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!