Early Morning Harmony

It's always a good way to start your day in perfect harmony. I almost never start my days off like that, but today I thought I'd buck the trend by signing up for one of the Doc Talk sessions with Pat Rubadeau, PhD--because she was teaching the harmonica. Why harmonica? Plain and simple, it's good for breathing because playing it exercises the lungs. (Cue the patriotic Americana music.)

Pat blazed down the hallway, proudly wearing her pink, "Can You Say Lymphangioleiomyomatisis?" t-shirt, and apologized for showing up one minute late to the session explaining, "Sorry, I had to go to the bathroom. You can't play harmonica if you have to go." Hmmm. I excused myself made a break for the ladies room not wanting to risk what might happen if I played without the pit stop.

Back in the session, Pat said that most of us breathe quite shallowly and don't use our lungs to the full potential. She added that when we have respiratory issues, we're even more likely to breathe less effectively. But playing harmonica requires taking big, deep breaths and exhaling and inhaling with control--giving your diaphragm a good workout. And, it's definitely good for some laughs, which, coincidentally, is another way to work out your lungs, and a great way to start the day.

Pat explained the basics of our harmonicas (we'd been able to buy them from her), saying they were in the Key of C. Then she gave us some great news--reading music isn't required to play. You just need to be able to count from 1 to 10. Fantastic. Not only would I be able to try this, but when I got home, I might even convince my husband to sit around our fireplace and play harmonica cowboy to my cowgirl, while I slow-cooked some baked beans on the stove top, and my daughter made a mess roasting marshmallows in the fire, pretending it was a real campfire.

Pat usually teaches a class of about 20 students, all seniors, and she said they bitch and complain all the time over what selections they want to play, but that they teach her a lot on a regular basis. She said some days, half the class plays the harmonica upside down, and she's positive that someday they're destined to perform on a public street corner. She was less sure about a performance at Carnegie Hall. Phew, the pressure is off for us to do well. So we got started.

The trick, she said, is to blow slowly. (Hey--I know what some of you are thinking--but don't go there. It's not even lunchtime.) Try to put the harmonica as far in your mouth as you can (don't eat it!) so you get the most air going through it. There was no waiting to exhale here--we went for it. Right away, you could see whether you're breathing through your diaphragm or not, because you can feel the difference in how much air you get out if you're breathing through your chest instead. Sure, Pat said it's really hard, you may get frustrated, but one day all of the sudden you'll be able to play. (And by this, I mean play a song that someone else could recognize.) She told us to sit up on the edge of our seats and unbutton our jeans to allow for a big belly breath. (I was sure I'd be good at that, seeing that I've got the belly to work with.) She asked us how many bronchodialators we're on and added that she's just taken a "hit" right before class. As I don't use them, I'm not sure what I was missing, but Pat was smiling, so it must have been good. Pat said she used to play the French Horn, and at that time, it was all about getting it right. Not anymore--now for her it's just about having fun and getting exercise at the same time.

And then, we had our Kum ba yah moment. Literally. We played Kum ba yah. And you know what? There was a song in there. Really. I was sure that together, we could be playing the local street corner by afternoon. We moved through some old classics, "Oh My Darling Clementine", "On Top of Old Smokey", "America" and others. By the time we got to "Go Tell Aunt Rhody", I was pretty sure that if I had to "go tell Aunt Rhody the old grey goose is dead" that the goose would no longer be rolling over in its grave.

If you want to try it for yourself--I suggest you sign up at LAMposium 2010!

Eden Pontz
LAM Patient