, you can see a red “’quarter note’ = 70” metronome marking. This means that once you know the notes well, you can try playing to a metronome beat set to 3/4 time at 70 beats per minute.

Notice there are 1^st and 2^nd endings in the last line of the song. Remember to take the 1^st ending in the bottom line then repeat to the beginning of the 5^th line. When you get to the bottom line the second time, skip the 1^st ending and jump to the 2^nd ending.

Passion Practice

1. Exercise #4 – Play in A-flat and E-flat with each hand. Try playing it using a metronome set to 3/4 time, at whatever tempo you can play it without pausing.
2. My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean p.72 – Watch my demonstration video 24.2 above then practice the song slowly. Second week, try playing it to a metronome set to 3/4 time at 70 BPM.
3. Chord Calisthenics #4, Appendix viii – Play the minor triads from C minor to E-flat minor as whole notes, with each hand. After you learn A-flat minor and E-flat minor, use a metronome and hold each chord for 4 beats at around 70 bpm. Record yourself to make sure you are staying on the beat!
4. Review Holiday Songs or p.58 – If you haven’t already, you can print your holiday sheet music HERE (scroll down to bottom right of the page).
5. Play Sevivon; (Demo here: https://youtu.be/RjyfUsTqz5s) and/or
6. Play Angels we have Heard on High; (demo here: https://youtu.be/mBXOimOz4O0)
7. Alternatively, you can review Mozart’s Sonata on p.58; (demo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQdWXF_oeOA)

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Do you feel most alert and cognitively strong in the morning as the research suggests? Or are you better able to concentrate later in the day? When do you like to exercise and when do you practice your piano? Leave us a comment below and let us know how your lessons are going. We love to hear from you!

Click Here for Additional Stock in Her Sunglasses / Here for More Stock / Here for Even More Stock

Click Here for Additional Stock in Her Tote

Originally posted at: Whitney Rose’s Black and Gold Aviator Sunglasses and Logo Tote

Originally posted at: Angie Katsanevas’ Pink Sweater Dress & Sneakers

Well, it’s here! That activity packed month of the year associated with the celebration of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other occasions around the globe. In my homecourt, time is traditionally spent decorating, shopping for gifts, attending holiday parties and religious celebrations, cooking holiday meals, and spending time with family.

That’s a lot of activity, and sometimes it is accompanied by the not so pleasant side effects of stress, anxiety, depression, burn out, and even illness due to the increased risk of contracting a virus via closer contact with others during indoor activities. Yuk! So, what can we do to help navigate the pitfalls of the season and better yet, to help us thrive throughout the remaining months of the year?

Just Breathe!

Let’s begin by sitting tall, then relax and take a deep breath in through the nostrils. Make sure the inbreath fills not only the lungs, but that it expands down into the belly. Hold for a count of four. Then, audibly release the breath through the mouth, dropping the shoulders and relaxing the muscles during the exhale. Doesn’t that feel good?

That is what I call a cleansing breath, and you can use it as a general reset or reframe any time, any place. This type of breath, or some version of it, is used regularly at the beginning of Hatha Yoga classes for that very purpose.

It is a means to release pesky thoughts from the mind, together with the resulting tension stored in the body, thus bringing the mind, body and spirit into the present moment. So simple, yet so beautiful and effective!

Did You Know?

It has been estimated that, on average, a person at rest takes about 12 to 16 breaths per minute. This means we breathe about 960 breaths an hour, 23,040 breaths a day and 8,409,600 breaths a year. At this rate, it is estimated that if we live to be 80, we will take about 672,786,000 breaths over our lifetime.

Unfortunately, many of us are not breathing in a manner that allows us to optimize each breath we take. Shallow breathing, also known as chest or thoracic breathing, is very common and engages the chest and intercostal muscles only. Deep breathing or diaphragmatic breathing moves the inbreath on into the stomach as the diaphragm contracts.

Benefits of Deep Breathing

Deep breathing is reported to have many benefits including:

• May lower heart rate, which helps manage stress.
• May help regulate blood pressure.
• May improve digestion.
• May improve immunity.
• May improve circulation.
• Helps support correct posture.
• Mind/body connection/creativity.

Breath Is Life…

Just sit with that for a minute. Without breath there is no life for humans. Yet many of us never stop to consider our breath since it’s an involuntary, automatic process, provided our bodies are functioning properly.

My journey learning about the breath began with a search for tools to help manage stress, anxiety and burnout. Read on and find out how you can improve your health and well-being, which is so important as we continue to navigate our sixties and beyond.

Educate and Empower Yourself!

I invite you to learn more about the breath and various breathing techniques at the following resources:

• Physiology of How Breathing Works
• Anatomy 101: How To Tap the Real Power of Your Breath (Yoga)
• Deep Breathing Exercises to Reduce Anxiety
• How Deep Breathing Techniques Can Boost Your Immune System
• The Healing Power of the Breath
• Nose Breathing: Benefits, How To, Exercises to Try

My Breathing Anthems!

Just for fun, the following are links to some of my favorite inspirational anthems that include reference to the breath. After all, music is like a breath of fresh air! Please comment on your favorite song or songs that pertain to the subject.

• Breathe (2 A.M.) by Anna Nalick
• Every Breath You Take by The Police
• Catch My Breath by Kelly Clarkson
• Just Breathe by Willie Nelson (with his son Lucas)

The most powerful tool for healing lies within you – your breath.

—Deborah Davis

I leave you today with the beautiful quote above and I encourage you take it to heart as this year comes to a close and we begin our journeys into the New Year. Wishing many blessings to you and yours during this holiday season! And don’t forget, JUST BREATHE!

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What are your experiences with breathing? Have you done any real breath work? Are there any particular breathing tools or methods that have been especially helpful to you?

Imagine discovering a location in the United States where you can experience savannah-like landscapes, luscious waterfalls and green mountain valleys, expansive moonscape terrains, and a coastline adorned with wild beaches featuring warm water and sand in shades of green, black, and white – all in one place. Would you believe such a place exists? Welcome to Hawaii’s Big Island.

Since the destructive August fires on Maui, many travelers to the islands – sensing that Maui residents are still very much in the throes of recovery and reconstruction – are opting to visit the biggest island of them all and are finding themselves fascinated with the diversity of Hawaii Island, a magical place to consider exploring over the holidays.

Go East or West

When traveling to Hawaii’s Big Island, you’ll have a choice of flying into either Hilo on the east side (what some refer to as “old Hawaii”) or Kona on the west side (where considerable new development is ongoing). Beach enthusiasts and surfers prefer landing in Kona on the Kona Coast, as it boasts a number of stunning beaches, among the most popular being Kekahai Kai, Makalawena, Manini’owali, Anaeho’omalu, Hapuna, Mauna Kea, Mau’umae, and Spencer.

If you drive north along the Kona Coast into South Kohala, home to Puako, Waikoloa Village, Waimea, and the unincorporated town of Kawaihae (you’ll see that savannah-like landscape here, not to mention ubiquitous rainbows), you’ll eventually enter North Kohala, home to Mahukona Beach Park, a place where University of Hawaii professors and their students come to study the returning reef – no runoff from golf courses or agriculture – and where swimmers and snorkelers revel in its crystal clear waters. It is the site of a former wharf used during the plantation days.

Driving farther into North Kohala along Highway 270 through the charming towns of Hawaii and Kapaau, where the prominent statue of King Kamehameha stands, the road will end after several miles. Park and hike down into Pololu Valley for a dramatic seascape that weds a black sand beach with deep verdant canyons.

Were you to fly south-easterly from Pololu, you’d find yourself at the Waipio Valley Lookout, accessible by car only from the Hamakua Coast on Hawaii’s east side, a 15-minute drive north from the quaint town of Honoka’a. Years ago, the Hamakua Coast was the location of Hawaii Island’s first coffee plantations. Today most visitors travel south of Kona to enjoy coffee tours. The Hamakua Coast also features Akaka Falls and Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, a wonderland of tropical plants and trees.

Have We Forgotten Something?

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, of course (where you’ll see that moonscape terrain). Here you’ll find Kīlauea, the most active volcano on Earth, known for its frequent eruptions; and Mauna Loa, a shield volcano that has erupted 33 times since its first well-documented eruption in 1843, the largest volcano on Earth in terms of volume and area. The artsy town of Volcano near the park is an ideal place to have lunch and pick up unique island gifts to take back home.

Accommodations

Regarding accommodations, your best bet is staying with family, a friend, or an acquaintance, if you’re fortunate in this regard. Hotels can be pricey, so in recent years, tourists have been searching for lodgings on platforms like Airbnb or VRBO that are more budget-friendly.

On the other hand, if you have come to Hawaii’s Big Island to unwind, regroup, heal, and find balance and don’t mind paying more, high-end hotels such as the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Mauna Lani, and Mauna Kea, will pamper you royally. Vacation packages that include the flight, a car, and a hotel would be the most economical if you’re coming to luxuriate.

The Big Island offers lots of variety for the foodie: from the exclusive Roy’s and Huggo’s to Island Gourmet Market with popular island entrees and sweet treats (be sure to try the malasadas, a type of Portuguese-Hawaiian donut). A little-known secret is the mini-marts island-wide that offer home-made sushi and Hawaiian-style lunches, an excellent choice for grabbing a tasty bite on your way to the beach.

And it’s not called the Big Island for nothing! Measuring over 4,000 square miles in size, a trip around the island via highways 19 and 11 totals 222 miles. Roads are mostly two-lane and winding, so don’t expect to travel anywhere near the speed you’re used to on the mainland.

Besides, isn’t this one of the reasons you come to Hawaii in the first place: to slow down and absorb the natural beauty surrounding you in every direction?

Visit GoHawaii for more information.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Have you been to Hawaii? Which island have you visited? Would you return and where would you go this time?