She sets her alarm to go off every 30 minutes!

We know we must practice.

While we practice, we must take care NOT to hurt ourselves.

Be sure to build in time to stretch, look up, look down, get a drink of water, throw laundry in the dryer, stir the soup ... you get the idea. Take a moment to step away from the dulcimer and move your body to avoid aches and pains.

I typically take a break every 30 minutes. Sometimes that time goes by so fast! If left to my own time perceptions, I'm afraid hours would go by, my neck would seize up, my shoulders would find a permanent home next to my ears, and my lower back might go on strike.

So I depend my own devices ... my iPhone, to be exact. I simply ask Siri to set an alarm for "30 minutes from now," then I go at it for half-an-hour. The alarm goes off. I take my break.

Refreshed, I get back to practice!