Courses and workshops
Well-being as a Way of Life
Course taught in October-November 2025.
This course approaches well-being from an integral perspective — physical, psychological, social and emotional — based on scientific research and personal experience.
In recent years there has been an exponential growth in research in the fields of health, physical exercise, the gut-brain axis, the relationship between stress and health, and the influence of emotions and self-knowledge, aimed at greater enjoyment of every moment.
This course will review and share a range of research and techniques from this field, to improve the management of our emotions and stress and, ultimately, to lead a healthy life in which all these principles can be applied in practice.
Programme
Session 1 · Friday, October 10, 2025
- Overview of research on well-being, health and healthy ageing.
- Biological foundations of stress.
- The importance of breathing, functional breathing. Research. Practice and exercises.
- Stress-control techniques: mindfulness, autogenic training, relaxation.
- Forest bathing. Practical exercises.
Session 2 · Friday, October 17, 2025
- Physical exercise: research on its impact on mental and physical health. Health and cognitive function. Aerobic and strength exercise — what science says. Ageing, muscle mass and the skeletal system.
- Body posture and its influence on emotions and health.
Session 3 · Friday, October 24, 2025
- Emotions and their function. Albert Ellis's rational emotive therapy. The gut-brain axis.
- Emotional intelligence: Daniel Goleman.
- Art as a catalyst for emotions (music, writing, painting...).
- The importance of the social sphere as a modulator of emotions.
Session 4 · Friday, November 7, 2025
- Personality traits linked to greater stress and anxiety: perfectionism, self-demand.
- Looking inward.
- Attention and concentration: the dangers of multitasking.
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow and Daniel Goleman's optimal state.
Stress Management Techniques
A workshop on stress-management techniques applied to musical performance, taught at the Universidade do Minho (Portugal).
Conference on Stress Management · Erasmus+
A conference on emotional and physical control techniques applied to learning and musical performance (stress management), given as part of the Erasmus+ programme at the Cherubini Conservatory in Florence (17-19 February 2026), organised by the Keyboard Instrument Department.
