Mindful Tuesdays for Musicians
Monthly online sessions
Calling all musicians! Come together on Mindful Tuesdays to relax and find calm, inspiration and new perspectives with mindfulness practice. Monthly online drop-in sessions include guided meditations, input on mindfulness, and time for musicians to connect and share their questions, experiences and creative projects.
- Learn more about mindfulness
- Explore how mindfulness can benefit your creativity, performing, practising, teaching and composing
- Get support for your meditation
- Deepen your practice
- Meet other musicians from around the globe who practise mindfulness
Musicians with or without previous experience in mindfulness practice are welcome!
I’ve been back every week. I used to think of myself as not very creative, but through Susanne’s sessions I’ve started to see that I have everything I need inside me – there are methods through which you can bring out what’s inside you and share it. These sessions are nourishing, inspiring, educational.
S.S., San Francisco, USA
Dates & time: Second Tuesday of each month 7.30-9pm UK time / 8.30-10pm European time / 11.30am-1pm US Pacific time / 2.30-4pm US Eastern time
Fee: Donation – suggested contribution £5-10, feel free to pay less or more depending on your circumstances.
Booking & information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/138250008497
Music & Mindfulness
Nourishing Inspiration and Togetherness
Online sessions
With Susanne Olbrich, Joe Holtoway and Martha Wright.
Monthly drop-in sessions for all who are interested in creativity, wellbeing, relaxation, playfulness and connection, whether you have a mucial background or not. Susanne, Joe and Martha will bring mindfulness practices and songs, and guide explorations of sounds and silence. We will explore deep listening and authentic, embodied sounding, using the voice in ways that feel comfortable and natural. If you play an instrument, bring it along. We would love you to join us.
Facilitators: Susanne Olbrich, Joe Holtoway, Martha Wright
Dates & time: Monday 24 May, 7-9pm; 5 July, 7-9pm
Fee: Four levels of pricing are available: £5 / 10 / 15 / 20 (plus Eventbrite booking fee) – please choose a price that’s right for you. Our wish for this session is to be accessible for everyone regardless of financial circumstances. If you need a further reduction in order to take part please contact us.
Booking & information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/154186065673 for 24 May; https://www.eventbrite.com/e/156249447303 for 5 July
Breathe, You Are Alive!
Embracing Uncertainty, Nourishing Joy
Online mindfulness retreat
Weekend retreat in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and Plum Village with Dharma teachers Susanne Olbrich and Lesley Collington
Our world has changed considerably during this last year. In this retreat, we would like to offer an opportunity to pause and reflect — considering what we have lost, and also appreciating the new flowers that might have grown in our hearts and lives.
Sitting meditation, mindful walking and eating invite us to stop, calm, rest and heal. We will nourish our body and mind with gentle, grounding Qi Gong practices, cultivating a sense of spacious presence and aliveness. Dharma talks will explore relevant Buddhist teachings, and in Dharma sharing groups we can take inspiration from the collective wisdom of the sangha and connect with old and new friends alike.
The Buddha has offered the Four Noble Truths as guidance for understanding our suffering and cultivating happiness. This teaching will form the starting point for our practice and reflections during this weekend. You are invited to come home to the present moment with all that it holds, the sorrows and joys, the resistance and uncertainties — supported by the presence of sangha and our collective energies of mindfulness, awakening and compassion.
By opening our heart and being to the present moment, we create the conditions for transforming suffering into happiness. What is it we want to grow in our lives, individually and collectively? Looking deeply, we can explore our true values and develop our capacity for being an instrument of peace and joy.
Facilitators: Susanne Olbrich and Lesley Collington
Date & time : Friday 11 June, 7.30pm – Sunday 13 June, 4pm
Fee: by donation
Booking & information: please email
Mindfulness for Musicians
8-week online course
Building simply and surely from week to week, Susanne wove a tapestry of community, authenticity and listening from the threads of our reflections, our musical offerings, and even our silence. I left the course kinder to myself, strengthened in my identity as a musician, slowed down in every good way, and deeply grateful for her skill, scholarship and honesty.
Jeannie P., North Haven, CT, USA
This course explores ways in which mindfulness can benefit your musical activities. It supports you in cultivating mental and emotional wellbeing and will equip you to deal more effectively with stress, anxiety and other challenges.
Mindfulness practice has plenty to offer musicians. If you engage with it regularly, mindfulness can help you to
- develop inner clarity, focus and presence,
- (re)connect with aliveness and creativity,
- deepen your emotional resilience to deal more effectively with stress, anxiety and other challenges, and
- prevent instrument-specific strains, support technical development and expression through deepening awareness of the body.
This is a course for musicians who are looking for an introduction to mindfulness practice, or who have practised mindfulness before and wish to take their next steps. You will learn key principles and a range of practices to help you bring mindfulness into your daily life.
Practices include Sound meditation, Body scan, Breathing meditation, Walking meditation and Mindful movements, among others. Themes to be covered include: Grounding Through Body and Breathing; Being Present in Life and Musical Activities; Being with Difficult Experiences; Acceptance and Self-Compassion; The Art of Living Mindfully.
Each week you will receive a section of the e-manual and a recorded meditation for your daily practice. You will need a minimum commitment of 15-30 minutes of your time on 6 days per week.
Dates & time: A new course will start in autumn. Please contact me to register your interest.
Cost: Three levels of pricing are available: £115 / £135 / £155 (plus Eventbrite booking fee) – please choose a price according to your circumstances. This includes a detailed e-manual, weekly recorded meditations and e-mail support as needed. I would like this course to be accessible to everyone. For payment options, or for a further reduction, please contact me to discuss.
Publication: Dare to Create!
Susanne’s chapter “Dare to Create! Meditation, Insight and Creative Practices in Music” is part of an inspiring collection of true stories – stories of journeys that changed lives. Taking inspiration from the mythical hero’s journey, the book presents applications of mindfulness practice in a broad range of settings. These include education, health care, business, sports, creative arts and communities. Authors link their personal journeys as mindfulness practitioners with the latest research, telling captivating stories of sharing mindfulness practice with people of all ages and walks of life.
For a free download of Susanne’s chapter, please contact her.
Price: eBook £8.50, print copy £20. All proceeds go to the Everyone Project, helping fund mindfulness courses to groups who otherwise wouldn’t have access to them, for financial or other reasons.
Available here: https://www.inspiredbylearning.eu/book/11