Last week I finished an hour-long voice lesson with a singer and she seemed slightly befuddled. Her brow was furrowed and she said, "well, we didn't get that much done, but it felt really productive."
I thought that was such an interesting perception of her lesson. My assessment was we had dropped deep in to the issue of breathing and body awareness and spent valuable time letting her body learn. As a beginner she has some long held breath and vocal patterns that aren't serving her singing. While I know her goals are not to become a professional singer, she is training to be a lawyer. She will be a professional voice user and be more effective in her profession when she is connected to her breath and able to use her voice efficiently.
Over the first 10 minutes of the lesson she sat and worked with a guided body scan to find a breath that was deep and free. I then asked her to stay with the breath to get a sense of how the body feels when she is breathing that way. We then vocalized in that position exploring how the tuning of the voice and placement are affected by the breath. About halfway into the lesson she stood and it took more time to re-find the breath connection from a standing position. We continued to vocalize and I asked her to identify what it felt like when the breath was free as it was when she was sitting. We used the mirror to provide a visual of the engagement of her neck when the breath was not working efficiently.
The work was slow, but it was clear she was in the zone the whole time. Her work was mindful. The voice was consistently in tune and pleasant in quality; two triumphs for someone who previously struggled to match pitch. We ended the lesson by talking about how she can find the breath that way again and identifying places in her life where she can explore it outside of singing.
My observation of people who are new to voice lessons is that most of them
aren't used to actually living in their body. They have little sense of
how their body feels and often little understanding or even ability to
perceive the body in space, let alone understand what their breath is doing or how they are using their voice. If you are 25 years into life and have never explored that, the change doesn't happen overnight!
So often I tell students that I'd rather they spend 10 minutes
practicing in a focused manner rather than singing through something 100
times in an hour. Learning simply doesn't happen when you mindlessly
repeat something.
I will always take quality over quantity when working with the voice and the body!
Showing posts with label getting started. Show all posts
Showing posts with label getting started. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Breathing 101: Breath Awareness
Stop what you are doing right now and lie on the floor. Well, maybe read through this first, but then lie down on the floor!
In the last Breathing 101 post we looked at some of the common problematic breath patterns. Here's the first step to understanding your pattern(s):
Breath Awareness:
1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor.
2. Rest your hands on your belly.
3. Allow your eyes to fall closed, turning your attention inward.
4. Breathe through your nose and notice the motion in your belly as you inhale and exhale.
If your belly isn't rising on the inhale, can you think about softening it - try softening your jaw first and see if that helps. It can take time for the belly to soften, we hold A LOT of tension in our belly area. Try letting go of tension as you exhale, imagining your body melting into the floor.
5. Once you feel the softeness of your belly, move your hands to rest on your rib cage.
6. Notice the expansion of the ribcage on your inhale. The lower ribs are where you should feel the most expansion as that is where the bulk of your lung tissue is.
If your ribcage isn't expanding, see if you can bring attention and intention to the lower ribs and see them flaring out in your mind's eye. The ribs function like a pump handle on inhalation and exhalation.
7. Place the hands back on the floor. Continue to breathe through your nose and notice how the belly AND ribcage expand on inhale.
Once you can sense the motion of your inhale and exhale in your belly and ribs. Turn your attention to the quality of your breath. Is it smooth and easy, or are you forcing with extra effort? Stop forcing, if you are. No one gets anywhere by muscling their way around. Are your inhale and exhale equally easy or is one held back?
After trying this on the floor you can take it with you and do it at your desk, while sitting at the piano, driving in your car, eating dinner etc. Just commit to observing without judgement and see what you find out.
Enjoy and let me know what you discover!
*special thanks to my 3 year old who was remarkably compliant when I asked her to lie on the floor and let me take some pictures!
In the last Breathing 101 post we looked at some of the common problematic breath patterns. Here's the first step to understanding your pattern(s):
Breath Awareness:
1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor.
2. Rest your hands on your belly.
3. Allow your eyes to fall closed, turning your attention inward.
4. Breathe through your nose and notice the motion in your belly as you inhale and exhale.
If your belly isn't rising on the inhale, can you think about softening it - try softening your jaw first and see if that helps. It can take time for the belly to soften, we hold A LOT of tension in our belly area. Try letting go of tension as you exhale, imagining your body melting into the floor.
5. Once you feel the softeness of your belly, move your hands to rest on your rib cage.
6. Notice the expansion of the ribcage on your inhale. The lower ribs are where you should feel the most expansion as that is where the bulk of your lung tissue is.
If your ribcage isn't expanding, see if you can bring attention and intention to the lower ribs and see them flaring out in your mind's eye. The ribs function like a pump handle on inhalation and exhalation.
7. Place the hands back on the floor. Continue to breathe through your nose and notice how the belly AND ribcage expand on inhale.
Once you can sense the motion of your inhale and exhale in your belly and ribs. Turn your attention to the quality of your breath. Is it smooth and easy, or are you forcing with extra effort? Stop forcing, if you are. No one gets anywhere by muscling their way around. Are your inhale and exhale equally easy or is one held back?
After trying this on the floor you can take it with you and do it at your desk, while sitting at the piano, driving in your car, eating dinner etc. Just commit to observing without judgement and see what you find out.
Enjoy and let me know what you discover!
*special thanks to my 3 year old who was remarkably compliant when I asked her to lie on the floor and let me take some pictures!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Yoga Basics: Getting Started
It is pretty easy to get started with your yoga study. You'll need some basic materials, clothes that are comfortable and allow movement and an understanding of the different kinds of yoga that are out there.
Mats, Blocks, Straps, Blankets
While most studios will offer yoga mats and supplies, I recommend owning your own. Part of singing successfully means staying healthy and sharing germs on a community yoga mat won't help you on that front!. Plus, once you have a mat and some accessories that you own, you can practice at home whenever you want.
Mats can be purchased at your local sporting goods store, places like TJMaxx and Marshalls or ordered online. One affordable online option is Yoga Accessories. There are also other online options like Amazon or Gaiam. For the purposes of showing you examples of what you'll need, I'm going to link to Yoga Accessories, but I encourage you to shop around to find the right materials and prices for you. A standard yoga mat is 1/8 inch thick, but you can also 1/4 inch thick if you want more padding under you. You can also buy eco-friendly mats. New mats can sometimes be slippery, but washing it in a bathtub with a gentle soap helps it to become stickier.
It is likely you will want some props to help with your yoga study. Almost everyone will benefit from having a yoga strap that can facilitate poses that involve hamstring stretches or opening the shoulders. A pair of foam blocks can also help you if you are in need of a lift in a pose where your hands are supposed to touch the ground, but they don't quite get there, or your knees could use support in a seated pose.
Other props include things like a blanket to give you either a helpful lift in seated poses or rolled up into a bolster for gentle back bends. Honestly, though you could use a good sized towel or a blanket from your bed. If sitting in a chair or directly on the floor for meditation for you doesn't work, a meditation pillow can make things more comfortable. If you are doing hot yoga you'll want a towel or use a bath towel!
One final note on props: if you are a singer who travels but wants to keep up your practice, you can purchase a pair of yoga socks with grippers to do yoga in your hotel room because your yoga mat isn't likely to fit in your travel bag. With a smart phone you can access an app like Mindbody or use YogaFinder.com to find yoga classes.
Dressed for success
I am not a yogi who believes you need to spend $100 on a pair of pants and $80 on a top from a name brand store to do yoga. You will want to dress appropriately, but yoga is not about having a perfect body fit into perfect clothes. Clothes that move with you and cover you appropriately are just fine. You may want to invest in a shirt that is close fitting so when you are in a pose that inverts your body your shirt doesn't fall over your head. If you are doing hot yoga you aren't going to want to wear a pair of sweatpants that will make you overheat.
Types of Yoga
If you look around for a yoga class or a DVD you'll quickly find that there are a lot of different styles of yoga: iyengar, hatha, power, ashtanga, svaroopa, viniyoga, bikram, yin, parayoga, to name just a few. Yoga Journal offers a good article with an overview of the different styles.
To take a class at a yoga studio it would be a good idea to read any descriptions of classes and if no descriptions are available, call to ask some questions. You'll want to know if the teacher's background is in a specific style or a blend of styles, if the class is heated, if poses are held for a long time or if you'll move rapidly from one pose to another. Sometimes teachers indicate levels in their classes and sometimes classes are open to all levels. Don't exclude a class if it sounds interesting but isn't labeled for beginners, just use your common sense about your own fitness level and tell the teacher you are new.
For a DVD read the summary and any customer reviews. As a part of the mindful singer we'll be releasing short videos to teach you how to get into the basic poses of yoga and later we'll have videos of classes you can buy and download. Stay tuned!
Hopefully you are feeling empowered to begin your yoga practice. Please let me know if you have any questions about getting started!
Mats, Blocks, Straps, Blankets
While most studios will offer yoga mats and supplies, I recommend owning your own. Part of singing successfully means staying healthy and sharing germs on a community yoga mat won't help you on that front!. Plus, once you have a mat and some accessories that you own, you can practice at home whenever you want.
Mats can be purchased at your local sporting goods store, places like TJMaxx and Marshalls or ordered online. One affordable online option is Yoga Accessories. There are also other online options like Amazon or Gaiam. For the purposes of showing you examples of what you'll need, I'm going to link to Yoga Accessories, but I encourage you to shop around to find the right materials and prices for you. A standard yoga mat is 1/8 inch thick, but you can also 1/4 inch thick if you want more padding under you. You can also buy eco-friendly mats. New mats can sometimes be slippery, but washing it in a bathtub with a gentle soap helps it to become stickier.
It is likely you will want some props to help with your yoga study. Almost everyone will benefit from having a yoga strap that can facilitate poses that involve hamstring stretches or opening the shoulders. A pair of foam blocks can also help you if you are in need of a lift in a pose where your hands are supposed to touch the ground, but they don't quite get there, or your knees could use support in a seated pose.
Other props include things like a blanket to give you either a helpful lift in seated poses or rolled up into a bolster for gentle back bends. Honestly, though you could use a good sized towel or a blanket from your bed. If sitting in a chair or directly on the floor for meditation for you doesn't work, a meditation pillow can make things more comfortable. If you are doing hot yoga you'll want a towel or use a bath towel!
One final note on props: if you are a singer who travels but wants to keep up your practice, you can purchase a pair of yoga socks with grippers to do yoga in your hotel room because your yoga mat isn't likely to fit in your travel bag. With a smart phone you can access an app like Mindbody or use YogaFinder.com to find yoga classes.
Dressed for success
I am not a yogi who believes you need to spend $100 on a pair of pants and $80 on a top from a name brand store to do yoga. You will want to dress appropriately, but yoga is not about having a perfect body fit into perfect clothes. Clothes that move with you and cover you appropriately are just fine. You may want to invest in a shirt that is close fitting so when you are in a pose that inverts your body your shirt doesn't fall over your head. If you are doing hot yoga you aren't going to want to wear a pair of sweatpants that will make you overheat.
Types of Yoga
If you look around for a yoga class or a DVD you'll quickly find that there are a lot of different styles of yoga: iyengar, hatha, power, ashtanga, svaroopa, viniyoga, bikram, yin, parayoga, to name just a few. Yoga Journal offers a good article with an overview of the different styles.
To take a class at a yoga studio it would be a good idea to read any descriptions of classes and if no descriptions are available, call to ask some questions. You'll want to know if the teacher's background is in a specific style or a blend of styles, if the class is heated, if poses are held for a long time or if you'll move rapidly from one pose to another. Sometimes teachers indicate levels in their classes and sometimes classes are open to all levels. Don't exclude a class if it sounds interesting but isn't labeled for beginners, just use your common sense about your own fitness level and tell the teacher you are new.
For a DVD read the summary and any customer reviews. As a part of the mindful singer we'll be releasing short videos to teach you how to get into the basic poses of yoga and later we'll have videos of classes you can buy and download. Stay tuned!
Hopefully you are feeling empowered to begin your yoga practice. Please let me know if you have any questions about getting started!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)