Beauty at the Edge of Catastrophe: Cultivating Mindful Presence in Musical Performance

“Dear musicians, you hold in your hands a beautiful offering that can enliven your embodied presence, and bring heart wisdom to your art.”— Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart"A truly inspiring book: easy to dip into before a stressful concert, to read deeply from cover to cover, or to keep close as a practical handbook of exercises and meditations. I will be recommending it to every musician I know." —Rachel Podger, violinist"A truly remarkable book. Though presented as a mindfulness guide for musicians, it reaches far beyond that description, speaking to anyone interested in meeting life’s challenges with greater clarity and care" —Peter Blackaby, Intelligent Yoga"Gold-dust for any curious, aspiring or questing musician" —Lucy Russell, Fitzwilliam QuartetThree decades ago, injury and performance anxiety came close to ending Ruth Phillips’ career as a musician. Mindfulness was a last resort, and it changed her life. Through mindfulness, Ruth discovered an approach to practice and performance that restored her physical, mental and emotional well being, enabling her to delight in performing for the first time.In this book, Ruth shares the basics of mindfulness from a musician's perspective, bringing theory to life with anecdotes from her experience as a musician and as a coach, and interweaving over thirty embodied practices.Inspired by Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s insight that beauty lives “at the edge of catastrophe”, this book offers musicians the tools to move through the barriers of fear and isolation to the joy of presence and connection. Read more