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Jazz and Mediation

May 25, 2011 By Joy Rosenthal

A few months ago I printed a wonderful quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. about the contributions that jazz makes to humanity.  That touched me, particularly coming from a minister, because there are some who have said that jazz is antithetical to religion.

I have been listening to jazz since I was a teenager, and have been trying my hand at it (on the flute and on the piano) for a few years.  Still amateur, for sure, but trying. The challenge of jazz is that you not only have to have technical skill at your instrument (getting a good sound, playing with dynamics, knowing the scales), but you have to have an understanding of music theory (being able to play a melody through all 12 keys, understanding the relationships between major and minor chords, as well as modes).  On top of that, you have to understand rhythm – often complex.  And most importantly, you have to get the feeling – the swing of it. Oh – and did I mention that you’re doing all this while you are improvising?

Mediating often reminds me of jazz.  There are certain rules, certain things I know I must do — like reframing.  And there are certain topics we must talk about – particularly in a divorce mediation – specific decisions to be made.   But there are, at any one time, 100, maybe 200 things being said, verbally and non-verbally.  How do I know which to pay attention to, which to draw out, which to respond to, which to ignore… How do I know which will move the mediation forward?  And how do I respond and reframe with transparency, with honesty, with compassion, with understanding. . .

There are scales, there are chords in mediation.  There is the technical skill, but then there is the rhythm — and the feeling.  It is an art as much as it is a science.  The more we practice, the more fluent we become.

Filed Under: Mediation, Mindfulness Tagged With: compassion, honesty, inner voice, listening, mediation, music, understanding

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Joy S. Rosenthal, Esq.
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Brooklyn, NY 11215

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