How to Start Practicing Again - Josh Friedman + Ben Levin

Hey, Ben! Love the content, love your unique music. Take your improv skills on the hippie circuit, we'd love to have you. Best regards.

I don't trust anyone that wears a hat indoors

Great honest advice. I'm going to add a meditation reminder to my calendar right now.

Highly recommend the Kenny Werner meditations. I also use a simple “Breath” app that sets a timer for controlled rate breathing, uses haptics on Watch to lmk interval and duration.

Great advice! Now let's see if I can employ it...

I love these videos and their style. The guests are great, especially the ones you make music with. Great video

Pigeon

Whats the name of the track you featured as you were introducing Josh?

Thanks.

Just what I needed to hear, thanks Dr. Levin and nurse Friedman!

Ben Levin was in a bad called Tritone which featured someone who wears an eyepatch. That'll be showing up in one of my dreams in a couple of years.

I really enjoyed this. Its comforting when you offer your friends, and their thoughts along with your own views on meditation and mindfulness to body and mental health every now and again. Thanks Ben & Josh

It is not the least bit surprising that someone as thoughtful and kind as Ben has friends who are as thoughtful and kind. Nice video.

beautiful ( and personally needed )
Thank you both

This is fantastic, discussions of mental health for musicians does not seem to be prominent enough on the internet and in education, but it's a necessary part to discuss, as even the most dedicated and music loving individuals can feel depressed and unable to pick up their instrument. This video was very much needed, thank you very very much to both of you :)

this was really inspirational and insightful, thanks ben and josh!

This gave me a small anxiety attack, when you said "these are just thoughts", but I felt like I had to stop that moment just to practice it.
My mind often gets foggy when I'm anxious but I'll do my best to remember what you've said and use it

Dear Dr. Levin and nurse Friedman, thank you so much for this video. I have been dealing with a severe form of Crohn's disease since I was a teenager and sometimes that interferes with my ability to concentrate and perform music. Looking after my physical health (no alcohol or tobacco, eating and sleeping properly, joining a sports club) indeed helps a lot. I had not considered meditation or psychological help before, so thank you for that suggestion.

Great, man. thanks, i am on that way too

Cool video, not what I expected. I have a hard time meditating because I’m really ADD and can’t knock the nagging feeling that I’m wasting my time or that it will be pointless

This works for many other psychological issues. I used to have terrible anger management problems until I started doing breathing exercises.
It's helped me tremendously with my personal relationships and to practice with my music without getting frustrated (I still suck though). Doing these types of exercises can really change your life for the better.

I love how the background makes it look like you have cat ears

That mindfullness practice idea hit me hard, just what I've been struggling with. Haven't published stuff in 2 years because that's happening to me all the time.

Thanks for making this video.

thank you so much for this

This is awesome! Ima check his music but I really related to what he was saying about not finishing projects. Thanks for posting this!

This really hits home. For years I have suffered from Ulcerative Colitis, and it confines me to my apartment at times. A lot of times. Playing guitar is a huge outlet, and what you said with anxiety, and being mindful of your health is spot on. Never really made the connection. Thank you for this video, man.

This video is totally misleading! I came to help me make music and it helped me live! Give my money back! LOL

Thanks for the video, I discovered about that kind of breathing 2 or 3 years ago and it helps me center myself.

Also, you can be David Lynch, a perfect American gentleman and meditate, not some hippies like you and me. LOL

Good to see this type of advice posted, I've been having anxiety problems since I was a teenager (including mild panic attacks) and all of this thing mentioned really help, breathing exercises, meditation and also seeking professional help (if you think you need it look for help, talk to someone close to you to help you out if you need it).

I find that when I'm alone at home, I desparetly want to play my instrument (marimba). However, I can only play it at my school. When I'm finally at school, I hardly want to play it anymore. It's a constant vicious cycle that I wish I could flip around, but I guess I'll struggle until I can afford to buy one for myself.

" i am that, but you dont have to be that" most self aware shit ive ever heard

These are great things to talk about! It's what I've been implementing to my ĺife since like 14 too

I have an additional tip as far as breathing goes!! My choir teacher taught it to us and i find it amplifies the effectiveness of the exercise for myself personally, especially as a singer. He taught us that instead of inhale for 3 seconds and exhale for 6 seconds, we inhale for 3 seconds, hold that breath for 3 seconds, and THEN exhale for 6 seconds. It helps you control the start AND end of both the inhale and the exhale. idk maybe it’s just a me thing but i figured i’d leave it here in case it helps someone else too.

I thought he had cat ears at first

Thank you guys for this video, really !

Awesome

I'm so out of shape that breathing exercises leave me out of breath.

The thing that helps me is just to do whatever I need to do, no matter if I "feel like it" or not. Because if I just force myself to do it, then that anxiety that was stopping me from doing it starts to get solved.

Dude has to get laid so often with that eye patch.

Hey men, can you do a "Lets write a conceptual album"? It does not have to be a full album, just how to make a idea/feeling/theme into music.

Love you guys

Oops, misheard Ben! I thought he said "The one-night kid".

This video really helped me to figure out how to get the motivation back to practice. I could have a day or even a few weeks where everything I play sounds on point, and I'm totally in the zone, then something just changes and nothing sounds right. I think anxiety does have something to do with it, because the main way it kind of poisons the thought process is all the "what ifs" and the feeling that there's something more important that I should be doing.

Also the breathing thing definitely helps with performances. Before a show, I'm excited, and pretty confident in my ability to actually play properly, but I get nervous about things that are beyond my control, like what if my pedals stop working, or if nobody shows up to watch us. Having a minute or two of breathing exercises right before I walk onstage helps that anxiety to melt away, and makes it easier for me to live in the moment of the performance.

Holy sh*t.

You are amazing Mr. Ben Levin. Very inspiring videos and awesome guest speakers!
All about music. Nothing else. Only music. No bullsh*t. Pure music. Thank you so much!!!

Thanks very very much for that video! (I really liked the doodles a lot, too)

Ben and Josh, this video is so important in 2021. Thank you for being the positive role models we all need