Where in this cycle do we typically get stuck, and why? Are we still running from the lion, even if the lion isn't there?ĪN: It’s actually before that. And she said we should write a book about that.ĬD: In your plenary, you and Emily walked us through the typical stress response cycle (see addendum below). She was surprised, but when she told me about it, I reminded her that research she shared with me had saved my life and kept me from being hospitalized.

After the talks, women would come up to her and want to talk about the short half-a-chapter in the book about stress and feelings. It was really scary, because I hadn’t known that until then, and there were a lot of emotions in my body that I had been ignoring.Īt the same time that this was happening to me, Emily was doing author events for her first book, Come as You Are, about the science of women's sexuality. She brought me a big stack of books and peer-reviewed journal articles that explained how stress affects your body. Lucky for me, I have an identical twin sister with a PhD in public health. My interaction with sexism in classical music and my being a woman and wanting to embrace that as a strength clashed and turned into physical disease in my body. I've seen how top-heavy it is with men and how women can get trapped at a lower level of prestige.ĭuring my doctorate of conducting program, it really came to a head. Fast forward 25-ish years and I have followed my plan, but in the meantime I have encountered the sexism, discrimination, and even misogyny that can be part of the conducting world. Something about that action called to me, and I decided I was going to be a conductor.

They discussed Amelia’s own journey with stress during her musical training, what it means to express yourself as a conductor and a singer, and how choruses can be part of the ultimate cure for burnout.Ĭatherine Dehoney (CD): Can you tell us the origin story of Burnout? I know that you and Emily came to write this book in part because of your experience and training as a musician.Īmelia Nagoski (AN): In the eighth grade, I would stand in my dad's record room staying in front of a mirror waving my arms to-I'm embarrassed to admit this-Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem, over and over. After the Nagoskis’ plenary presentation during Chorus America’s Winter Conference, Amelia Nagoski spoke with Chorus America president and CEO Catherine Dehoney.

Burnout emily and amelia nagoski