New York-based violist Nora Krohn addresses a topic that is crucial for many musicians with focal dystonia - how to handle work during the recovery process. She shares her personal experience of deciding whether or not to continue performing and explains why returning to work is a key part of recovery.

Deciding whether to continue working

According to Nora, the first step is to decide whether to work at all during recovery. This decision is personal and depends on a number of factors. She herself initially tried to manage her concerts despite the symptoms of dystonia, but after a few months she decided to stop playing.

Physically, she harmed herself by playing as she tried to compensate for the dystonic symptoms, and psychologically, she experienced a constant fear of being discovered. Additionally, she realized that continued gaming made her condition worse as the brain continued to reinforce pathological patterns. So she decided to stop completely and focus exclusively on the process of neuroplastic relearning of movements.

Financial side and alternative work

During the three years she was unable to play professionally, Nora began teaching intensively. This gave her not only financial stability, but also psychological space to heal. He cautions that if a person has a viable recovery plan based on sound technique and the guidance of an experienced professional, repeating old movement patterns can hinder the process.

However, he acknowledges that not everyone can afford to stop playing completely. If it is not possible to have a financial reserve or paid vacation, he recommends considering other forms of income - for example, teaching, administrative work in the field of art, or even employment outside the music world. Such a change is not a failure, but an investment in a future career. Thanks to this, she herself gained a stable teaching experience, which later came in very handy, for example during the pandemic.

Continue playing during recovery

If a musician decides to play during recovery, Nora recommends carefully choosing the type of work, repertoire and teammates. It is important to choose an environment that does not add additional stress and proceed with deliberation. It's perfectly fine to limit yourself to songs and situations that are manageable and choose concerts in a friendly environment.

She emphasizes that recovery from dystonia is a process of reprogramming the nervous system, and therefore stress plays a major negative role. He therefore recommends transferring the learned principles of healthy movement directly into practice - whether during exercise or during concerts. Adjusting fingerings, omitting difficult passages or changing the arrangement is not cheating, but a temporary solution that helps maintain a healthy approach to playing.

Coping with failure and stress

Nora points out that despite all efforts, old movement patterns can reappear under stress. It is important to take this into account and not see it as a failure. He advises in such moments to return attention to the contact of the body with the ground - to the feet or sit bones - and perceive the support that provides the body with stability. This principle is a key part of the Till Method, the approach that helped her heal.

Keeping in touch with the body helps calm the nervous system and restore balance. If a concert or rehearsal doesn't go well, she recommends doing a few minutes of light exercise focusing on the right movements to gently reset the brain back to a new healthy pattern.

Recovery phase

Nora describes the four stages of the healing process:

1. Acquiring healthy movements at the level of the body, often outside the instrument.

2. Transferring these movements to the instrument and into playing itself.

3. Applying the new system of playing in the work environment.

4. Stabilizing the new system under pressure - during public performances.

These phases are intertwined in practice. It is often necessary to "test" the progress made in less demanding situations so that the brain can further develop and consolidate new movement maps. Each musician can choose the pace – some will return to playing earlier, others will allow themselves a longer time away from concert practice. However, it is important to go through all four stages, because only then is it possible to achieve a full recovery.

Result

According to Nora, the result of this process is not only a return to playing unencumbered by dystonia, but also a deeper, physically and psychologically healthier relationship to music. The experience gained brought her a new way of perceiving movement, tone and herself as a musician.

Notes

This article was expertly edited based on a video by Nora Krohn and co-created with the help of ChatGPT.

Nora Krohn's official YouTube channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@norakrohn