My name is Paula Braynion, and I’ve been playing the harmonica for just over 2 years. I’d like to share the reason I started playing the harmonica, and how it has helped me. I’ll also look at the wider power of music to help people and how it fits into my role of working with people with learning disabilities and mental health issues. I run a not-for-profit social enterprise called Future Directions that supports adults with learning difficulties and/or mental health issues. When the pandemic hit in early 2020 it was incredibly difficult for those of us working in social care and other key workers. None of us had encountered anything like it before. All of us had to continue to work and keep the people we support safe. I felt personally responsible for nearly 1000 staff and 400 people we support. Everyone was scared, especially in the early days when high rates of people were dying.
HARPING BACK TO HAPPINESS By Paula Braynion
During lockdown, life became a strange mix of going to work, dealing with all this and then at weekends in between work calls having nothing to do or nowhere to go except for walking the dog. It was one of the hardest professional times of my life. At weekends I booked some online Zoom experiences to escape the constant pressure of trying to make the right decisions to keep people safe. In one of the Zoom sessions, I could hear a harmonica playing, and it reminded me how I always loved the harmonica, so I thought why not take it up. I ordered a harmonica, joined online forums, and found a tutor who’s been teaching me for the past two years. In the early days, it was particularly painful for my husband’s ears, so he helpfully suggested turning our summer house into a harmonica hut. This means I have my den and space where I can get away and practice. Learning the harmonica has been a godsend to my mental health and has enabled me to keep going during the pandemic: Playing the harmonica is a form of mindfulness for me: when I practice, I have to focus purely on playing and the music. During that time, I am truly in the moment and there is no space for worry or stress. Music has been proven to lift the mood and be an important valve for releasing emotion. What does that better than playing the blues? As I practice and learn new things, I get a sense of achievement which, again, has been shown to lift the mood and promote selfesteem. It has connected me to a wider harmonica community, enabling
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The magazine for HarmonicaUK
