Very interesting discussion. I’m one of those people who have to deal with dystonia, from years of pushing, clamping and manipulation. The dystonia is not always present, in fact I’ve noticed that if I catch myself actively blowing or “supporting” unnecessarily, as opposed to simply releasing the air(Greg’s slingshot) the dystonia tends to show up. Of course I would love to completely free myself of dystonia (it’s such a pain!) but at present it seems to be an indicator of when I am engaging too much. I love how John talks about taking the time to learn to play with passive reduction only. I’m not a pro either, but I do play in 2 excellent community bands. Sometimes I have good rehearsal nights when I can stay calm and focussed on music. On those nights I seem to naturally use the appropriate amount of engagement for sustain and volume. Other nights things aren’t happening as easily and the instinct to manipulate is stronger. Then the next day it’s back to the “Largo Stage, passive reduction drawing board!” More and more I realize what Greg means when he says that the psychology of playing is so important. I’m learning to let go, experiment and not panic when the results aren’t there. A little mantra I’ve developed for my practice time is that regardless of results, I can always be calm, creative (ie. audiating beautiful sound ala Arnold Jacobs Song and Wind) and simply release the air. I’ve realized how much of my mental process was engaged in monitoring (like a judgemental teacher) as opposed to creating.