To my fearless, faithful, and fabulous friends, may this season find you a little quieter inside, a little warmer at heart, and a little more willing to let go and play. May the coming year bring fewer thoughts, deeper breaths, braver hearts, and more moments where the music plays you.
As we wish one another a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I offer this playful reflection of twelve gentle reminders of how the music moves through us when we stop forcing, stop counting, and start trusting.
On the First Day of Christmas, my body gave to me…
One Watching Awareness
The quiet witness.
The one who notices thinking without joining the conversation.
This channel doesn’t play the horn but listens to the whole orchestra.
When awareness is awake, everything else behaves.
On the Second Day of Christmas…
Two Thinking Thoughts
The double-edged sword.
One thought to learn, one thought to doubt.
A brilliant planner… and a terrible performer.
Useful in the practice room. Fired on the bandstand.
On the Third Day of Christmas…
Three Feeling Forces
Emotion, mood, meaning.
The inner musician’s native language. No English required.
Feelings start the sentence before the fingers finish it.
On the Fourth Day of Christmas…
Four Breathing Bridges
Inhale, exhale.
Control and surrender.
The breath is the drawbridge between the mind and the body.
On the Fifth Day of Christmas…
Five Sensing Gates
Eyes watching.
Ears judging.
Skin reacting.
When the sensory gates are wide open, the inner world goes quiet.
On the Sixth Day of Christmas…
Six Moving Muscles
Lips, lungs, fingers, feet.
The workforce.
They don’t need instructions, only permission.
On the Seventh Day of Christmas…
Seven Stored Skills
Repetition turned into a reflex.
Practice transformed into trust.
This channel remembers what the mind forgets under pressure.
On the Eighth Day of Christmas…
Eight Rhythmic Ripples
Internal time.
The pulse beneath the pulse.
You don’t keep time, you ride it.
On the Ninth Day of Christmas…
Nine Standing Signals
Spine tall.
Neck free.
Energy flows north and south.
A crooked channel sends crooked messages.
On the Tenth Day of Christmas…
Ten Willing Decisions
Commitment.
Courage.
No dotted half-notes allowed.
Hesitation is the enemy of flow.
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas…
Eleven Heartfelt Harmonies
Connection without words.
Sounds that say, “I see you.”
Technique impresses, but the Heart transmits.
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas…
Twelve Channels Singing
Zero separation.
No supervisor.
No struggle.
The music plays the body.
The 12 Human Channels
The human body functions through multiple channels that carry information, intention, and response. Some receive signals from the outside world, some generate internal meaning, and others translate that meaning into physical action. These channels operate simultaneously, yet we rarely notice them individually. Clear signals of our desired intention are essential for harmonious action.
By slowing down and observing them one by one, we can better understand how thought, feeling, breath, and movement interact, and how unnecessary interference can disrupt the system. What follows is a simple outline of the twelve channels, before they are ultimately gathered into their three primary sources.
1. Sensory Input Channel
Eyes, ears, skin, nose, tongue
The outer world is entering the system. Raw data only with no meaning yet.
- When this channel dominates, we are reacting.
- When it quiets, deeper channels can speak.
The Egyptians included thought as a sense.
2. Motor Output Channel
Muscles, breath, movement
The body’s response mechanism.
- This channel works best when not supervised by thought.
“Don’t think, just play” lives here.
3. Breath Channel
The bridge between the conscious and subconscious
Breath is unique: you can control it, but it also controls you.
In music, breath is:
- timing
- phrasing
- emotional contour
Breath is the bow on the string.
4. Emotional Channel
Feeling before language
The inner musician’s native tongue.
No English required.
Emotion:
- initiates motion
- shapes sound
- bypasses intellect
Emotions don’t explain; they just move.
5. Mental / Thinking Channel
The narrator, analyzer, the wizard behind the curtain
This channel categorizes, judges, and predicts.
Essential for:
- learning
- reflection
- planning
Destructive during execution, this channel must step aside once the music begins.
6. Subconscious Action Channel
Learned patterns and reflexes
Where repetition turns into instinct.
This channel:
- remembers fingerings
- stores timing
- executes efficiently
The body already knows if the mind will stop interrupting.
7. Heart Channel
Connection and resonance
More than emotion, this is relational awareness.
It answers:
- Who am I playing to?
- What am I sharing?
- What is the music saying?
Sound without heart is accurate but empty.
8. Gut / Will Channel
Intent, courage, commitment
It governs:
- decisiveness
- confidence
- staying present under pressure
Hesitation blocks flow.
9. Spinal Channel
Vertical integration
The literal and symbolic backbone.
This channel aligns:
- posture
- balance
- signal clarity between the brain and the body
A collapsed spine creates a collapsed signal.
10. Timing / Rhythm Channel
Internal clock
Not external tempo, but felt time.
This channel allows you to:
- stretch
- lay back
- push forward
Rhythm isn’t counted, but it’s inhabited.
11. Awareness Channel
The observer of all channels
The ability to notice without interference.
It’s what allows you to:
- recognize thinking
- let it go
- return to flow
Awareness doesn’t act, it allows.
12. Integration Channel
Unity of the whole system
When all channels are aligned, something else appears.
This is:
- flow
- presence
- “The music plays itself.”
At this point, there is no player, only playing.
The Three Master Channels
When these twelve channels are observed together, patterns begin to emerge. Some serve perception and understanding, while others generate meaning and motivation, and still others carry intention into motion. These twelve channels eventually blend, and the list fades away. What remains are three master channels.
Rather than functioning as separate systems, these three primary streams simplify the process, revealing how the human body and mind coordinate awareness, emotion, and action as a unified whole.
The Mind
- Awareness
- Thinking
- Sensory input
Its job is clarity, not control.
The Heart
- Emotion
- Connection
- Rhythm
Its job is meaning.
The Will
- Breath
- Commitment
- Subconscious action
Its job is movement.
A Musical Insight
When performance collapses, it’s usually because:
- The thinking channel hijacks the motor channel, or
- The sensory channel overwhelms emotional intent
Great playing happens when:
- emotion initiates
- will commits
- subconscious executes
- awareness observes
The rest falls away, and we just play.
The Lesson Hidden in Today’s Carol
At first, we count; then we trust; then we stop counting altogether. Then the ego, busy naming, numbering, and narrating, falls like autumn leaves.
What’s left is a quiet conductor, your inner musician, and a body that knows what to do.
Or as I like to say:
