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Health is a holistic state of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social well-being that happens when we function optimally and sustainably. Health markers include the ability to respond, at a molecular level and also with other humans. This presents itself differently in each person, but there is a quality of full expression that exudes presence and charisma and health. Music not only facilitates a personal response but also amplifies it in multiple modes of thought, emotion, and sensation.
In a culture obsessed with measurable outcomes, it’s easy to overlook that growth and impact may not show up in the result (yet) but in the creative process itself. As a music connoisseur as a Steinway Artist, I find that an amateur performance of thoughtfulness and heart can move me more than a technically perfect one lacking this “aliveness.”
Every field uses different words to talk about how we show up in the process of becoming. It is the change in health biomarkers, the social impact and legacy of our lives, the scientific potential for neuroplasticity, and the artistic path to a creative mode.
Defining Terms
A disengaged bystander is most likely to evaluate endeavors by the metrics that are most convenient to measure. But to someone who cares about human development, metrics are only meaningful if they provide data that captures the big picture. the process of transforming, from where we are to where we aspire to be, is the impact. It includes a messy and interesting metric of self-awareness like subjective well-being (SWB) and perceived stress scale (PSS).
I use the term musical health to describe my science-backed engagement programs to support, enhance, or restore well-being. Practices like musical improvisation build confidence in the face of uncertainty and can benefit beginners and professional performers alike. I frame everything from humming a tune to breathing musically to writing a song to performing onstage as “conscious musical engagement.”
The Emotional Battle of Becoming
The pacing of any personal transformation involves an emotional battle. It requires balancing patience with mental and physical limitations against our motivation and drive. Or it demands discipline and focus amidst a tech world designs to create urgency and distraction. It is the automatic tone – the continuous activity of a healthy nervous system in navigating the balance between when to stop and when to go.
Musical engagement helps expose us to challenging feelings, which over time becomes familiar and expands our comfort zone. Resilience researchers call this process future reframing: developing a capacity to imagine future possibilities even under pressure. We can welcome stress as a reminder of what we really care about and channel that multidimensional joy into action.
From Revelation to Meaning to Outcomes
Ironically, when we focus on the process, we actually find our best chances for better outcomes. Music unfolds in thoughts, designs, emotions, and sensations through time; every note matters for the overall performance. When I teach the practice of Conscious Listening through music, we expand our diverse ways of knowing to have deeper revelations about the music itself. Recognizing that other people – including the composer and the performer – can all have different perspectives, improves our ability to embrace complexity and enhances our understanding. T that can translate into more personal meaning, which leads to more informed decisions and better outcomes.
Managing health also shares this process. It takes creativity to ask the best questions that will reveal the complexity of an integrated human body. Many of today’s medical programs are using narrative medicine to help students improve how they listen to a patient’s story and process individual’s details that could have tremendous impact on the outcome.
In my experience as a musician, my expression is a balance between delivering what I promise and discovering how to expand that vision all the time. The outcome is more beautiful when we trust the process and remember the balance.
Creative leaders across many fields recognize this. Amy Marshall, Paul Taylor Dance Education Director, describes it this way: “The creative process is often overshadowed by the final performance, yet the journey from the rehearsal room to the stage is where the real magic happens. Driven by inspiration, exploration, and risk, this collaborative endeavor between a choreographer and their dancers is the essential foundation for every work we enjoy. Choreographers resist the urge to fixate on the outcome; instead, they remain present, allowing the process itself to reveal where the art will lead them.”
Music Improv Lab at Juilliard: Jumping Over the Cliff of Doubt
Practicing improvisation is a fun way to optimize personal expression in real time. Improv requires listening to what just happened and imagining possibilities going forward, while playing with instincts and adapting to limits, without giving up or worrying about failure.
Creativity Essential Reads
It takes tremendous effort to jump off the cliff of doubt – over and over – to do something new, to expand our state of being. This is not about being comfortable, but becoming more comfortable about the discomfort. It takes courage in the face of many fears: the fear of failure, embarrassment, vulnerability, loss of status, among others. One has to focus on the fruit of this great effort, which includes the transformation of what used to be difficult into something generative. The idea of being uncomfortable, which used to be so terrifying, can become less threatening. Even exciting.
I am co-designing the first Juilliard Music Improv Lab for adults with my colleague, Professor Yi-heng Yang. We want students to recalibrate their measure of personal success to prioritize the creative process of becoming. And there is nothing like a safe environment with collective enthusiasm to jump over that cliff of doubt. Research shows that a practice of improv builds confidence and immediate engagement, not just for professional performers, but for anyone searching for a better way to thrive in the midst of the unknown.
Summary
Everything we do, whether it is success or failure in the short-term, however big or small our progress, empowers us to optimize our lives. The process of living fully brings us health. In the next article, Part 2, we will consider some ideas for maintaining health through musical practice.
