The value of migrants - ANZAC DAY 2016

I was listening to the radio this morning. It is ANZAC Day today. Anzac Day, 25 April, is one of Australia’s most important national occasions.

It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.

It was Jon Faine from 774 ABC Melbourne broadcasting from the Shrine of Remembrance. ANZAC Day is my favourite Australian public holiday. 

During my first seven years working at the ANU in Canberra in ACT,  I spent every ANZAC Day singing at the War Memorial and watching the march from the front seat with my friends. What a view we had! From the elevated War Memorial we could see all the people walking and marching on the Avenue with a an incredible backdrop of Lake Burley Griffin and the Old and New Parliament House on the other side of the lake! 

We knew all the songs and had chance to get to know the local heroes and their stories. Then when I became the Music Director of the Canberra Choral Society of more than hundred singers, suddenly dawned on me, what an honour is to be leading the choir and performing those songs that mean a lot this way or that way to every Australian with the Duntroon Military Band. I fondly remember these performances and how after singing a group of us went to have a meal or a cup of coffee together or changed into bush walking gear and had a fabulous day in the bush!

This year there was an alternate march held in Melbourne as a protest against RSL rule change. The group is frustrated with Returned Services League (RSL) rules brought in last year, that do not allow them to walk with their ancestors' banners in the march. Instead, the banners are carried by single representatives at the head of the parade, while the descendants walk together at the rear without the battalion markers. Only World War I descendants are affected by the rules. Denise Mears, whose grandfather was in the 39th Battalion, said the banner had enormous importance for her. "It's not that the descendants are trying to take the place or get any accolades ... we know we weren't at the war," she said. "But it's just to keep the tradition going." It really shows how much the young generation, relatives of the heroes, want to be part of the march and carry the torch.

There was another interesting aspect of ANZAC Day that I heard about in the radio. It was first time that a Chinese group took part in Melbourne's Anzac Day march. More than 40 relatives of Chinese soldiers who fought the Japanese in World War II walked behind their banner to the Shrine.

Ms Xue, 60, said her late father, Xiao Ping, suffered chronic pain for decades after sustaining bullet wounds to his back in the battle for FoMiaoLing​ village in Shanxi province in September 1941.
Mr Xiao was among 2000 Chinese soldiers who faced 10,000 Japanese in the the battle. With 500 colleagues dead or missing, he was shot in the back and crawled for more than one kilometre for help.  She said marching in Melbourne would help her son, Joe Wei, 32, and her granddaughter, Isabelle, 21 months, to know about Mr Xiao's story and honour him, and educate local young Chinese.

One of the group's organisers, Qifang​ Wang, of Notting Hill, migrated to Australia 28 years ago.
She said she would often watch the Anzac Day march on TV and her children would learn Anzac stories about Europe or south-east Asia at school. The Chinese experience in fighting the Japanese invasion was never mentioned. "It really bothered me," she said.

Hearing these stories and the Chinese being represented at ANZAC Day made me ponder about migrants, assimilation and our recent problems with new migrants.

The Chinese have been part of Australia for a long time. As I heard from Australians, from time to time there were problems with Chinese not assimilating and not speaking English. These are still issues in the community. However, the Chinese community is highly regarded as part of Australian society. How did they achieve this? By working hard. As Chinese do. By becoming a valuable, member of the Australian culture. By contributing to the economy. By being a decent citizen. By building a life as part of the community that meets the Australian standards. 

I remember, how important it was for me to represent my home country the best I can here in Australia. My contribution was and is mostly through my profession, music and teaching. Introducing Australians to Hungarian and other European music that I was fortunate enough to study, perform and many times buy and bring music scores to Australia that were rare or never performed. Enriching the culture, making it more colourful by adding my "Hungarian touch". By representing the world famous Kodaly music teaching method and teaching it here. By being a decent person, a valuable citizen and trying to fit in by standing out and standing out by fitting in. 

On the other hand, I was introduced to music, history, literature, nature and people and even to food and many other things that otherwise I would have never encountered. I became richer, more open, more accepting, a more colourful and interesting person than I would have never become if I stayed in Europe. And yes, many time I said or did the wrong things, too. Luckily, only on a minor scale....And there were times when I felt embarrassed by my Hungarian fellow citizens and did not want others know that I was Hungarian too....

The problem with many of the recent incidents is that no country wants trouble makers, no country wants lazy, uneducated citizens who will live on the doll. No country wants people who don't want to fit in, don't value the opportunities and what this new country has to offer. And definitely no country wants migrants who try to harm others. 

The responsibility has to be shared by many that this does not happen. Obviously, people need to be screened more and more carefully, considering the present hot climate. Then all the services need to be in place to accept and welcome new comers. I know.... many of my migrants friends would protest here and could tell their stories that when they arrived they got nothing and they had to figure out everything, learn the language, get an accommodation, find a job, work hard and create a life. However, times change...Migration becomes easier and things like language courses are offered, accommodation provided and jobs are readily available for some. Migration, even under these much better circumstances, are still not easy. 

The responsibility and the role of the already existing same nationality community is tremendous. I can't even imagine how much easier it must be when you have people around you who speak the same language, help you and give you advice and you can make friends with them. The support network makes life so much easier. 

I did not have that. But exactly that made me more resilient and assimilate better. I had to learn and speak English as quickly as I could to stay in my lecturing position. I had to make friends and figure out everything myself not to drawn. The pressure and the stress was tremendous. However, I was so busy staying alive and to cope that I did not have the time, the energy and could not contemplate blowing up a bomb or plot a terror act. I was too busy creating a life for myself in this country. I did not even know if I will be staying here or not. If I will like it to stay or not. 

A group, like the Chinese migrants or Italian migrants or even the much smaller Hungarian community create their reputation they have by living, breathing, acting, contributing here in Australia. I believe that all different nationality groups deserve the reputation they have. Because it is by their members acts that this reputation is built and deserved. By creating better communities we can influence people and the young generation. It takes time and takes patience. 

The presence of the Chinese group at this year's ANZAC Day march took a long time to manifest. It shows that they not only looked back at history and examined their contribution to China but they also feel being part of the Australian community and history. This is a big step forward. Every group has its own evolutionary time. This is how Australia grows and evolves. 

Lest remember. 

The benefits of whole body tapping EFT

Whole Body Patting (EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique) stimulates the energy meridians of the body through vibration, while increasing blood and lymph circulation.

In short, tapping yields enormous benefit. Simply on a physical level, tapping improves blood circulation, helps release tension, and improves skin elasticity, thereby reducing pain and promoting the healing process.

Body tapping circulates energy through the body and stimulates the central and peripheral nervous systems, helping to settle the mind, release stress and emotions, increase energy levels, and sharpen the senses.

The benefits of tapping can be greatly increased by regulating the mind. As with meditation, rather than letting your mind wander as you tap, keep directing your attention to the sensations in your body. For example, try to notice the vibration as it stimulates the muscles in your body and calmly watch, rather than react to, any emotions or pain that may surface through the tapping.

As you allow your mind to “sink into” and accept the feelings in your body, true transformation can occur: you can uncover and release old emotions and self-effacing beliefs, heal chronic pain and intransigent illness, and naturally experience feelings of inner peace, gratitude, and unconditional love.

Sound too good to be true? It’s not! When practiced with deep awareness and acceptance, tapping helps you release the many layers of stress and emotion that you may have built up inside over time, and allow you to experience a more essential part of your being.

You can thus encounter a deeper, common core of self from which you can experience a sense of connection with yourself and with the world. It enables you to hear the messages that your body is sending to guide you to a state of well-being.

Of course, as with any exercise, don’t overdo it. Stinging and pain are normal signs of blockage and stiffness in the body. However, if you feel excessive pain, try tapping more lightly or move to a different part of the body.

If you have specific health conditions, please consult a physician before trying this or any other exercise.

Stand with you feet parted shoulder-width and knees slightly bent. Extend your left arm ninety degrees from the body with your palm facing upward.

With your right hand slightly cupped, begin to pat the top of your left shoulder, and then pat down your arm toward your palm for ten counts.

Turn your palm over and pat up the other side of the arm for ten counts. Repeat on your right arm.

With both hands, pat your chest for 50 counts.

Move your hands down and pat your lower abdomen for 50 counts.

Bring your hands to your lower back and pat for 50 counts.

Then with one hand on each leg, pat down the back of your legs for ten counts, then up the front of the legs, down the sides of the legs, and up the inside of the legs for ten counts each.

Return to your lower abdomen, patting briskly for 50 counts.

This three minutes video with body tapping will change your life!

I start my yoga session by starting a tapping exercise focusing on the Dahnjoong—the meridian point found in the middle of the slight indentation in the center of the chest. This point is close to the middle Dahn-jon—the chakra located behind the heart. It's highly sensitive to everyday anxiety and is, for that reason, effective at relieving stress and promoting emotional stability. By tapping the Dahnjoong at least 100 times and controlling your breath, you may experience tingling sensations in your chest and fingertips that are signs that stagnant energy is leaving your body.

Apple banana coconut nuts overnight oats

I don't know how you are managing your busy mornings and your breakfast but I have my favourite combination of shakes that work for me. Eleven years ago I learnt about Herbalife shakes so for many years that did the job for me. However, when I have the time, my favourite breakfast is still eggs. Eggs Benedict, eggs salmon, eggs and avocado, omelettes in different combinations like mushrooms or a little cheese. Occasionally I feel like oats but that's rare.

In the last 6 months I found my perfect combination of shakes that I enjoy having most mornings. I share with you this combination, you might want to try it as it is extremely healthy, it's quick and it tastes good! It also can be changed and combined with other ingredients according to your liking!

It is a scoop or two of Herbalife Vanilla Formula 1 shake mix, 2 spoonful of Vital Greens, a glass of water, a banana and a spoonful of linseed combined in a blender. If you pour the water and add the linseed at first and let it stand for a few minutes, that creates a nice and creamy shake when you add the other ingredients!

However, today I want to share with you a breakfast that I started to make lately as it can be prepared previous night. You even can grab in a container and take it with you if you need to rush!

It is a delicious Apple Banana Coconut Nuts Overnight Oats.
I don't give you quantities. Just select a suitable plastic or glass container. You can make just one portion or prepare more for a family or to have enough for a few mornings. What surprised me with my container is that I thought I will make one or two portions for breakfast but next morning I saw that the oats got soaked with milk so much that I will have probably three or four breakfasts out form this one five-minute preparation! I love that idea!

I just threw together things from my kitchen cupboard. You can add or leave out any ingredients to your liking! I love recipes that easily can be altered so I don't get bored with the same food!

So try this:
1 cup rolled oats
2 tsp chia seeds
1 grinded apple or sliced into pieces
1/4 cup chopped walnuts and pistachio
Raisins
Cranberries
Cinnamon powder
Cloves powder
Desiccated coconut
Almond flakes
Sliced banana
Milk or coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk, whatever you like!

Mix dry ingredients in a container and add milk. Mix and shake and let it rest in the fridge overnight for the flavours to mature and blend together. I found that after a few hours I needed to add more milk because the chia seeds and the oats soaked the milk in! So check it before you go to sleep.

If you have a busy morning, you can add the fruits too previous night so you just grab the container and a spoon and run!

If you have enough time to sit down and enjoy your breakfast, maybe you even share it with your partner and kids, add the fresh fruit and decorate the bowls with the fresh fruits and the chopped nuts.

Another trick. You can heat the milk and add to the oats while warm. You still can store in the fridge overnight the same way. In a cold winter morning you can heat the oats mix and eat it warm! It's really nice!

To further indulge, add a spoonful of fresh thickened cream to your oats! It's a real treat!

Tremors reduced after three piano lessons for 74 year old lady

People come to music lessons for many different reasons.
It's fun to teach children because they learn fast and most of them are easy to teach. Kids come to music lesson mostly for two reasons.
1. Their parents wants them to learn
a. because they learnt themselves too and they want their kids the same experience.
b. because they did not have a chance and these parents don't want their kids to miss out!

2. The kids had some kind of an experience, they saw someone playing, at school they saw a performance, one of their friends is playing or in some families there is an instrument at home or in the family and the kids started to experiment on the instrument and the parents think their child has some music ability and should be exposed to music lessons.

Unfortunately, in Australia I can't list the third reason that is the most common in the country where I come from. That is that in primary school instrumental learning comes as an all inclusive subject with a choice of an instrument of the child and his/her family with weekly two lessons outside school ours.

However, I have always loved teaching all ages and all levels. Even when I was working with professionals, I still continued to have a small private practice and taught mixed ages. Because I enjoyed it.

When it comes to adults it is a totally different ball game. When a matured aged student turns up at my door fom lessons that is a conscious decision. Similarly to kids, for two reasons. Because they never had a chance to learn or because they did and want to get back to playing.

A few weeks ago a 74 year-old or the way I like to put it, especially in Sue's case, a 74 year-young lady called me to enquire about piano lessons. A few days later she turned up for her first lesson. Sue wanted to take up piano again because as a child she learnt and enjoyed it and now she has the time to learn again.

Sue is a lively, tall and very attractive lady with a great personality. Her commitment to learning manifested right away. She had the adult beginner book in her hand that I recommended to get.
Long fingers, manicured nails and quick reading of notes. Although she was a little hesitant at the beginning, I could see that in no time she will be back reading music and playing with two hands. What surprised me was that her right hand was shaking very much. The left was steady. Witnessing a tremor like this is quite interesting. It is almost infectious and you get a little agitated if you don't breath and control this feeling. During lessons I become one with my students so much in the learning process that even this tremor I experience through Sue.

I have never seen a shake like this before, although I have seen a lot of different things. I had kids and adults with weak hands, weak fingers or just an old injury that left the little finger on one hand really weak. The worst conditions that I saw an adolescent boy whose fingers in general were extremely weak to press the keys and they were a little shaky. Just like when you go to the gym after a long period of break and your legs are shaking for awhile! Then the legs get stronger and the tremors stop.

However, it only takes a few weeks or sometimes a few months to strengthen these muscles by playing the piano and practicing at home and all is back to normal. This is when you realise how important it is to play an instrument and to develop not only the coordination but the physical strength of the hands, arms and the whole body.

Sitting at the piano requires quite a core strength. Holding your upper body with good posture and using your arms to play is quite a tummy work out! Not to mention adding the pedals and operating them in a sophisticated manner add extra difficulty and more challenges to your core muscles. Good players breath with the musical phrases like in singing and that again improves strength, circulation, removes toxins and improves emotional, mental and physical well-being.

The skills that go into piano playing with two hands and into reading musical notes fluently has no rival in any other subject. Once you play the piano picking up any other instrument is no problem.

Sue made a very conscious decision to come back to piano. Music learning will keep her young, mentally and physically active and after the first lesson seeing her shaking right hand, I was hoping that even these tremors would improve with time as she gains more control of her nerves.

Just the other night I was reading about a new exercise method that is extremely successful at the Gold Coast. Even paraplegic people, who have been in wheelchair for decades are gaining back their movements. A lot of injured professional athletes turn to this method because it is so successful. I have great interest in it because in music I have been always taught to practice slow, master it, then increase speed. Many times, it is extremely difficult to slow people down, especially fast racing boys and men and to convince them to practice at first slowly so the nervous system can gain total control of the problematic passages and the fingers can learn then memorise the sequence of movements that are involved in that section.

Here is a section from what I have been reading on ultra slow exercising:
"Movements performed at the ultra-slow rate take more physical and mental effort (effort generates more signals) and the more relaxed the state in which they are performed (open to receiving and processing signals), the more they result in more system-wide information processed for every fractional inch of movement than otherwise. Only when new information is flowing does any system change its behavior." from the article Hypothesizing the body's genius to trigger and self-organize its healing: 25 years using a standardized neurophysics therapy by Sarah N Ross and Ken Ware in the Frontiers of Physiology. "By contrast, information coming into the system at high rates in any domain of activity can be difficult to process and can stress the system, triggering extremes in excitatory or inhibitory dynamics depending on system-perceived significance."

So for anyone who really wants to play well or do any physical or mental activity well, visualising and slowing down things for awhile are absolutely crucial. Giving enough time for the brain and the body to process things help to reduce stress and gain control. Then, gradually increasing speed without increasing the number of mistakes is another, very important part of the process. 

With Sue, this methodology is even more important to let her gain control of her nerves and her fingers to find their way on the piano and enjoy playing. She has already mentioned that would like to get a keyboard to practice at home which would increase her progress. Having fun at home by playing the piano every day and practice between lessons is just a great way to live at 74! 

Sue just had her third lesson. I regretted that I did not video her on the first lesson so I could show her and you where we started from! However, this is how steady her hands have become in three lessons! Rock Along has been recorded on the third lesson and this was the second time Sue has played this particular new piece.  

Working with Sue made me very curious about how much we will be able to improve her tremors. Seeing the progress in there lessons makes me extremely positive that we might be able to reduce it, maybe even alleviate it! Will keep you posted on Sue's progress!

Let's Pay It Forward! Make a stranger happy today!

I would like to start a little Pay It Forward movement here in my circle of influence.

A few weeks ago two men joined me at my table because the cafe was very busy and they did not get a table. We had a lovely chat during our meals, they were two fantastic people. When they left, they finalised my bill, too. I was truly touched. This give me an idea of re-starting the well-known movement, pay it forward.

Next time you see a person less fortunate, a disabled person, a mum or dad struggling with kids, a person in a bad mood, pay for their meal or pay for a cup of coffee! Whatever suits you! It feels great and it makes their day, too! A few times you do it and you see people's reactions, you become addicted to doing it! A small price to make your day and somebody else's!

Today, I had the chance to pay it forward. At my cafe there are quite a few disabled people in wheelchairs who are regular customer. There is an elderly man, who hardly can move any part of his body and his head is bent to the side too. I see him frequently drinking his juice, coffee or eating his meal or a piece of cake cut up to small pieces by staff. Today he was there at the same time with me and I thought. This is it! I am doing this today! I checked things with staff and asked them not to tell him who paid his bill.

Unfortunately, staff got too excited and touched that they told him. So when he rolled out in his wheelchair he said a thank you. I felt embarrassed, touched and happy. Mixed emotions. It felt good. Staff was buzzing, too. My waitress asked me what motivated me to be so nice. I explained to her.

I decided that I will do this, whenever I have the chance. Please, don't misunderstand me. I am not rich and I have no money to throw away. But a few dollars, a price of a coffee, goes a long way making people happy. Showing them a gesture. Showing that we care. That we noticed them. That they count. So please, pay it forward!

I encourage you to write a little story about your pay it forward gesture when you do it! Not to brag about it but to inspire others to do it and share their story. If everyone does it one a month, soon our surroundings will be full of great stories, positive feelings and energy!

Please be part of it, pay it forward!

With Bartok - it's personal

I would not be a Hungarian musician if I did not write a few lines on one of my favourite composer's birthday, who is also Hungarian and had a lot of connection with him through my music teachers and lecturers. However, the most connection I had with him as a composer and as a human being is through his music. But not just the very known music of his but those compositions he wrote for children, for children's voices. The pieces that are still not accessible to foreigners because they are so intimate, so human, so Hungarian and so private that most foreigners simply don't get it.

They are my treasures. They are the pieces I grew up singing in my school choir and performed abroad. They are the ones we sang in duets or trios with my friends and recorded for CD-s and performed at TV broadcasts. They are the ones I want my friends to play at my memorial after being cremated and my ashes scattered in the sea if and when I pass away.

This book of short choral pieces are incredibly beautiful and sometimes strange and ahead of its time type of compositions that are the real gift of Bartok Bela to the nation and to the world.

On these pictures you see my pages from Bartok score that is worn. This is not my first book I had. Many times we had to write out our parts by hand in those times. We had extra choir rehearsals at 7am in the morning. We had choir rehearsals during the day as part of the timetable a few times a week. We loved choir. Adored some of our conductors. Choral singing allowed us to travel the world from a very early age. In times when most Hungarians were not allowed or could not cross the boarders. We were like the singing birds flying everywhere.
On the right is the score of Ne hagy itt by Bartok - Don't leave me here by Bartok on this recording with the additional orchestra accompaniment.

As I looked for this Bartok score and I found it on the bookshelf together with Kodaly's choral compositions, I saw the old paper cover that was a Hungarian Christmas wrapping paper. Torn and scrambled. This book is from 1988. This was the book that I used to pass on the traditions to my own students, to my own fabulous children's choir. For them choir meant the same. Incredible musical experiences, travel and fun. We did it together. Incredible years, unforgettable memories.

Sadly, a thought comes into my mind as I am writing. How little attention we are paying to the Arts in general in our education. How little mention the Arts is getting in Australia by our politicians. How little of our resources is spent on arts. In the end, there is nothing else left to mention when everything else is gone. But the books, the paintings, the sculptures and music. They make us human. They are the ones that deserve preserving. So Arts is the one our children and students should be cultivating.

I look at the elderly, the retired. Once they finish working they reach out for creative activities to fulfil their old yearnings of writing, reading, dancing, yoga, painting, doing pottery, go back to sing in a choir, play in a band and orchestra. There is no life without the Arts. Until we breath we want to create.

Some people have more talent than others. Some, like Bartok, can give gifts to the world that have transformational power and the recipients carry all in their lives.

Happy birthday Bartok Bela! The world is a better place because of your music.




The photo was taken at the Acropolis of Athens, Greece in August 1989 during the 9th International Kodaly Symposium and the inauguration of the Kodaly Conservatory. Although I have never met Bartok himself, he died earlier than I was born, I was lucky enough to have met his son, Bela Bartok Jr. On this picture I am in very famous company, with Bela Bartok Jr in the middle and Professor Peter Erdei on the right.

The following picture is from Bartok's score of 27 choral compositions for equal voices. 27 diamonds.

Canon by Bartok

Heart or brain - who is your decision maker?

I am the type pf person who thinks with her heart. Always had very good intuitions, strong gut feelings and made decisions quickly, based on the impulse I felt from inside. I hardly ever regretted decisions and I don't change them easily. As a performing musician, yoga and meditation lover, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to explore areas of our mind and heart where not many people dare to go. It can be an exhilarating and out of body experience to go so deep in existence. I could not even write: into our heart, into our soul, into our body or into our mind because this is something else. It is truly the essence of who we are as human beings. When we are in that place, we are centered, we fly, we are light, we know what is right and we follow our dreams and anything is possible. The energy and the charge we have is unbelievable and is unlimited source, we don't know normally. Once you experience this feeling and get to this place in yourself, you know that in our normal, daily life we run on a fraction of our potentials. Just as we know that we only use a fraction of our brain capacity.
During the years I have refined these intuitions and used them in so many situations that I perfectly can rely on them in any situations, under any circumstances. I have tested them in no risk situations and with people where I went against my gut feelings so that I can really see if they were right. Just to double check my feelings I went through the thinking procedure and reasoned for and against a certain decision. The end result was always the same because I have already made my decision. 
Your mind is a TOOL you can choose to use any way you wish. The thoughts you use create the experiences you have. However, you are much more than your mind. You may think  that your mind is running the show but that is only because we have been conditioned and trained to think in this way. You can also un-train and re-train this tool of yours.

One of the primary researchers in the field of heart and brain connection is Rollin McCraty, Ph.D., Director of Research at The Institute of HeartMath, located in Boulder Creek, California. McCraty found compelling evidence to suggest that the heart’s energy field (energetic heart) is coupled to a field of information that is not bound by the classical limits of time and space. This evidence comes from several rigorous experimental studies that investigated the proposition that the body receives and processes information about a future event before the event actually happens. One of these studies, conducted at the HeartMath laboratories, showed that both the heart and brain receive and respond to pre-stimulus information about a future event. But even more surprising is the finding that the heart seems to receive the intuitive information before the brain. They also found that study participants in a positive, emotion-driven, coherent state prior to the experimental protocols proved to be significantly more attuned to the information from the heart than those who were not in such a state. This suggests to McCraty that the heart is directly coupled to a subtle energetic field of information that is entangled and interacts with the multiplicity of energetic fields in which the body is embedded—including the quantum vacuum.
After deep reflection, McCraty’s continuously evolving vision took the concept of coherence and energetic fields to the macro level of the planet—and the very edge of science. “Coherence,” he says, “is a state of energetic alignment and cooperation between heart, mind, body, and spirit. In coherence, energy is accumulated, not wasted, leaving you more energy to manifest intention and harmonious outcomes.”
Enjoy this amazing video on the connection between the heart and the brain.