VIDEOS & GUIDES

This past March I went on a two-week immersion in the Amazon Rainforest. I brought my backpacking violin along and recorded one of my favorite pieces of all time - Jay Ungar's "Ashokan Farewell" - in one of the most remote places on earth, the Amazon headwaters in Ecuador. I've probably played this piece more than any other in my life. It was a favorite of my grandfather, George Arnold, who used to ask me to play it for him whenever we would visit. I felt honored to play this piece at the base of a sacred "kapok" tree, which the Achua people of the rainforest believe to be where their ancestors' spirits go when they die. This is quite possibly the first time this piece has ever been recorded (or even played!) in the Amazon Rainforest. Violins don't do so well in this climate, after all! Luckily, I had my Magic Fluke "Cricket" backpacking violin and a carbon fiber bow with me, both of which withstood the trek and the weather admirably. I feel so grateful to be able to play this soulful piece of music in this sacred place. Hearing the wildlife singing around me as I played, with the thunder rumbling in the distance, at the foot of one of the biggest trees I've ever seen... was breathtaking. I hope you enjoy this recording and get a sense of how special a place the Amazon headwaters is. PS - If you're a musician or other kind of artist and you want to experience an Amazon Rainforest immersion like the one I went on, please reach out to me via my website JosephArnold.com. I will be leading a group of 8-11 creatives for an 11-day journey to the Amazon headwaters in Ecuador in March of 2023. We will go on hikes through the forest to visit sacred waterfalls, commune with ancient trees, share our gifts with the indigenous peoples of the forest, and (if you want to) participate in shamanic rituals. It will be a life-changing experience. Joseph Arnold Violinist, Alexander Technique teacher, Founder of the Soulforce Arts Academy JosephArnold.com -- Sign up for my bodacious mailing list and blog to learn more about my upcoming book tentatively entitled, "Soulforce Arts: The Vital Role of Musicians & Artists in a World That's Lost Its Mind."

Listen to this guided meditation when you're tired, but you still need to get up and do more. The "secret" is to really allow yourself to be tired and not to fight it in any way. When you do this, you'll notice that the part of you that is aware of the tiredness is, itself, not actually tired. Resting in this awareness is deeply... restful! Day 33 of 100 Days of Soulforce: - Guided meditation on dealing with tiredness Subscribe to my blog or this YouTube channel to stay tuned! What's "100 Days of Soulforce"? I'm embarking on a mission to spread the word about Soulforce Performing Arts because I believe it is a needed message for artists of all kinds in our times. To that end, I'm making 100 videos over the coming 100 days (or so) to explain all the different angles and ideas, and to hopefully spark inspiration in you! Each video will have inspirational and practical ideas for you to bring more Soulforce to your life as a performing artist. These ideas are a part of my upcoming book: "Soulforce Performance Arts: The Vital Role for Artists and Musicians in a World That's Lost Its Mind." Subscribers to my newsletter will get early access and special perks. :) Joseph Arnold Violinist, Alexander Technique teacher, Founder of the Soulforce Arts Academy JosephArnold.com -- Sign up for my bodacious mailing list and blog!

The most powerful spiritual practice I've ever encountered is what I call, "Asking the Mystery for Help." It's based on the ancient principles of gift, offering, and sacrifice (although you don't need any religious beliefs for this to work). It can be used to get guidance on all kinds of problems, from relieving repetitive strain injuries, to getting better gigs, to solving relationship difficulties. I've been using it for a while now and have found that it regularly brings astounding healing and insights - much more than I would have expected. The thing I love most about it, though, is that it gives me a sense that I'm connected to a living universe, and no longer isolated and alone in my search for meaning and joy in life. Try it for yourself and see what happens! This practice, and many others like it, will be included in my upcoming book, so stay tuned for more like this! Day 32 of 100 Days of Soulforce: - How "Asking the Mystery for Help" can give powerful insights and healing for many everyday challenges and big life questions - The instructions: 1) Identify the problem 2) Get in touch with the Mystery. 3) Ask your question 4) Wait for an answer 5) Ask for an action step 6) Make the offering and stay open to receive any return gifts - Examples in how to apply this to challenges in your own life Subscribe to my blog or this YouTube channel to stay tuned! What's "100 Days of Soulforce"? I'm embarking on a mission to spread the word about Soulforce Performing Arts because I believe it is a needed message for artists of all kinds in our times. To that end, I'm making 100 videos over the coming 100 days (or so) to explain all the different angles and ideas, and to hopefully spark inspiration in you! Each video will have inspirational and practical ideas for you to bring more Soulforce to your life as a performing artist. These ideas are a part of my upcoming book: "Soulforce Performance Arts: The Vital Role for Artists and Musicians in a World That's Lost Its Mind." Subscribers to my newsletter will get early access and special perks. :) Joseph Arnold Violinist, Alexander Technique teacher, Founder of the Soulforce Arts Academy JosephArnold.com -- Sign up for my bodacious mailing list and blog!

The "Knowledge of the Soul" is all about feeling, vitality, and those qualities that make each of us unique as artists. Teaching technique and repertoire - while it has its challenges - can seem far easier to grasp than how to teach the Knowledge of the Soul. But the Knowledge of the Soul is easier to teach and access than you might think! You just have to know where to look. Watch this live Alexander Technique lesson with Alexander Technique teacher Joseph Arnold and violinist Gabe Miller to learn more! We touch on lots of other fascinating topics - see below for more details! Subscribe to my blog or this YouTube channel to stay tuned! What's "100 Days of Soulforce"? I'm embarking on a mission to spread the word about Soulforce Performing Arts because I believe it is a needed message for artists of all kinds in our times. To that end, I'm making 100 videos over the coming 100 days (or so) to explain all the different angles and ideas, and to hopefully spark inspiration in you! Each video will have inspirational and practical ideas for you to bring more Soulforce to your life as a performing artist. These ideas are a part of my upcoming book: "Soulforce Performance Arts: Redefining Artistic Performance, Practice, and Pedagogy in a World That's Lost Its Mind." Subscribers to my newsletter will get early access and special perks. :) Joseph Arnold Violinist, Alexander Technique teacher, Founder of the Soulforce Arts Academy JosephArnold.com -- Sign up for my bodacious mailing list and blog! ------- Lesson Video #4 with Gabe Miller 00:00:00 - week recap / mirroring feels rather than technique / being a channel/vessel of others as well as yourself 00:03:00 - Soulforce education style! Skill acquisition is based in “having mode” but that isn’t sufficient and doesn’t move us 00:04:00 - transferring the knowledge of the soul 00:04:56 - exploring the different ways of teaching/pedagogy - immersion/demonstration 00:07:58 - unpacking the student teacher power dynamic/relationship 00:09:20 - playing from heart “unifies a false dichotomy” - playing from the heart is a whole way of being 00:10:33 - why not play scales from the heart?? Discipline can lead to freedom but not if you’re always being bored! 00:13:11 - It’s less about the specific music you're playing and more about your relationship to it / how you're interacting with it 00:15:47 - curious about Joseph’s experience with “playing from the heart” with younger kids 00:17:12 - “I could hear his listening happening” - when a young student starts playing from the heart while playing Minuet 3 00:19:45 - curious about Joseph’s experience with the “doing” vs “receiving” modes 00:21:13 - when you’re getting in the way of yourself and you can release the tension, it opens yourself up to increased awareness 00:23:50 - takes time and practice to be in the receiving space 00:24:40 - pay attention when we’re curious or intrigued by something 00:25:40 - you can’t force a flower to grow, but you can set up the conditions and receive the gift 00:27:07 - is the “gut feeling” always what we should do? 00:28:15 - firstly we should just focus on being able to consider and trust our gut feelings, even if we ultimately choose to go against them 00:30:44 - what is the gut feeling telling us? Is there underlying tension that I need to address? We are the "king" and we have all these "council members" (emotions and feelings) that we could ignore or consider. We have to listen to our council and then decide! 00:34:30 - walkabout 00:35:39 - Gabe's eyes relaxed and helped unify him 00:36:10 - visual field / sight is created inside our brains ! No one’s ever “seen” the world! 00:38:20 - threats to the separate self 00:38:50 - non-dual perspective 00:39:58 - "fear of losing my mind" - what would you be losing? 00:45:36 - playing some violin 00:50:23 - playing “The Rainbow Connection” 00:52:12 - organize practice based on trying to realize the “wishes” you have 00:55:14 - honoring my wishes but not being able to do them! Taking note of what you want to practice later. Also how do you recover when things don’t go your way? 00:57:14 - what is a mistake, exactly? 00:58:00 - don’t sleep on “The Pause”! 01:02:17 - play the melody and just pause after a mistake ; don’t try to workshop it necessarily 01:04:24 - what happens if you want to play something that’s on the edge of your abilities? More important to release the tension because you don’t want it to build up. More on connecting the ideas next time!

Why does a gig feel fulfilling or soulless? Why do are we proud of some students, but resent others? And what's up with high-level artists so often being a**holes? It all has to do with the "Spirit of the Gift." Author Lewis Hyde says that a gift is only a gift if it circulates, and that as it circulates more its value and energy increases. Sound abstract? Think about it: - When you give your gifts as a teach and your student listens and practices what you teach, you are both giving and receiving, circulating your gifts - When you play your heart out for people who aren't even listening, your gifts aren't being reciprocated, and thus the energy of the gift dissipates, leaving you feeling drained - Conceited famous artists want to hold onto the accolades their fans throw their way, instead of passing that joy and energy along, thus stopping the circulation of the gift The Spirit of the Gift goes very deep into the arts and into life, in general. I will do more videos on this subject and am devoting a whole chapter or two to this subject in my book. Here's a previous video I made on the Spirit of the Gift: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9brejq45E8 Day 30 of 100 Days of Soulforce: - About the nature of gifts and the arts - How continued circulation is essential to gifts - Examples of how the circulation (or lack thereof) of our gifts makes being an artist or musician more or less meaningful - A simple practice to begin embodying the Spirit of the Gift in yourself Subscribe to my blog or this YouTube channel to stay tuned! What's "100 Days of Soulforce"? I'm embarking on a mission to spread the word about Soulforce Performing Arts because I believe it is a needed message for artists of all kinds in our times. To that end, I'm making 100 videos over the coming 100 days (or so) to explain all the different angles and ideas, and to hopefully spark inspiration in you! Each video will have inspirational and practical ideas for you to bring more Soulforce to your life as a performing artist. These ideas are a part of my upcoming book: "Soulforce Performance Arts: Redefining Artistic Performance, Practice, and Pedagogy in a World That's Lost Its Mind." Subscribers to my newsletter will get early access and special perks. :) Joseph Arnold Violinist, Alexander Technique teacher, Founder of the Soulforce Arts Academy JosephArnold.com -- Sign up for my bodacious mailing list and blog!

This past March I went on a two-week immersion in the Amazon Rainforest. I brought my backpacking violin along and recorded one of my favorite pieces of all time - Bach's Chaconne for solo violin - in one of the most remote places on earth, the Amazon headwaters in Ecuador. I'm very pleased to celebrate Earth Day 2022 with this video! This is quite possibly the first time this piece has ever been recorded (or even played!) in the Amazon Rainforest. Violins don't do so well in this climate, after all! Luckily, I had my Magic Fluke "Cricket" backpacking violin and a carbon fiber bow with me, both of which withstood the trek and the weather admirably. I feel so grateful to be able to play this profound piece of music in this sacred place. Hearing the wildlife singing around me as I played, with the sound of Bach's music reverberating off the trees in the distance was one of the peak experiences of my life. (At other moments of the trip, I also played for the indigenous peoples down there, many of whom had never heard or seen a violin before. It was a great honor to play for them!) It's not a "perfect" recording of the piece (I was sick for the prior few days, the humidity loosened the bow hairs almost to the point of unplayability, and it even started raining halfway through the recording!), but I'm very happy with the recording overall. I was in touch with the soul of the piece and my surroundings while I played - and that's what really matters to me. I hope you enjoy this recording and get a sense of how special a place the Amazon headwaters is. PS - If you're a musician or other kind of artist and you want to experience an Amazon Rainforest immersion like the one I went on, please reach out to me via my website JosephArnold.com. I will be leading a group of 8-11 creatives for an 11-day journey to the Amazon headwaters in Ecuador in March of 2023. We will go on hikes through the forest to visit sacred waterfalls, commune with ancient trees, share our gifts with the indigenous peoples of the forest, and (if you want to) participate in shamanic rituals. It will be a life-changing experience. Joseph Arnold Violinist, Alexander Technique teacher, Founder of the Soulforce Arts Academy JosephArnold.com -- Sign up for my bodacious mailing list and blog to learn more about my upcoming book tentatively entitled, "Soulforce Arts: The Vital Role of Musicians & Artists in a World That's Lost Its Mind."

I'm back from my two-week immersion in the Amazon Rainforest! It was a life-changing experience being in such remote place, getting to know the indigenous peoples of the forest. In this video, I share some of the experiences and life lessons that I gleaned from my time in the jungle. Day 29 of 100 Days of Soulforce: - What the Pachamama Alliance rainforest immersion journeys are about (Pachamama.org) - What I learned from the Achuar people of the jungle: "Move towards danger with curiosity" - How the trip impacted me, and the difficult transition back to daily life in Philadelphia - Self-inquiry meditation: "I am Nature" - Invitation to you to join me in a trip down to the jungle in March 2023 Subscribe to my blog or this YouTube channel to stay tuned! What's "100 Days of Soulforce"? I'm embarking on a mission to spread the word about Soulforce Performing Arts because I believe it is a needed message for artists of all kinds in our times. To that end, I'm making 100 videos over the coming 100 days (or so) to explain all the different angles and ideas, and to hopefully spark inspiration in you! Each video will have inspirational and practical ideas for you to bring more Soulforce to your life as a performing artist. These ideas are a part of my upcoming book: "Soulforce Performance Arts: Redefining Artistic Performance, Practice, and Pedagogy in a World That's Lost Its Mind." Subscribers to my newsletter will get early access and special perks. :) Joseph Arnold Violinist, Alexander Technique teacher, Founder of the Soulforce Arts Academy JosephArnold.com -- Sign up for my bodacious mailing list and blog!

I'll be going to the Amazon headwaters in Ecuador for the next 16 days. I'm traveling with the Pachamama Alliance (pachamama.org), which is a climate change advocacy organization that also helps the indigenous peoples of the Amazon headwaters region interface with organizations like the UN to turn the Amazon headwaters into a permanently protected area. I'll be bringing my travel violin with me and making videos while I'm down there, which I will share once I'm back. I'm most excited to make a video of my performance of the Bach "Chaconne" - a powerful and sacred piece in a powerful and sacred place. I'll post my next video on 4/2/22. Day 28 of 100 Days of Soulforce: - About my trip - Basic itinerary - My intentions for the trip - An excerpt of the Bach "Chaconne" Subscribe to my blog or this YouTube channel to stay tuned! What's "100 Days of Soulforce"? I'm embarking on a mission to spread the word about Soulforce Performing Arts because I believe it is a needed message for artists of all kinds in our times. To that end, I'm making 100 videos over the coming 100 days (or so) to explain all the different angles and ideas, and to hopefully spark inspiration in you! Each video will have inspirational and practical ideas for you to bring more Soulforce to your life as a performing artist. These ideas are a part of my upcoming book: "Soulforce Performance Arts: Redefining Artistic Performance, Practice, and Pedagogy in a World That's Lost Its Mind." Subscribers to my newsletter will get early access and special perks. :) Joseph Arnold Violinist, Alexander Technique teacher, Founder of the Soulforce Arts Academy JosephArnold.com -- Sign up for my bodacious mailing list and blog!