From Good to Great, What Tips the Balance?

This question of greatness has been on my mind recently. What is it that separates a great singer from a good one?

There's a high level of singing that a lot of people are doing. If you look at the classical music world, there are lots of conservatories, producing a lot of singers. If you look at the local music venues in any given area, there are a lot of different singers and bands performing 7 nights a week.

If you assume a certain amount of natural talent, a high level of training and a drive to perform, what is it that makes some people move on to greatness and others stay in the category of good?

Some of it is luck, being in the right place at the right time, knowing the right people, leveraging your network and practicing hard. But, I've come to the conclusion there is another element. One that isn't so obvious to the naked eye.

It is the ability to connect emotionally with what you are singing: the ability to sing from your heart.

For some this comes completely naturally. I love to watch these people on stage. When I see them sing it always seems that it doesn't matter if there is an audience, they simply must share what is inside them.

For many, many others, the emotional connection is elusive. It isn't the music that is the issue. Music is always emotionally driven. It is your heart center. Emotions can be big. The can be scary. If you aren't in tune with your emotions off the stage, it can be hard to tune into them when you sing.

It can take some work to get below the surface to see what is going on with your emotional center that is influencing your performing. Perhaps this is why voice lessons so often feel like therapy!

Keeping a journal, talking with a therapist and engaging in heart centered practices will all help you identify your work and move forward.

Yoga is at its core a heart centered practice. By cultivating present moment awareness you are able to ride, without judgement, the waves of emotions that occur in life. The physical practice helps to develop awareness of what is going on with your body, but it is meditation that will tune you in to your emotions and help you move through whatever your issues are so you are present to the music!

Try developing a regular meditation practice. Start small, 10 minutes a day and add time as you get comfortable with the practice. Keep it simple and just focus on your breath. Your thinking mind will engage and all you have to do is notice that you've started thinking and return to focus on your breath. The results might astound you!

Singer's Wellness: Gratitude and Your Immune System

There are the traditional methods of staying healthy including eating well, sleeping and hydrating. Then there are other ways that you can boost your health (and your happiness too) that you don't normally think of.

At the top of the list is Gratitude.

About a year and a half ago, I began a gratitude journal as I found myself caught up in day-to-day struggles and wanted to see more of the blessings in my life. Rather than going to bed each night fretting over what hadn't gone well, or what I hadn't done, I wanted to remember the wonderful things that were going on around me all the time. So, I bought a pretty notebook (I'm a total sucker for notebooks and have a ton of them around at all times) and a pen I liked and put it on my bedside.

Then, I didn't write in it.

Seriously. I wrote in it about once every three months. At most.

One day, I went to bed particularly bothered by the day. I hadn't felt like a good teacher, yogi, singer, parent or spouse. I had snapped at people, I was getting a cold and I just generally felt down about the world. I saw the notebook sitting there and I thought 'what the hell, why not?' and I pulled it out.

It was a struggle to come up with three things about the day that I was grateful for. It was really, really hard. I kept at it though. Each night I wrote.

Fast forward to today and I write almost nightly and can easily fill a page with the things I have noticed happening in my day that I am grateful for. Occasionally I'll write about things that I want to have happen in the hopes that expressing my gratitude for having something will help will it into existence. Sometimes I'm too tired and I just mentally make a list of things I'm grateful for.

I don't even write in complete sentences, just phrases. Keep it simple.

Robert Emmons, PhD, a prof at UC Davis, researches gratitude and the effects it has on people. In an article he wrote for The Greater Good, at the top of the list of physical benefits of gratitude is "stronger immune systems". You can view his list of 10 ways to become more grateful and at the top of that list is to keep a gratitude journal.

Go ahead, indulge in a new notebook and a pen you love. Put the book by your bedside and commit to writing in it nightly. Start with just three things you are grateful for and watch how your list grows over time. If you need some ideas, try keeping track of:

• the things your voice allows you to do, 
• how the people around you have helped you pursue your singing goals, 
• your admiration for your singing colleagues,
• the opportunities you have to share your gift with others,
• other small moments in your daily life that make you thankful.

Your healthy voice and your spirit will love you for it!

Singer's Wellness: Sleep!

There is no question it can be challenging to get enough sleep in today's world. Our schedules as performers may keep us from getting to bed at a decent hour (hello, late rehearsal after working at multiple jobs all day to make ends meet). Sometimes we have things like sleep apnea that keep sleep from being high quality and many, many, many of us suffer from insomnia.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

However, the importance of sleep can not be underestimated. Adequate sleep helps to regulate our endocrine system (hormones), boosts immune system function, keeps fat accumulation at bay, staves off depression and keeps our hearts healthy. We have fewer accidents and work-related injuries when we are well rested. In terms of our voices, cellular repair happens while we sleep. When you've exercised your voice, it needs time to repair itself and time to renew the layer of mucous that covers the top of the vocal cords (this layer serves, in part, as protection to the cords). Sleep is a big part of what helps that to happen.

A survey conducted by Keith Saxon and Pamela Harvey (reported in Vocal Health and Pedagogy: Advanced Assessment and Treatment, Vol. II) looked at a small sampling of singers and found that the most frequently reported problem by singers in nonperformance times is staying asleep (44% indicated this was a problem). During performance time 96% indicated they didn't get enough sleep and the most frequently experienced problem was falling asleep. This same group listed the following as the results of poor sleep:

• trouble with breath support, 
• reduced vocal endurance, 
• huskiness/roughness of the voice
• needed more time to warm up

Do those sound familiar to you? Are you skating by on 6 hours a night when you know that isn't enough sleep, but you have trouble staying asleep and when you're in performance mode, trouble falling asleep?

Yoga can help! I have dealt with my fair share of trouble sleeping both in terms of staying asleep and in terms of falling asleep after a late rehearsal or performance. Here are some tips from yoga that have helped me immensely:

Yoga journal lists these poses as having a theraputic focus of dealing with insomnia. In general, forward bends will help relax you because they encourage a longer exhale and a longer exhale triggers the relaxation response (in other words it turns off the adrenaline that got you through the concert!). I would add the restorative pose of legs up the wall as one that settles the body and mind. Simply sitting or lying down and breathing consciously to extend your exhale will help too, if yoga poses aren't your thing.

The practice of Yoga Nidra, which means yogic sleep, has been enormously helpful to me. I have a recording on my ipod and iphone and if I am awake in the night, I pop in my ear buds, lie on my back in bed and turn it on. I'll be honest, if I'm really stressed out, sometimes it takes listening to it two times to get me to go back to sleep, but it is hugely helpful. There are lots of yoga nidra options out there, but the one I use is from the CD Relax into Greatness by Rod Stryker. I've been fortunate to do a few weekend intensives with him as part of my teacher training and his genius is not to be missed!

Singer's Wellness: Nutrition: Small Changes with Big Benefits

We are thrilled to welcome Devorah Ungerleider-Moore from Progressive Nectar as our guest blogger this week.  Devorah is sharing with us seven areas where you can make small changes in your food intake that bring about big rewards to your health!

Staying healthy is at the forefront of every professional or amateur singer's career. When your body is your instrument—and you only get one amazing body—it’s important to take care of it. Nothing is more uncomfortable than having to perform when you are not feeling well. With the changing seasons, holiday stress and performances around the corner, there are seven areas where small changes can help you be in optimal health. 

1) Understand your Grocery Store:

·       Grocery Stores are built to market and sell food—that is their job—to sell.

·       99% of ingredients needed for healthy living are found in the outer perimeter;

o   produce,

o   eggs,

o   dairy/non-dairy milks,

o   meat & fish counters

·       Walk down aisles only for oils, nuts, the occasional baking supply and kitchen necessities (soap, parchment paper, etc.).

·       Plan your meals and snacks in advance and shop with a list.

2) Eat Whole Foods

·       Stick to consuming unprocessed, whole foods. A whole food is when nothing has been stripped away from the food.  

·       Shop at your local natural foods market, farmer’s markets or farms when buying “whole foods” or “complete foods”.

·       Steer away from low-fat, non-fat, reduced sugar labels.

3) Choose Organic, Grass-Fed & Hormone Free Meats:

·       If you eat meat, make sure to purchase organic hormone-free meats & poultry.

·       You’ll notice a difference in flavor and nutrient quality.

·       Grass-fed meats have lower fat ratios and the fat in the meat is beneficial for your body.

·       Note: Kosher Organic chickens have wonderful flavor and the birds are slaughtered humanely.

4) Eat Greens Every Day:

·       Greens represent a convenient, essentially caloric-free, nutrient-dense source of hard to obtain minerals, like magnesium, calcium, potassium, and manganese.

·       These minerals are what allow our bodies to make energy, regulate blood pressure, and absorb other nutrients from food we eat.

·       Greens include kale, chard, lettuce, mustard greens, collard greens, beet greens, arugula, and endive.

·       Make sure your greens are organic (or chemical free).

·       Buying local may save you money and support your local economy too.

5) Stay Hydrated:

·       If drinking enough water is hard for you, start by adding 1 glass of water a day every week to your fluid intake until you achieve your minimum quota.

·       See this earlier post covering the importance of hydration.

·        If you are used to coffee breaks, drink green tea in its place (no cream or sugar).

·       Stick to drinking water all day and give yourself one 12oz beverage of anything you’d like (apple cider, tea, other juice or coffee). Just choose water the rest of the day.

·       Add a squeeze of lemon to each glass of water supporting your body to detoxify.

·       Note For Kids: Often children like juices, chocolate milk and sodas; in other words, sugar, sugar, sugar. Make it a house rule kids choose one beverage for the day (a 4-6 oz. juice, milk etc.), after that water is the only beverage of choice during the day. Always serve juice as a 1:1 ratio mixed with water. If your child likes soda, try mixing sparkling water and juice for a bit of fizz and get rid of the soda all together. Purple Cows are always a favorite (grape juice / sparkling water).

6) Minimize Sugar

·       White refined sugar leads to illness and obesity.

·       Stay away from processed foods and any added sugar.

·       Minimize dairy and processed grains as your body converts both to sugar extremely fast.

·       Craving something sweet? Reach for a piece of fruit, (that’s your whole food for sweetness).

·       Reduce sugar in your diet and you’ll gain energy and feel your best.

7) Exercise for Happiness:

·       Here at Progressive Nectar we believe total health is 70% nutrition, 20% exercise, 10% inner peace (quiet time).

·       Move your body every day for healthy mood, healthy heart and a happy self.

·       For general purposes, 30 minutes of movement three days a week is a great way to support healthy living. For some that might mean walking, yoga, playing tennis, swimming, Cross Fit, running, group exercise classes, cycling or a combination of activities.

·       Simply engage in what works for your life—something you’ll enjoy.

Making small changes in these seven areas of health of takes a bit of planning and cooking from home. However, if you prep your meals once a week, living healthier gets a whole lot easier in our hectic lives. Pack an apple, a handful of nuts and water for your next on-the-go snack bypassing the local coffee shop on the way to rehearsal. If you implement one or all seven changes in your life, you’ll feel better and be healthier. Your energy level will be up, sustained and your voice clear. For healthy recipes, make sure to visit Progressive Nectar at progressivenectar.com, like us on facebook and share recipes socially. Be the change—inspire others to live for health.    

BIO:

 Devorah Ungerleider-Moore is Culinary Editorial Director and nutritional thought leader for special diet and gluten-free living at Progressive Nectar Publishing. With a previous background in health & fitness, she recovered from a spinal tumor through holistic nutrition has been helping others do the same ever since. To contact her directly email info@progressivenectar.com.

Singer's Wellness: Fluid Facts

Our bodies function best when they are well fed and well hydrated. We'll talk more about nutrition in coming posts, but let's address water here.

Our bodies are about 60% water.

photo by: José Manuel Suárez

Our vocal cords are covered with a layer of mucous that is water based.

This mucous does several things:
1. Helps with vocal cord flexibility (i.e. makes singing easier).
2. Protects them from friction while we talk and sing.

Without it our cords are stiffer, swell more easily when we sing and have a harder time recovering from a long singing session. When we are dehydrated the layer of mucous is either less or non-existent.

When you are mildly dehydrated you might notice:
1. Dry mouth
2. Headache
3. Dark colored urine
4. Dry lips
5. Low level fatigue

Hydration is systemic, meaning water has to get into your body before it can hydrate you - drinking water while singing or doing yoga will do a bit to help relieve a dry mouth and cool you off, but it won't really help your voice in that moment.

How do you know how much water you need to drink? The old way of looking at it was everyone needed 64 ounces of water a day. Turns out it is more individual. Our diets often consist of about 20% water - almost every substance we consume has water in it (especially if you are eating lots of fruits and vegetables).

The remaining, 80% water you take in comes in liquid form - and hopefully a lot of that liquid is water, though tea, coffee, soda, fruit juice all have water. One study showed that caffeinated beverages don't contribute significantly to dehydration in healthy adult males, but caffeine in high levels causes its own issues. Soda and fruit juice are also not 'real' foods, but food products, some laden with chemicals so I advise avoiding them in general. If you exercise and sweat heavily you will need more water to keep you hydrated. In the winter I also recommend sleeping with a humidifier to keep your airway moist (waking up with a sore throat in the morning because you are so dried out is one sign that you would benefit from a humidified *NB a morning sore throat can also be a sign of reflux).

In the singing world we say 'pee pale'. After your first morning void, aim to have light colored urine. (Totally clear urine can signify over hydration, something that isn't particularly healthy either).

The next time you find your energy flagging at 3pm, try drinking some water to give yourself a boost. Carrying a BPA free water bottle is also a great way to be sure you are drinking regularly and staying hydrated!

The Deal with the Diaphragm, Pt 2

In the first post we looked at the diaphragm and its role in inhalation - It is the primary muscle involved in the lifting of the ribs and the expansion of the abdomen upon inhalation. To be extra clear, it is always involved in breathing - there is no such thing as a non-diaphragmatic breath. It is just a matter of how efficiently it works. When you are a singer you need it to be very efficient, and the way we use the other muscles of inhalation and exhalation allows the diaphragm to function efficiently.

When we sing we need to slow down the rate at which air is expelled so it matches the needed amount to set the vocal folds in motion at the appropriate pitch and gives you the ability to sing through a phrase. We can't do that with the diaphragm because we have no direct control over it.

We accomplish this by engaging the accessory muscles of exhalation. (When you aren't singing you can slow the breath down by pursing the lips on exhale or by using an ujjayi breath). The abdominal muscle that has the most direct relationship to the diaphragm is the transverse abdominus, the deepest layer of belly muscle, because it attaches to the body at many of the same points that the diaphragm does. We often refer to muscles in pairs as antagonists (think bicep and tricep in your arm). The transverse abdominus is the antagonist of the diaphragm. The other accessory muscles and their antagonists include the obliques (belly) and the costals (ribs), but we're looking most closely at the transverse abdominus here.

Transverse Abdominus in deep red above.


If the diaphragm returns to its resting position quickly, you get a big burst of air that will either make your sound breathy, out of tune or more difficult to create than it should be. So, when we slow its return down by engaging the other muscles of the abdomen and back, especially the transverse abdominus, you create what is often referred to as 'support'.

So, how do you know you are engaging the transverse abdominus muscle?

Try This:

Lie down or sit in a comfortable, well aligned manner. Place your hand just above your pubic bone on your low belly.

Exhale as though you are breathing out through a straw, continuing until you feel as though you are out of air. Like, really, really out of air.

While exhaling pay attention to where you feel muscle engagement - hopefully you feel it beneath your hand in the lowest part of your belly, almost as low as where the pubic bone is. That muscle engagement is the transverse abdominus muscle and that level of engagement is only for demonstration purposes to find it. We use it more subtly when we sing, not wanting to have any visible motion of the belly up and in as we sing through a phrase. If you aren't sure if you engage it when you sing, try vocalizing on the sounds v, m, n, or the ng sound from the word sing with your fingers pressed into your softened belly. Those sounds are good triggers to engage the muscle and you'll feel it press against your fingers when you vocalize.

Enjoy!

Breathing 101: Brahmari - Bee Breath

In this post we're going to add to your tool belt of ways to manage and soothe performance anxiety. If you've read other Breathing 101 posts, you are starting to get a feel for the power of your breath.  Being aware of your breath helps you to be aware of your state of mind: shallow breath = stress/anxiety, deep, full breath = relaxed, calm.

This breath practice is a way to move to a non-anxious state by using sound to help extend your exhale. It is something you can practice back stage before performing, or while riding on the subway, in your car or while simply walking down the street.

 Brahmari/Bee Breath:

To begin this practice, sit in a comfortable cross legged position  or in a chair with your feet flat on the ground, spine tall. 

Inhale through your nose and exhale through your nose while softly and gently humming on an /m/ sound and comfortable, mid-range pitch.

There should be little effort in your hum and the jaw should be soft, the tongue resting between your lower teeth. As you continue your neck, shoulders and jaw will continue to release tension.

 The bee breath are calms the anxious, spinning mind and helps to lengthen the exhalation without additional effort – forcing the breath beyond your capacity will have the opposite effect.

 What you are doing is humming softly. There are many articles out there about the health benefits of humming. Including one from the New York Times that presents multiple studies on the effect of humming to help sinus infections, a short one from mindbodygreen on the health benefits of humming and one from relaxation lounge on the instant benefits of humming daily.

Give it a whirl and see how you feel after!

Breathing 101: Complete Yoga Breath

The foundational breath of yoga is the complete yoga breath, called Dirga* in Sanskrit (pronounced DEER-gah).

Mastering it means you have developed an awareness and freedom of your breathing which will enable other breath practices and also your singing. The increase in oxygen you bring in when you breathe deeply helps decrease stress and anxiety levels, something everyone can use!

Begin by practicing on your back, then try in a sitting position and finally try it standing up.

1. Lie on your back in constructive rest, with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor. 

2. Place your hands on your belly. Breathe in and feel the belly rise on inhale and fall on exhale. Do this for a few cycles.

3. Move your hands to your ribcage. Inhale and feel the belly expand and then feel the breath cause the ribcage to expand on inhale and retreat on exhale. Do this for a few cycles. 

4. The final part is to feel the breath move into the area under the collarbones. Breathe in, feel the belly and ribs fill and then a slight rise of the collarbones as breath enters the upper lung tissue. This final step is subtle and small. 

This breath is about finding freedom in the muscles involved with inhalation in exhalation such that your diaphragm can descend enough to allow for a deep inhalation and your ribs expand to accommodate your filling lungs. If you feel light headed while doing this, back off from the practice and lie with your legs up the wall or on a chair for a few minutes while breathing normally.

Enjoy! 

*If you have asthma and are experiencing symptoms, avoid engaging in practices such as this until your symptoms have abated. Then, begin with gentle breathing to avoid aggravating your condition.

The Deal with the Diaphragm, Pt 1

"What do you know about breathing for singing?"

This is one of the first questions asked of new students in my voice studio at their first lesson. My least favorite, yet most common response is, "well, I know you breathe from the diaphragm," uttered as they hold their hand vaguely over their abdominal area.

If that is their answer we go no further.

The diaphragm, for those of you who don't know, is an involuntary muscle. That means we have no direct control over it. We cannot make it do anything. At all. When not engaged it rests at the bottom of the rib cage. When activated it contracts and pulls and aides with inhalation.

Because it is an involuntary muscle, we do not 'breathe from the diaphragm' anymore than we breathe from our stomach. We breathe through our mouth or nose, down the trachea and into the lungs. Breathing occurs through an interplay of muscles, including the diaphragm, that pull on lung tissue, create negative pressure and allow air to rush in (a very boiled down explanation with apologies to those who do anatomical things for a living and would give a more complex, in depth explanation).

What we want is a diaphragm that is free to descend to its maximum position, allowing the bottom portion of our lungs, where the bulk of our lung tissue lives, to fill with air, giving us the best shot at singing long phrases.

What we need is a set of abdominal muscles flexible enough to allow the contents of the abdominal area (stomach, liver, spleen etc) to move forward when the diaphragm encounters them. Because the diaphragm inserts on itself in a central tendon,  its flexibility is also partly dependent on the flexibility of the hips and spine. (Working on flexibility while building strength is one of the many reasons why yoga can be helpful for singers.)

When teachers and conductors and the like tell students "Breathe from your diaphragm!" what they mean is release your abdominal muscles so the diaphragm is free to descend on inhalation.  We 'feel a low breath' because there is expansion in the belly as things move around.

The way the diaphragm is involved with exhalation and how it is paired with its antagonist muscles in the abdomen to provide the foundation for a supported sound is for another post.

Go forth and sing, but know that you aren't controlling your diaphragm as much as you might think you are!

The Very Opposite of Mindful

In general I work hard to practice what I preach, being mindful in my daily life. For the most part I succeed at this but sometimes life gets the best of me.

September was a busy month. This is the first fall that I'm teaching while running yoga programs for singers privately and at a few schools and have my own two children going to two different locations for their daily routine on top of a million other things that come with living life.

The month began relatively smoothly but quickly went south when my daughter's after school program feel apart. I mean really, really fell apart. As in there was no viable after school option for her to be cared for between 2:30 and 5pm on the days I was working. After a totally sleepless night we decided that in the short term I was going to do pick up while we sought out another alternative. All well and good except that my teaching schedule for the week was set and getting home by 2:30 wasn't exactly easy.

To make a long story a little longer, I rushed like mad out of work the first day to get to pick up. I finished teaching in Cambridge at 1:45 and had to be at her preschool, 19 miles away, in 45 minutes (if you live around here you know that this seems like a potential impossibility, but dammit I was going to make it happen). After walking as fast as humanly possible from the building I teach in over to Mass Ave in Harvard Square, I crossed 1/2 of the street with the light and stood on the median waiting for the light to cross the street and it was taking forever (or so it seemed). Suddenly there was no traffic coming south on Mass Ave. I saw my break and went for it.

You see where this is going, right?

Though I had looked to my right and identified that there was no traffic coming, I failed to look to my left to see whether a bus was coming up out of the underground T station.

I boldly stepped off the curb and walked right into the side of a moving MBTA bus.

My bag was over my left shoulder, my elbow bent, sticking out, my hand holding the straps of my bag. I think that very thing is what saved me from potential disaster. My elbow hit the bus first and I instinctively recoiled up onto the median.

Though I was shocked I wasn't really hurt. The poor bus driver very nearly had a heart attack and it took much reassuring that I was actually ok, for him to be able to breathe again. I walked away with a dime sized abrasion on my elbow and the astounding realization that I had very nearly been badly injured because I was rushing and not paying attention.

How often do we all do this? Go on autopilot getting from point A to point B, only to arrive and have no memory of getting there? Have you ever sung a concert and then can't remember much of it because you were so distracted, stressed and unaware? Have you spent an hour 'practicing' when really you were thinking about everything but the music? More often than not those events result in no harm. But, sometimes, you get hit by a bus.

In hindsight I am grateful for the reminder to be present and focused and I'm sorry that it took being hit by a bus for me to remember.

Be present to your life this day, this hour, this minute. Breathe.

Breathing 101: Extending the Exhale.

If you completed the breath ratio exercise and discovered that your inhale is longer than your exhale, or it is equal and you'd like to extend your exhale, here are a few tips on how to do that.

As a reminder, an extended exhale helps to trigger the relaxation response, shutting off the flow of stress hormones (think about the need to fall asleep after you get home from a performance that ended at 11pm...). If you are a singer who struggles to sing longer phrases of music this exercise can help you as well - as will exercises that improve the efficiency of your vocal cord closure, but that's another post for another day!

***Nota Bene: If you are an asthmatic, please don't try to attempt to extend your exhale when you are symptomatic, you are likely to trigger an asthma attack. Please wait until your breathing feels calm to try this. You may do even better to begin by thinking about shortening your inhale rather than stressing your system with extending your exhale.

1. Lie on your back in constructive rest and allow the body to completely relax into the ground.

2. Place your hands on your belly and take a moment to tune into breathing that involves the motion of the belly out on inhale and in on exhale.

3. Do a few cycles of counting your inhalation and exhalation. Let's say your ratio is 6 inhale, 3 exhale.

4. Now try these three options to extend your exhale 1 count at a time:

• Try first just thinking about slowing down your exhale to see if awareness is enough to bring about change.
•  Inhale normally, purse your lips and exhale like you are blowing bubbles. Changing the shape of your aperture (opening) changes the rate at which you exhale, slowing it down.
• Inhale normally, and exhale creating a whisper sound in the back of the throat called Ujjayi breathing - Please, please, please don't make yourself sound like Darth Vader. This should be a noise that is only perceptible to your own ears.

If it feels easy to extend your count by 1, you can work more quickly toward doubling your exhale length, putting your count at 6 and 12.

Once you've mastered things lying down, move on to trying them sitting up and then standing.

As always, just explore without judgement and enjoy!

Breathing 101: Breath Ratio

The next topic for Breathing 101 is that of the breath ratio. In the first post we covered the basics of breathing and a few common breathing pattern problems. In the second post we looked in depth at breath awareness.

Your breath ratio is important because it tells you something about the state of your body. There are three possible ratios -

* Inhale and Exhale equal in length
* Inhale is longer than Exhale
* Exhale is longer than Inhale

Try This:
Lie on the floor in constructive rest.

Close your eyes and take a moment to settle in.

Take a few breaths before turning your attention to your inhale. Count the length of your inhale over 4 or 5 cycles of breath. Though the pace of your counting doesn't matter, try to be consistent about it so you get an accurate count. File away the number you get most often when you count: this is the length of your inhale.

Now turn your attention to your exhale. Count the length of your exhale over 4 or 5 cycles of breath. Again, keep your pace consistent to get an accurate count. Compare this number to the length of your inhale and you know your breath ratio!

What your ratio means:
 A ratio of equal length is what we strive for in physical (asana) yoga practice. In every day life an equal ratio indicates balance and ease as you move through your daily activities.

A ratio of inhale longer than exhale means you are over inhaling. When your inhale is longer than your exhale, you will over oxygenate the body and contribute to your stress level. Over breathing sets your sympathetic nervous system in motion (this is the branch of your nervous system that oversees fight or flight mode. While fight or flight mode is appropriate if you are running out of a burning building or away from a charging elephant, being in this mode as a chronic state will create a loop of stress and anxiety. You may over inhale out of habit, or if you are an asthmatic, it may be part cause, part effect of your asthma.

A ratio of exhale longer than inhale means you are relaxing and also able to sing through longer phrases of your music! This process triggers the parasympathetic nervous system which governs relaxation. In this state you are able to be present to your surroundings, calm on stage and connected to your breath and body.

In our next post we'll look at some exercises to do to help lengthen your exhale and shorten your inhale.

Yoga of My Own Voice

It has been a long, long time since I've taken a voice lesson. And even longer since I've performed on stage. Four years ago life called me in the direction of starting a family, moving to a new town and getting the Mindful Singer off the ground and that left no time or energy for my own singing. At first resentful of this loss, I eventually learned to embrace the impermanence of life and shifted my perspective to "it's just not my time right now". That softened the blow of not singing and helped me remember that when I was ready again it would be there for me.

The close of this summer has brought about a desire to sort out who I am as a musician in this iteration of my life; as a suburban dwelling parent of two small children with a busy life. It is driven in part by my meditation practice which has revealed the sensation of a block in my throat. The guided meditation that I've done in August is my fall back staple meditation where energy is brought from the crown of the head, down the spine and into the heart center. In the past I worked just fine with it, but this time when I reach the cervical spine area I can't sense anything. Nor can I move anything through it. All I sense is a big, black space that is impenetrable.

I am also someone who believes firmly that to teach you must also do, so just as I engage in my own yoga practice I want to return to my own singing practice to better myself as a teacher. So, I scheduled a voice lesson with my old teacher who was kind enough to let me return after a nearly 5 year absence.

When the dust settled on the scheduling I realized there's definite apprehension in me about singing again. Is my voice gone from years of pregnancy and nursing related reflux? Is the block entirely emotional and the result of pushing my voice aside to help others the last 4 years? Am I just going to open up to my voice and spend an hour crying in her studio?

Yoga tells me those are all options and the best I can do is be present to my emotions in the moment, breathe in and out and accept whatever is. So I'm going to try that. Rather than thinking I'm going to walk in, sing, choose rep. and be off and running on a concert plan, I've identified three things I'd like to get out of my hour lesson. I'd like to get an honest assessment of my voice, a short set of exercises that I can do on a somewhat regular basis to begin to rebuild and know when I'm going back for another lesson. I could do this on my own, but I know myself well enough to know that working with someone else is a powerful motivator and something I so desperately miss.

Send good thoughts Wednesday morning as I delve back into me and see what's going on vocally!

Stilling the Lake of the Mind

When I was doing my yoga teacher training I got to do a weekend intensive with Rod Stryker. It was through his workshops that I finally found some meditations that worked for me (i.e. I did them more than just once and found I actually looked forward to meditating).

In one of them he talks about 'stilling the lake of the mind'. That image worked for me. It helped to imagine my mind as a body of water that is often full of thoughts causing rough waves. Those thoughts prevent me from really seeing or hearing my inner voice which is powerful, but quiet as opposed to my fear voice which hollers at the top of its lungs and makes all the waves to begin with.

What I learned from my meditation practice is not only that difference, but also that when my mind is quiet I can see and hear my true self. My quiet, inner voice speaks what is true in my heart and the ability to express what is in one's heart lies at the center of creativity.

I took the above picture while my family was on vacation in Maine last week. As I looked out over the lake early one morning, I was struck that the stillness of the morning water, before any boats have driven by or the winds have picked up, is exactly what a quiet mind allows. Just as I can see the entire tree reflected in the water, rather than the distorted version later in the day, I see myself clearly when my mind is still and quiet. A still mind allows me to open to creativity and discern what I want to express with my art.

How still is the lake of your mind? If you'd like to learn more about this meditation, you can visit the ParaYoga Store and scroll down to the CD "Meditations for Inner and Outer Peace" or read a description of the meditation from this blog post.

Enjoy!