Or at least I thought so for the longest time; since my early twenties I suffered of lower back pain, and I tried everything to get rid of it.At the beginning I tried simple back exercises in a gym, which helped a bit, but as soon as I stopped going there because I found it humiliating the pain returned. Then I tried several doctors, Yoga, Feldenkreis, also tried to ignore it, but over the years it got worse and worse.

Three years ago, after I fell with my scooter onto my shoulder, I added pain in the shoulder which started moving into my left arm and finally into the wrist. Scary. I found an osteopath and a specialist for musicians, and nothing helped. To tell you the truth, I even started thinking about a life after the cello.

And then I met my saviour, this real cool guy here in Berlin, who has his own version of “Rolfing”. I won’t even try to explain what he has been doing with me, but I went there now 12 times, and for the first time in 18 years I am completely pain-free – a real miracle! After long flights I am not sore anymore, I even feel well rested.

His name is Adjo Zorn, and he has this webpage www.rolfingb.de, check it out, I swear on the guy. He even changed my way of sitting behind the cello, even of shifting. It’s all about deep breathing and true relaxing in any situation. The whole body composure matters, and I was far too stiff, and so are many other musicians.