We all have our own ‘story’ around our voice. Some of us hate the sound of our voices if we hear ourselves and would never sing in front of others. It’s a terrifying thought and right up there with public speaking. I’ve heard many stories of people talking about their voice including:
"I’m tone deaf."
"I was told to mime in the Choir."
"I was made to stand in front of the class and sing on my own."
"I can’t sing in tune."
But alongside this, I often get told...
"Oh I so wish I had your gift."
"I would love to be able to sing."
I often wonder when we’re not completely ‘in tune’ if we’re just ‘out of tune’ with ourselves and we just need to listen a little deeper and 'come back’ into harmony. I firmly believe we all have our own unique expression of voice. We all want to be heard, and the voice is such a joyful way to connect with one another.
Having been classically trained for 27 years I spent thousands of dollars on training, did a music degree and post-graduate study in the UK. But the missing factor for me was being seen in my entirety. I believe that our vocal imprint is very influenced and governed by all levels of our being – emotionally, spiritually, physically. Often if there is something going on for us on one or more of these levels our speaking voice reflects this. It tightens, it holds back, we go into fear around speaking our truth, we get a sore throat, we have a shallow breath or we hold our breath.
I also notice in working with people that often we’ve lost the ability to breathe deeply – to let ourselves really drop right down into our body and so we breathe in our upper chest. If you watch a young baby or child they can cry and scream for hours without their voice being impacted, but as we get older we contract and tighten in places in our body which stops the flow and causes tight bodies and armouring.
I want to get away from some of the traditional methods of "stand and sing" and take a leaf from the indigenous cultures of the world where singing and dancing were a part of everyday life, a means of connecting deeply with one another without needing any words. If only for everyone it was a way to express ourselves and be attuned in a more somatic way.
We’ve lost these oral traditions of Indigenous cultures and in turn people have lost their voices. But we long to be heard once again, we long to be in tune with each other, we long to speak and sing the truth of our ‘knowing’ that lies deep within us.
In many shamanic societies, if you came to a shaman or medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions.
When did you stop dancing?
When did you stop singing?
When did you stop being enchanted by stories?
When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?
Where we have stopped dancing, singing, being enchanted by stories, or finding comfort in silence is where we have experienced the loss of soul.
Dancing, singing, storytelling, and silence are the four universal healing salves.
So this is a chance for you to connect more intimately with your body, doing some breath exploration to breathe more deeply, more openly and allow a stronger expression of YOUR Voice, YOUR unique expression to come through.
I welcome you to explore, to move, to breathe at a place where you feel comfortable, but also to risk and trust yourself to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable. All is welcome.
“And the day came when the risk it took to stay tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin
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