live & work in an optimal state
using music and meditation
About me
I’m a professional musician – pianist, singer, composer – and also a passionate and innovative teacher and coach. My most treasured musical skill is improvisation. To create music spontaneously that makes tonal and rhythmic sense, requires a mindful, meditative state. To find this, I focus my mind exclusively on the deep, simple structures or principles that underpin rhythm and tonality then let go. This way, I can let my body and soul tune into a powerful inner musician that has an innocent and childlike quality but also a powerful, intuitive musical intelligence.
The solace and catharsis that playing music in this way provides is enormous. When improvising, I feel a deep sense of completeness and harmony. Unfortunately, like most human beings, many aspects of my life do not always flow as naturally as music. So I have spent decades practising meditation and studying books on philosophy and psychology because I’ve always believed that living in a flowing, creative way is as much a skill to be learned as musicianship. I have found that with study and practice, it can be done consciously and naturally, just like when I make music.
To find the state of flow, we need to focus the mind on a simple model and let go! You can practise any skill using this approach whilst rhythm and voice work, mindfulness and meditation practice are powerful ways to discover the power of flow. In a state of flow, we achieve optimal performance in our activities, always growing our skills and discovering greater fulfilment, peace and courageous compassion in life.
Find out more about Phil Best on philbestmusic.com
The coaching I offer
I offer 1-2-1 lessons, workshops or larger group sessions. I give talks and teach simple games and exercises with clearly designed materials and my rates are competitive. If you’d like to work with me or find out more, please get in touch.
The principles and practices that I teach are distilled and efficient. They’re steeped in timeless wisdom, so I make no claim to have found a new key or secret. But finding the necessary childlike simplicity can be quite elusive, and people often find ideas in Zen or other ancient teachings very tricky.
So my ideas of resonant flow are clear yet deep for people in today’s world. You focus the mind on a simple model, then simultaneously, let go or tune in. Musical rhythm and resonance provide a solid basis for practising this approach which leads to new ways of thinking and deep and lasting transformation in any area of life.
Take a look around
This website provides an introduction to my approach and the main areas of coaching that I offer. My blog is an outlet for my musings and experiences with the principles and practices that I use
However, I cannot stress enough that a state of flow is based on practice and the development of real skill. Enlightenment is more practical than one might think: you can’t find inner peace, optimal performance, compassionate courage or self-realisation just by thinking about it. HOW you think rather than WHAT you think about is the key. This is the essence of mindfulness or mastery of mind.
In the shop you will find musical meditations that I have created to address life’s challenges as well as other materials that I will add from time to time, designed to encourage transformation and help people live and work optimally.
