Once the participants had finished their first week of yoga along with their initial completed ‘Participant Profile’, Brass BodyMap, Practice Diary, they were issued their second Brass BodyMap (Figure 2.12). This is implemented to monitor any physical changes that have happened as a result of their first week of yoga. We have already gained an insight through the comments section of their practice diary but this provides us with comparable data to the participants' pain/tension/discomfort level before implementing yoga in their practice. The results of the second BodyMap are seen below (Figure 2.12):

We can see by comparing the results of Week 1 (Figure 2.14) and Week 2 (Figure 2.15) that a greater variety of body parts were selected as the participants area experiencing the most pain/tension/discomfort. An explanation for this could be the heightened body awareness documented by the participants. With heightened body awareness comes an awareness of body parts that was not there previously. Although more body parts were chosen, less votes were placed in total meaning that overall there were less body parts experiencing extreme pain/tension/discomfort. One participant even stated that "I haven't experienced any relevant discomfort this week". This is definitely a step in a positive direction. 

It can be seen from these comments that there is a general feeing of reduced pain/tension across all participants except for participant 4 where a more detailed response is need to determine if the change is positive or negative.

Notable comments include “sleeping better” from participant 1 which connects with the interview with Amellia Rosenberger, during which it was highlighted that rest is an important facet to efficient recovery. There is also a trend of increased mobility/relaxation throughout the day and decreased pain. From the results of the BodyMap Week 2 (Figure 2.12), we are beginning to see the potential positive impact that yoga can have on the injury prevention/recovery of brass players.

The participants were issued their second practice diary to record their second week of yoga. The layout of the diary remained the same as the first week and similar to the previous week they were asked to record which asana and pranayama exercises were completed each day along with some comments on their progress. The choice of asana and pranayama exercises remained the same to ensure consistency and confidence in the routine. The results can be seen in (Figure 2.18) below:

Similar to last week, not every exercises was practiced by every participant, if this case study were to be repeated it would be highlighted that every asana and pranayama exercise should be attempted at least once by every participant. Recovery methods might not always feel intuitive however, that does not mean that it is not beneficial to the process

General relaxation was mentioned four times across three of the participants. When comparing the results to last week participants generally find the asanas to provide relaxation as opposed to pranayama excerices promoting relaxation in week 1. This suggests that the participants are already becoming more comfortable with asanas. The bending and balance asanas proved effective at promoting relaxation

Breath control was mentioned three times across two of the participants. The benefits that came from greater breath control included an increased efficiency of breathing (due to Overhead Reach) and an ability to harness the breath calm the nervous system.

Mindfullness and a calming effect was mentioned three times across two of the participants. We are beginning to see yoga being used outside of the practice room by participant 6 as they used the sequence after a busy day and to manage anxiety before an audition. This supports a trend of increased engagement in the practice.

A more focused airstream was mentioned as a benefit by one of the participants. A critical approach towards how an exercise feels shows a great self-awareness. The comment Participant 1 wrotet about the Breath of Fire exercise hints to a stronger sense of self and body awareness

Decreased performance anxiety was highlighted by one of the participants. Participant 6 managed to transfer the skills developed during their yoga practice to aid them in an external setting - a positive advancement in the participant's ability of yoga practice.

Although there have been many signs of a greater understanding of the practice and its potential benefits, not all of the responses have been positive.

Reduced Pain was mentioned five times across three of the participants. This is a significant breakthrough as previously particiants only felt a change in their preceived tension rather than areas of pain. This is solid indication that the regular yoga practice is moving beyond preventative effects and into therapeutic impact. From the commentst it is shown that regular practise of the standing and twisting asanas correlate with reduced pain.

Reduced Tension was mentioned five times across three of the participants. The three body parts mentioned to have experienced reduced tension during week 2 are the neck, upper back and abdominals. Asanas that were mentioned in connection with this improvement were the Overhead Stretch, Bending Asanas and Neck Rolls.

Body Awareness was mentioned three times across three of the participants. Similar to week 1 body awareness was mostly mentioned in regard to an awareness of pain however, this week it included positive results in relation to breath awareness.

Injury Prevention

Following the positive results from week 1, improvements can now be seen in all four participants who suffer from existing injuries. Although not every injury has seen improvement, each participant has been able to use yoga to assist their recovery:

From the seven participants, only five contributed to the comments section of the Practice Diary for Week 2 which is one less than last week. The results of this week's comments specify eight benefits as a result of regular yoga practice. When compared to the results of Week 1, the number of benefits have doubled from four to eight. The benefits mentioned throughout the comments are general relaxation, relaxed breathing, reduced tension, reduced pain, focused airstream, increased body awareness, mindfulness, energised and reduced performance anxiety.

When comparing the popularity of the asanas with Week 1 we can see that the Tree Pose is now the most popular asana and the Crescent Lunge remains the least popular. Overall the total number of asanas recorded by all the participants is 239. By comparing this to the total from week 1 of 211 asanas recorded we can see an increased engagement in the case study. 

From the results displayed in (Figure 2.13) we can see the body parts most selected as an area of pain/tension/discomfort are the right shoulder (5 votes), left shoulder (4 votes) and neck (4 votes). When comparing the results of this week's BodyMap to Week 1 we can see that the shoulders remain the most selected body part but have been selected by one less participant. A breakdown of the comparison to last weeks results can be found below:

By observing the progression from last week we can see clearly that more body parts in the BodyMap were selected by fewer participants as an area of pain/tension/discomfort after a week of yoga. This indicates that implementing yoga into your practice routine reduces overall pain/tension/discomfort during practice. Out of the 27 available body parts to select as an area of pain/tension/discomfort 19 were not selected by any participants compared to last weeks 18. The majority of body parts are only being selected/deselected by one more participant, however, the upper back and shoulder decreased by two votes - both body parts highlighted as an area experiencing the most tension and as pre-existing injuries. This suggests improvement in reducing pain in areas prone to injury for brass players.

- Contents Page

- Chapter 1: Personal History

- Chapter 2: Yoga and Music

- Chapter 3: Injury

- Chapter 4: Case Study

    -Week 1

    -Week 2

    -Case Study - Conclusion

- Conclusion