Comprehensive Self-Care for the Independent Music Teacher, Part 2
Beth Gigante Klingenstein, NCTM
MTNA Business Digest, Volume 5, Issue 2
January 2026
Everything to do with self-care impacts our professional lives. We may think if we establish strong studio policies, set up good marketing strategies, get our finances in order, and continue with our professional growth, we are good to go. But self-care involves far more. If we are mentally, emotionally, or physically unwell, our professional lives will be negatively impacted. This is the second in a two-part series on comprehensive self-care for independent music teachers. Part 1 covered financial, professional, and business health. Part 2 covers the equally significant topics of emotional/mental and physical health. All five areas are intertwined, and all are crucial to the success of the independent studio.
Emotional and Mental Wellness
I believe one of the most important things we can do for our own mental well-being is to practice gratitude. The people who are the most grateful are often the happiest. People who face some of the worst circumstances in life are often the most grateful. The book Women Rowing North is basically about retiring but is applicable to teachers of any age and any career stage. The author writes:
“Happiness depends not on what we are given in life but rather on how we deal with what we are given.”
“Attitude trumps circumstances.”
In other words, how we feel about what happens in our life is even more significant than what happens in our life.
Soon after reading Women Rowing North, I started a gratitude journal by writing down three things that I was grateful for every day. This had a huge impact on my life, and I have heard others who keep gratitude journals say the same thing. Have you ever thought to be grateful for the fact that you can bend over? Or read? Or that you can take a warm shower? Or that your studio is almost full? There are so many things, complex and simple, for which we can be grateful. And gratitude pays off … we truly feel happier when we acknowledge things for which we are grateful. Practicing gratitude is a valuable way to exert control over our own mental well-being.
Our happiness can be improved if we have reasonable expectations of ourselves and others—our spouse, our children, and our students. It is important to avoid being self-critical and to be kinder and gentler with ourselves. Another good mental health tool is to keep things in perspective. Horrible things can happen every day. When we get worked up over something that maybe really isn’t so consequential, stop and put things in perspective. How much of our negative dialogue is about nitpicky little things that we really could let go? Another great quote from Women Rowing North is, “Happiness requires us to make the choice to pay attention to this and not that.” We have a choice. We choose to focus on this (good thing) and not that (bad thing).
When reflecting on choices, there are small daily choices that can add value over time. Positive choices include exercising our mind (reading books, taking classes, starting a new hobby, etc.), traveling, making time for friends, enjoying the outdoors, or letting the creative juices flow through another creative outlet (photography, poetry, baking, cooking, knitting, painting, whatever!).
Are you thinking to yourself, “Who has time to travel or read a book?!” I have been there. But that was a choice on my part and not necessarily a good one. We can choose to rethink how we use our time. Exercise and a healthy diet are other choices that will be covered below, but it is worth noting here that both are important for our minds and mood, not just for our bodies.
Nurturing social wellness by making time for friends has a huge impact on our overall wellness. Chris Hawk, Ginger Hwalek, and I solidified our friendship as members of the MTNA board and have traveled together to Europe several times since. We call ourselves Travel Sisters, and their friendship is an extremely important part of my life. Social wellness, or spending time with friends and family, is crucial to all kinds of health. Scientists are recognizing that the opposite of social wellness—social isolation—negatively impacts our mental and physical wellness. The publication, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, issued by the Surgeon General’s Office, is an excellent resource and can be accessed online and downloaded.
According to this On Focus article, “research shows social wellness plays a direct part in good mental health, which can lower rates of anxiety and depression, enhance mood, lift self-esteem and even lower blood pressure. Positive social connections have also shown substantial physical impacts in many other categories of health including weight management, diabetes, dementia, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.” Time spent with family and friends is not just a luxury; it is time well spent!
Physical Health
#1 Sleep. An article in NIH News in Health discusses how sleep impacts … just about everything! The good news: good sleep habits positively impact our energy, balance, intellectual function, alertness, mood, focus, higher levels of reasoning, problem-solving, stress hormones, immune system, appetite, and blood pressure. The bad news: lack of sleep negatively impacts all the things I just mentioned and increases the risk for obesity, cardiovascular disease, memory issues, and infections. If you can only read one sleep article from the Resources list at the end of this article, read The Key to Better Sleep Could Be the 10-3-2-1-0 Rule.
#2 Exercise. Research shows that exercise is one of the best things we can do for our health; it helps prevent many nasty medical conditions and improves brain health, mood, energy levels, sleep, and memory. Exercise can reduce symptoms of mental conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and more. People who are physically active starting in mid-life (if not sooner) are less likely to develop dementia later in life. Exercise can improve our cardiovascular system, muscles, bones, joints, and brain. It can also help us manage stress and combat certain diseases such as stroke, type 2 diabetes, anxiety, cancer, dementia, and high blood pressure.
We don’t have to run a marathon or go to the gym every day to receive the benefits of exercise. Exercise can be as simple as stretching, swimming, dancing, yoga, Pilates, yard work, light weightlifting, housework, and my all-time favorite, walking. The benefits of walking are numerous. Walking (especially brisk walking) supports weight loss and weight maintenance, reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, keeps bones strong (which prevents osteoporosis), improves sleep, builds strength, flexibility, and stamina, enhances mental function, and counteracts anger, depression, and anxiety. The benefits of exercise are enormous!
#3 Gut Health. Good gut health (the health of our microbiome, which is the trillions of microorganisms that live in our bodies) has a huge impact on our overall health. This is another area that offers a crossover between mental and physical health, like exercise and social wellness. Our gut health can impact our mood, pain tolerance, cognitive performance, behavior, and memory. Bad gut health can negatively impact our chances for suffering from cancer, heart disease, dementia, obesity, and more. Strategies for a healthy gut include limiting alcohol intake, staying physically active, reducing sugar intake, and eating colorful fruits and vegetables.
#4 Oral Health. Briefly, I will note that oral health is crucial for long-term health. Poor oral hygiene can lead to issues like heart disease, diabetes, and even cognitive decline.
#5 Diet. We all know it is important to eat a healthy diet. There are many healthy diet tips out there; we know to eat lots of fresh fruits and colorful veggies and avoid too much salt, red meat, the wrong kinds of fats, or too much sugar. Fortunately, healthy foods are easily accessible to us, and delicious ways to prepare them are readily available on the Internet.
Looking at the dark side of diet, eating foods with added sugars and saturated or trans fats can release dopamine in our brain and release it from our gut, which then leads us to want to repeat that feel-good behavior … thus leading to food addictions. There is a reason why we want to keep eating those chips! The good news: We can choose to limit our sugar, salt, and trans fats intake and respect the following suggestions:
- Minimize processed foods (it’s impossible to avoid them altogether). There are four levels of processed foods:
- Unprocessed or minimally processed (basically an apple off the tree)
- Processed culinary ingredients (pressed, refined, ground like grains and oils)
- Processed or lightly processed (canned or frozen vegetables and fruits, bread, cheese, pasta: these usually have two added ingredients)
- Ultra Processed (made with five or more ingredients, or lots of sugar, salt, oils, fats)
The average diet in the United States today consists of about 60 percent highly processed foods (I even read 70 percent in one article). As we all know, those highly processed foods are easy to find and hard to resist.
For healthy brains and bodies, take note of the dangers of sugar. Consuming too much sugar can impact mood (increasing the chances of depression and anxiety) and lead to liver damage, high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity. To restate the good news from earlier: we have easy access to a multitude of healthy foods and creative recipes, and we have control over what we put in our mouths.
- Avoid or minimize drinking our calories (sodas, sweet juices, alcoholic beverages, high-calorie smoothies, energy drinks, high calorie coffee drinks, etc.). Drinking sweet sodas and juices is one of the main factors in weight gain. And here is some scary news. According to neurologist Dr. Shaheen Lakkan, “Soda is one of the worst foods for brain health due to the high concentration of simple sugars, which damage the blood vessels supplying the brain. Over time, this starves the brain from the very fuels it needs to function, leading to premature dementia and strokes.”
As for energy drinks, they can actually drain energy. Studies have shown that energy drinks can endanger heart and brain health, cause inflammation, increase blood pressure, and more. High-calorie coffee drinks that often have added sugars and fats can negatively impact our health by contributing to weight gain and increasing the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
Artificially sweetened drinks are not the answer. Artificial sweeteners can add to our cravings for sweetness, resulting in weight gain and, in general, making us feel hungrier. They also contribute to an increased risk of stroke and heart disease. Sweetened drinks (especially sodas) are extremely bad for our teeth. If it seems too good to be true …
Again, we have choices. We can all make water our most common drink of choice. It is the best fluid for our bodies. And we can be grateful that we have such easy access to clean and abundant water. One study showed that drinking a single glass of water when we wake up is enough to reduce thirst, anger, fatigue, and poor mood during the day. Drink two glasses, and we help improve our working memory as well.
Another healthy habit is a daily glass of milk. Milk strengthens our bones and teeth and helps our muscle grow and repair. Because of its protein, it helps with weight maintenance it reduces the risk of osteoporosis and fractures and it reduces the risk of bowel cancer.
There is another unfortunate consequence of poor diet: the connection between diet and cancer. An unhealthy diet can increase our chances of getting cancer. But according to the World Health Organization, “Between 30–50 percent of all cancer cases are preventable.” To take control of higher cancer risk by improving our diet, there are two main things to avoid: highly processed food (already mentioned in detail) and alcohol.
There is a lot of conflicting data on alcohol use. But most agree, drinking too much (and it doesn’t take much to be too much) can negatively impact our brain health and cause cancer. The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory came out with an excellent report in 2025 titled Alcohol and Cancer Risk. The report is well worth reading in full, but here is some impactful information from one study they quote: “In 2019, an estimated 96,730 cancer cases were related to alcohol consumption including 42,400 in men and 54,330 in women. This translates to nearly 1 million preventable cancer cases over ten years in the U.S. The largest burden of alcohol-related cancer in the U.S. is for breast cancer in women.” Remember these are preventable deaths due to a modifiable behavior.
A final word about poor diet: Dr. Lisa Mosconi has done a great deal of research on the risk of Alzheimer’s due to modifiable factors; we can cut out sodas and juices, limit alcoholic beverages, cut back on processed foods, respect what we know about eating fruits, veggies, and whole grains, and exercise more. These actions have the added bonus of positively impacting our sleep habits. Remember, anything that is good for the body is good for the brain (be it exercise, diet, rest, etc.).
Living long may be a goal, but living healthy is even more important. Our own behaviors significantly impact not only how long we live but also how healthy we are during our lives. The four behaviors that contribute to a healthy life and that came up in article after article are exercise, nutrition, sleep, and social connections. And I would add that those good behaviors can never start too young (or for that matter, too late)!
In closing:
As I have stated throughout this article, much of our emotional, mental, and physical health is within our control. When we are not stressed, we are happier and more fun. When we are physically healthy, we have more energy to try new things. When we are not too hard on ourselves or others, we can be more grateful for all we have. All five areas of health mentioned in this two-part series (financial, professional, business, emotional/mental and physical) are essential to our overall health. The fact that such positive outcomes arise from our own choices should encourage us in our quest for a successful independent studio and a healthy life.
Editor’s Note: Part I of this series appeared in the October 2025 MTNA Business Digest.
Disclaimer: The resources below were curated by the author to complement this article. They are offered for exploration and inspiration and do not represent official endorsements by MTNA. We recognize “health” or “wellness” can mean different things to different people and invite you to engage with the resources that resonate with your personal journey, and to discuss them with your trusted healthcare provider.
Resources, Part 2
(To access MTNA resources listed below, first log in as a member atmtna.org.)
* Author’s recommendations for especially helpful resources are listed first.
Mental/Emotional Wellness
(please note that many of these also apply to physical health)
*How to Be Happy: 12 Habits to Add to Your Routine, Ann Pietrangelo, Healthline, May 27, 2025.
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-be-happy
*Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, US Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community, 2023.
SurgeonGeneral.gov/Connection
*12 Daily Habits That Will Make You Happier, according to a Psychiatrist, Maggie Seaver, Real Simple, May 2, 2025.
https://www.realsimple.com/daily-habits-that-will-make-you-happier-11724605
The Negative Effects of Clutter: 12 Ways Your Stuff Is Stealing from You! Simple Lionheart Life, Last updated August 7, 2023.
https://simplelionheartlife.com/negative-effects-of-clutter/
The Power of Gratitude 6 Benefits of a Gratitude Practice, Calm’s Editorial Team, Clinically reviewed by Dr. Chris Mosunic, Calm, April 16, 2025.
https://www.calm.com/blog/power-of-gratitude
The Self-Compassionate Musician, Jessica Johnson, American Music Teacher, August/September 2016.
https://mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=36833&i=321774&p=21&ver=html5
Social Wellness: The Importance of Connection, Ciara Neeb, OnFocus, July 20, 2022.
https://www.onfocus.news/social-wellness-the-importance-of-connection/
Elissa Epel, City of Westminster, London, England: Penguin Life, 2022.
Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age, Mary Pipher, Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, NY, 2019.
Physical Wellness
(please note that many of these also apply to mental/emotional wellness)
*Alcohol and Cancer Risk, The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory, 2025
https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/alcohol-cancer/index.html
*Cancer Dietitian Reveals the Two Things She Tells People to Avoid Consuming, Lucy Notarantonio, Newsweek, December 14, 2024.
https://www.newsweek.com/cancer-dietitian-two-things-avoid-consuming-nutrition-meat-alcohol-processed-red-2000272
*Exercise: 7 Benefits of Regular Physical Activity, Mayo Clinic Staff, Mayo Clinic, October 8, 2024.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389
*15 Major Benefits of Walking, According to Experts, Madeleine Haase and Jenn Gonick, Prevention, Madeleine Haas and Jenn Gonick, updated October 28, 2024.
https://www.prevention.com/fitness/a20485587/benefits-from-walking-every-day/
*Is Moderate Drinking Actually Healthy? Scientists Say the Idea Is Outdated, Sarah Williams, Stanford Report, August 19, 2025.
https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/08/moderate-alcohol-consumption-drinking-health-benefits-impacts-research
*The Key to Better Sleep Could be the 10-3-2-1-0 Rule, Arricca Elin SanSone, Good Housekeeping, November 23, 2024.
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a62922307/10-3-2-1-0-sleep-rule/
*More Women in the U.S. are Drinking Themselves to Death, Research Finds, Linda Carroll, NBC News, July 28, 2023.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/women-us-are-drinking-death-research-finds-rcna96848
*Processed Foods and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, The Nutrition Source, Last reviewed August 2023.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/processed-foods/
*16 Best Tips for How to Sleep Well All Night and Wake Up Refreshed, Lora Shinn, Prevention, February 19, 2020.
https://www.prevention.com/health/sleep-energy/a30981827/how-to-sleep/
*What Happens When You Drink Wine Every Day? Experts Explain, Allison Arnold, Gabby Romero, AOL - Delish, April 7, 2025.
https://www.aol.com/happens-drink-wine-every-day-203900977.html#:~:text=“What%20happens%20when%20you%20drink,as%20cell%20and%20liver%20damage
*Why Is the American Diet So Deadly? Scientists Are Studying a New Culprit. Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, January 6, 2025.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/01/13/why-is-the-american-diet-so-deadly
American Music Teacher and Wellness, annotated list of wellness articles
https://www.mtna.org/downloads/Learn/AMTWellnessAnnotations.pdf
Calorie-free Sweeteners Can Disrupt the Brain’s Appetite Signals, Zara Abrams, Keck School of Medicine USC, March 26, 2025.
https://keck.usc.edu/news/calorie-free-sweeteners-can-disrupt-the-brains-appetite-signals/
Health and the Seated Studio Teacher, Charles Turon, American Music Teacher, February/March 2020.
https://mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=36833&i=647314&p=16&ver=html5
Lifespan vs. Healthspan, Sink Them Up with These Healthy Lifestyle Tips, Sandy Cohen, UCLA Health, September 24, 2025.
https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/lifespan-vs-health-span-sync-them-up-with-these-healthy
Sleep Tips, Six Steps to Better Sleep, Mayo Clinic Staff, Mayo Clinic, November 15, 2023.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/sleep/art-20048379
23 Simple Habits to Change Your Life, Amen Clinics, November 27, 2023.
https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/23-simple-habits-to-change-your-life/
Wellness Resources for the Musician,Linda Cockey, Music Teachers National Association, March 24, 2015.
(PDF, most related to performance issues)
https://www.mtna.org/downloads/Learn/WellnessResourcesfortheMusician.pdf
What Happens When You Cut Out Added Sugar? Paula Frysh, reviewed by Zilpah Sheikh, WebMD, June 19, 2025.
https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-effects-cut-added-sugar
Beth Gigante Klingenstein, NCTM, is a nationally renowned author/presenter. Her multi-faceted career included independent studio teaching, university teaching, and arts administration. She currently continues her path as an author, presenter, arts advocate, and MTNA President-elect.