Voice Lessons: Part 2 – Open Up Your Body and Your Voice With This Qigong Inspired Vocal Exercise

 Do you struggle with fear when faced with sharing your voice with an audience?

A wonderful way to give that fear or stress an outlet is through movement.

Here is Part 2 if my Qigong inspired vocal exercises – I love this one… the openness of the arm motion feels wonderful… give it a try…

In and article called Kinetic (Movement) Strategies for Stress Relief, doctors Harry Mills, Natalie Reiss, and Mark Dombeck share that….

“Kinetic strategies for stress relief involve motion or movement… The idea is that muscular movement works with the fight-or-flight response and the physical body preparation that builds up to this response, rather than against it. By providing a direct outlet and release for the physical stress response, kinetic strategies prevent the buildup of muscular tension.”

Our body is our instrument and ideally, we want very little tension when creating sound. Managing the stress reaction of public speaking or performing is one of the reasons I encourage adding sound into your daily movement.

When adding sound into our stretch routine, vacuuming, doing yoga, or walking the dog, we are inviting the voice to be sustained while in the freedom of the movement.

This freedom of voice and body can be recalled in performance and speaking situations in smaller doses by breathing from the low belly, allowing the breath to move, bending slightly in the knees, relaxing the shoulders… and so on. The path of freedom and flexibility in your sound is laid by your ongoing integration.

 There is no separation in the voice/body instrument, and being mindful of that integration can help you sing and speak with greater ease.

Some additional benefits of movement and sustained sound…

– connect you to your core

– assist in breath management and…

– bring heightened awareness to how you create sound

Remember… this is not about making perfect sound… this is about exploration, observation, and bringing you out of the judgment seat and back into the feel and joy of your speaking and singing.

From speaking to singing, these Qi Gong inspired exercises are a wonderful way to build a deeper relationship with your voice/body instrument.

Let me know how it goes for you. Share your experience sin the comment section below…

Until next week, Always Rejoice In Your Voice™!

xoxoxo, Tricia