Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

I was talking with my teacher the other day, and the subject of health had come up and weather I still thought Shakuhachi had helped in my recovery. I said it had in many ways and the suggestion was made that I talk about it on the forum, I had mentioned this subject briefly in an earlier post, but maybe it’s time I elaborate a little.
 
  About two years ago I was in a coma which lasted about one and a half to two months. While in the coma a myriad of complications arose, I had a stroke, respiratory and kidney failure, and was on a respirator for over a month. After waking up or should I say, coming back, the world as I knew it was gone. The Drs. Said it was likely I would be in a wheel chare or at best need a walker to help get around. I also could not read or remember simple things; names of things still elude me to this day, but slowly show signs of getting better. Sound and movement were incredibly confusing, if there was too much input it seems my brain would shut down and I would need to rest my mind. So I found that it was easier to focus on one simple thing rather than many things at the same time. There was about two months of physical and mental rehab in the hospital, close to eight hours a day, and by the end of that I was walking with a cane, but scared to death of stairs(eventually that to would pass).
   
  When I got home I had wanted to start listening to and playing music and resume working on some sort of art work. I found that after 20 plus years I no longer could stand the sound of the guitar (it sounded abrasive), so making a long story a little shorter all roads led to the Shakuhachi and Honkyoku. The spare ness and the seeming lack of movement was perfect. I started off naturally with blowing Ro and fiddled around with that for awhile, here’s where the health benefits to Shakuahchi begin. Along with my daily fitness routine I incorporated deep breathing exercises while doing my squats. The oxygen it took to blow Ro strengthened my lungs and improved my thinking.
   
  I also found that it was time to find a teacher; there was no way I was going to play these songs on my own. Thank god for the internet, I found one, only a Greyhound bus ride away. So by doing this it forced me to go back out into the world and deal with sound and movement and people (which was really not an easy task). Also with the lessons comes reading the music, that has helped immensely. I found it a little easier because the writing is more like pictures rather than words; the fun part is those pictures represent words. So that forced me to find ways to memorize the words that the pictures represented. Sorting through words in my head when talking with someone is sometimes a slow process and with my lessons, I’m forced to try and do that.

   Through this flute I have met a lot of very good and interesting people. In short (long), this simple (?) peace of bamboo has brought so many positive aspects to my life by forcing me to accelerate my exercise routine, by reading, and by resuming some sort of public life and art again. Rebirth through bamboo.

  Sorry if this was long winded!

Last edited by jeff jones (2006-07-29 16:11:47)