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!

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!

           

Breathing 101

When is that last time you took a really deep breath? As singers we tend to be more aware of breathing than the average person, but so many singers who have come into my studio in the last decade have needed to cultivate a deeper awareness and understanding of their breathing to ensure it is really working to enhance their singing voice and not working against them.

Pranayama is the Sanskrit word for extension of the breath, or prana. Prana (breath) is the life force, or vital energy. At its best, the breath will help quiet a busy mind, revitalize a tired body and soothe a languishing spirit, not to mention what it does for the singing voice. If you have a breathing pattern that isn't leading you down this path, it definitely isn't helping your singing in any way.

There are several problematic breathing patterns that I see regularly in my studio: reverse breathing, clavicular breathing, over breathing and breath holding.

Reverse Breathing: in this state, the belly area moves in on inhale and the rib cage expands. The belly then moves out on exhale. I see this often in newer and younger singers. Though we are born belly breathers, we don't often stay that way for long. When the belly isn't soft enough to expand on inhale, your diaphragm isn't allowed to descend and your lungs aren't being optimally accessed.

Clavicular Breathing: in this state, the lower ribs aren't flaring out when you inhale. Instead, your breath is high and shallow. Clavicular breathing contributes the stress response which is fine when you are running out of a burning building and want adrenaline coursing through your body to keep you alert, but it is not what you want when you are performing. With this type of breath you aren't accessing the lowest lobes of the lungs which are a key part of triggering the relaxation response.

Over Inhaling: in this state, your inhale is longer than your exhale. This is common in singers who suffer from asthma, something that in my studio has been on the rise over the years. You can tell if you are over inhaling simply by counting the length of your inhale and the length of your exhale.

Breath Holding: in this state, you take air in, but you hold it before engaging in exhalation. What should be a split second transition between the muscles of inhalation and exhalation gets extended and the breath isn't optimally used and therefore your sound isn't optimal either. As a young singer, I had this pattern until a movement teacher at the Chautauqua Summer Voice Program pointed it out to me. It was a revelatory discovery for me to go for a run and notice that she was completely correct. I took breath in, but didn't let it out. It took work, but I was able to change my pattern in time.

See what you notice about your own breathing over the course of the day. Do any of these patterns sound like something you are doing? Our next breathing 101 post will give you some pranayama exercises to work with your breath and keep it as free as possible.

Going to the Source: Using Yoga to Calm Performance Anxiety

In part one of this series we learned about the origins of performance anxiety and what the yogic perspective is on that state of mind. We now know the roll the brain plays in putting us into the fight or flight stress mode and how if we stay there too long we will wire our brains to worry. In this post we'll look at specific yogic practices and how, when in engaged in on a regular basis, they can help alleviate nerves felt around performing.

Yoga teaches us to practice awareness of our body, our breath and our mind. When we become mindful of these elements in our yoga practice, we can be mindful off the mat as well and apply them to our practice and performance. I define mindfulness as the act of  maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations. It also involves acceptance, meaning we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future. Yoga also encourages us to connect; with ourselves, our audience and our fellow performers. If you are a spiritual person you can also work to build a connection to God or the greater Universe. Remember that we all fundamentally want the same things in life and very likely we are more alike than we are different. It can also be useful to remind yourself that people attend concerts to see you succeed, no one goes to watch you fail!

The first step in dealing with performance anxiety is becoming aware of it. Perhaps you've known for a while that you get nervous when you have to perform but you've never sat down and really looked at when those nerves hit or where you feel them in your body when they are happening. If you have a performance coming up commit to being mindful in that experience. Just observe yourself without judgement. Try saying to yourself 'how interesting I'm _____' (fill in the blank with whatever you notice yourself doing or feeling around that event). (N.B. This is a practice you can use anywhere - in teaching, working etc. I use it frequently when I get frustrated with my children as a way of becoming more mindful of what sets me off and how I can spend less time annoyed with them!)

This is a step that may come easily to you or it may take you a while. I believe we can not effect change until we fully understand the behavior we are engaging in. Become friends with yourself and really delve into what is going on. You may find it helpful to document the feelings in writing and keep a journal.

Assuming you master this phase and you know what is going on and what triggers you have, you can engage in breathing, meditation and physical practices to help modify your stress reaction. 

Breathing: It might seem sort of strange to tell a singer they need to pay attention to their breath as it is easy to presume you already know more about the breath than the average person, but I would challenge that there is still more everyone can learn and the way yoga encourages you to look at your breathing is very different than how a voice teacher might teach breathing. Often there is an emphasis in singing lessons on inhaling, or the intake, of breath. How we exhale is equally as important!
           

            Breath Awareness/Ratio: Lie on your back in constructive rest (knees bent, feet flat on the floor). Rest your hands half on your belly and half on your ribcage. Allow your eyes to fall closed. Breathe through your nose and notice the motion in your belly and ribcage as you inhale and exhale. After a few rounds, begin to count the length of your inhale. Keep your pace of counting consistent. After a few rounds, count the length of your exhale, again keeping the pace o f your count consistent. What is your ratio? Are your inhale and exhale equal or is one longer than the other. What we want to avoid (both in life and in singing) is an inhale that is longer than the exhale. To promote relaxation, we want an exhale that is longer than the inhale. You can also add a sigh to the exhale as a way of promoting relaxation.

            Complete Yoga Breath –Dirgha Breath

The complete yoga breath is a foundational breath practice. Mastering it means you have developed an awareness and freedom of your breathing which will enable other breath practices and also your singing! Begin by practicing it on your back and then try it in a sitting position. Lie on your back in constructive rest, or, if you’ve mastered the breath lying down, sit in a comfortable cross-legged position (sukasana). 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. Then, 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. The third 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. Be sure not to confuse this with the optimal breath for singing – this 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.

Asana Practice: 

Specific poses are also beneficial for reducing anxiety. While regular asana practice will help you long term, you can also identify what your energy levels are like the day of a performance and tailor your practice. If you are low energy, you can do a practice that will raise your energy to help you. If you have a lot of nervous energy and practice that burns some of that off to help you focus will be beneficial. When you engage in your asana practice, try to use the complete yoga breath as your guide. When your breathing strays from being easily full, you are working too hard in a pose and should back off.

Poses that help alleviate anxiety by helping to calm the mind and open the heart center include:

Standing Forward Bend

Cat/Cow

Puppy Stretch

Triangle

Bridge

Head to Knee Pose

Staff Pose

Seated Forward Bend

Easy Pose

Meditation: Meditation is another useful tool for singers to alleviate anxiety. By training the mind to be present, we can be more open to our performances. To sing our truth we need to be sure that our hearts and our heads are in agreement. This meditation is meant to unite the two so you have a calm mind, connected breath and can sing from your heart. Meditation can cause emotions to arise, so don’t try to hold things back, just let go and experience whatever comes your way. This meditation is a great place to start to begin to build an awareness of how busy your mind can be.

Counting Meditation –

Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position, or sit in a chair with your feet flat on the ground. Allow your eyes to fall closed so your attention turns inward. Take a few breaths to settle in. Begin counting silently in your head:
1 on inhale. 1 on exhale

2 on inhale. 2 on exhale

3 on inhale. 3 on exhale….continue up to 10

*When you are counting, your thinking mind is apt to engage. When you notice that you are thinking, start back at 1 on inhale and go again towards 10.

* If you make it to 10, start back at 1 and go through the steps again.

*Remember that the goal isn’t to get to 10, the goal is to become aware of your thoughts.

* If you become comfortable with this meditation, you can move away from counting and instead choose a phrase, a mantra to repeat silently on inhale and exhale - perhaps you need more focus, or patience or persistance. Use whatever word or set of words speaks to you.

Begin with a short, 5 minute practice and add minutes on as you feel ready. Setting a timer can be very helpful and can keep you from watching the clock when you are supposed to be meditating!

Visualization Meditation –

Nearly every performer gets nervous before going on stage. As performers we want to turn this nervous energy into positive energy that propels our performance to be even better. One way to do this is to practice visualization. In yogic thought, anxiety stems from a sense of being disconnected and having a limited vision of ourselves. If you create a ‘me vs. them’ situation with your audience, you are disconnected from them. But, if you can believe that you are all a part of the same world, want the same things and they are there to receive the gifts you offer through your singing, you build a sense of connection.

If you have a concert coming up, I recommend starting two weeks before the date of performance (if you are someone with a very high level of anxiety, add more time, perhaps start four weeks in advance). Set aside time every day to visualize going through the concert flawlessly.

Find a comfortable seated position – can be in a chair, on the floor or the couch.

Orient your mind towards your performance and take 3 breaths to center yourself.

Envision yourself backstage where you will perform – be specific about what you will wear, who is there with you etc.

Imagine yourself walking on stage to stand wherever you will begin your performance. You fill the room with your presence, knowing the audience has come to see you succeed. Through your singing, you will connect with them, sharing your artistry.

Imagine yourself taking whatever position you will take and bowing your head to prepare to perform. Pick your head up and imagine yourself singing through your program flawlessly.

This has ended up being a long post, but I hope you've made it this far!

Once you try some of these practices on the mat, there are some off the mat exercises you can do too.

1. Think of three times during your day that you can be mindful. When you reach those moments in your day, stop and observe your thoughts and what you are feeling.

2. When you listen to someone else perform, think first of three things you liked about their performance.

3. When you practice, focus on only one element at a time - rhythm, text, sound quality etc.

4. Try re-framing an experience you perceive as negative to cast it in a positive light.

5. Build time into your day to do nothing - turn the tv off, put away your smart phone and just sit in silence.

Good luck! If you would like to have some help talking through the elements of performance that cause you anxiety and develop a strategy for how to shift your anxiety into positive energy to propel your performance, please contact me.

 

Going to the Source: Origins of Performance Anxiety

Recently I talked with a singer who told me she'd been to an audition and in her words, "bombed it". She said she'd disconnected from her breath, forgotten the words and generally felt awful. She chalked it up to not having done an audition in a long time.

I'm sure that was a part of it. There is an art to auditioning, as any singer will tell you. However, as our conversation continued, she went on to tell me how, at the end of the month, she would lose the administrative job that has been the bread and butter of her existence for many years. She runs a music program for children in the mornings and then goes to her desk job in the afternoon and sings in a prominent chorus as well as doing her own solo work on top of it all. Time to practice, she indicated, was hard to come by. The more we talked, the more I began to wonder if it was really the length of time between auditions that caused her anxiety and subsequent poor performance.

In our bodies, anxiety is created in the amygdala, a part of the brain where primal emotions are generated. When triggered it bypasses the rational part of our brain and sets off a physical reaction. Unfortunately, anxiety is also addictive in the sense that the more you worry, the more you wire your brain to worry. Your mind, therefore, will either be your biggest ally or your biggest enemy.

Anxiety can strike before, during or even after a performance (or it can happen all three times). Your brain's ability to bypass the rational part of itself means you are left with a racing heart, shallow breathing, shaking body, nausea, dry mouth, tense shoulders and jaw and sweaty palms. Mentally there are repercussions too. You might have trouble sleeping, feel depressed, avoid practicing, snap at people around you because you are moody, forget the words, be confused on stage, worry, wrongly assess your performance or assume everyone there is waiting to see you fail. Once you start down the path of anxiety it can be hard to short circuit and instead it can snowball, pulling you into a vicious cycle. Some of you have probably experienced that on stage where you get anxious before going on, get out there and feel your knees knocking together, you can't ever connect to your breath and then before you know it you forget the words and lose your place in the music. Ugh. No one should have to experience that more than once!

Understanding where your anxiety comes from can be tricky. You might be naturally shy or anxious, be afraid of the audience critiquing your performance negatively or had a specific experience in your past that triggered your anxiety. Perhaps you are singing music that is a bit beyond your current capacity, or you haven't practiced enough or performed enough to feel comfortable. Maybe you just haven't been taking good care of your self or are your own worst critic, seeing only the negative aspects of your performance. It could be that there is a stressful event in the rest of your life that you haven't dealt with and that emotion is being represented as anxiety in your singing. Maybe you are not yet mindful of your anxiety to even know what triggers it for you.

In yogic thought, anxiety stems from a sense of disconnection from a larger Universe due to our limited notion of who we really are. In other words, we forget that we are all a part of something greater than ourselves, that we are more than our physical form. Instead we create 'us against them' situations and wrap ourselves up in our identities of being singers, parents, workers or any other hat you wear in your life, believing those identities to be who we are.  When we engage in those behaviors we disconnect from ourselves, our audience, (or conductor, band mates, pianists etc.) forget that we are all connected and box ourselves into specific identities. What anxiety universally tells us is that there is room for us to grow. If we befriend our anxiety we can see it as an opportunity to learn so as to make different, mindful choices in the future.

The time we spend on the mat in yoga helps us off the mat in these every day situations that arise. In yoga we get to know ourselves through the lens of compassion by being present. Present to our breath. Present to our bodies and what they can do for us. Present to the thoughts in our minds. If we pay attention through non-judgmental observation we begin to gain insight into our patterns. After our awareness is raised and we understand how we tend to act, we have an opportunity to make different choices at any given time because we are living in the present moment.

Let's go back to the singer I mentioned in the beginning of this post. Her story told me several things: She hadn't auditioned in a long time. She was facing a major life change by leaving a job she'd been at for a while which brought with it a need to find new patterns in her daily life and a big financial shift as well. Her life, in general, is a constant balance of juggling multiple sources of income, the demands of finding practice time, performing and fitting it all in around her personal life. Knowing what we do about where anxiety can come from, it becomes easier to see how her identification with her job, its end and the emotions surrounding that along with the constant stress of balancing her busy life on top of whatever other history she has with anxiety about auditioning/performing, how she typically assess her own performances and whether she is aware of any that, all contribute to her sense of anxiety. All of those things shunt her brain in the direction of anxiety, rather than staying open to connecting with the larger Universe and the people around her.

Her situation may sound familiar to you, or you could replace a few parts of her story with your own and see how this could be you. In Part II of Going to the Source, we'll look at specific yogic based practices that when engaged in on a regular basis help quiet the mind, connect to the breath and turn performance anxiety into energy that can propel you to achieve your performance potential. Stay tuned!

Survey Results

First of all, thank you, thank you to all who replied to the survey. 95 of you took time to share your thoughts and experiences on yoga and singing. The survey traveled from around the US to China, Germany, England and Canada which is really thrilling!

A few statistics:
73% of you who responded are female.
40% of you are between 18 and 29.
76% of you are soloists and 70% are choral singers as well.
35% of you are singing at the professional level.

The type of singing you do ranges from being in a band, to professional opera singers, to indie rock songwriters and folk music performers as well as musical theater and church choir singers. This made me really happy to read as yoga works for singers of all kinds!

45% of you have gone to yoga at one time or another and 20% have never tried it.

I asked you if you thought yoga was a lifestyle, a spiritual practice, a physical practice, a mental practice, a breathing practice, or chanting (and you could pick multiple answers). The top answers were a physical practice (95%) and a breathing practice (92%). In truth, yoga has 8 limbs to it and it is all of the things I asked about, but one can implement as many as they want. Most people find, however, that what begins as a physical practice quickly turns into more and for some it goes as far as becoming a spiritual practice, though that isn't necessary to reap the rewards of yoga.

It was a relief to read that all but 4 of you know that yoga is for every body, not just those who are flexible!

60% of you would prefer to go to a yoga class and 86% of you would go to one specifically for singers.

90% of you say your physical state influences your singing a lot and 86% of you say your mental state influences your singing a lot. 77% of you exercise regularly.

The bad news is 66% of you find it stressful to juggle your singing with the rest of your life at time. Almost universally it is an issue of balance between a job that pays the bills and having time to pursue your passion - particularly, practicing. Additionally, those of you with children indicated that meeting their needs and having energy left for your own creativity is a huge challenge.

Yoga doesn't make any of those things go away, but it can help you find an ability to ride the ups and downs and meet things with a level of equanimity. One of the things that can be hardest as a creative person is finding a way to stay creative when life around you is busy and noisy. The ability to develop a mind that can be quiet gives space for your creativity to breathe and grow.

On the topic of performing 77% of you say you don't always sound as good when you perform as you do when you practice. 90% of you indicated you experience performance anxiety at some level when you perform. Your responses to symptoms were similar: physically shaking; shallow, disconnected breath; dry mouth; upset stomach; rapid heart rate; sweaty and moody. 52% of you use visualization to cope with performance anxiety.

In answer to my question about what you need beyond voice lessons to be the best singer you can be, your answers were predominated by: confidence, practice, frequent performances and a healthy lifestyle from the standpoint of the food you put in your body and the relationships you maintain.

All of this information has got my mind bubbling with possibilities for The Mindful Singer from classes to workshops to online options. Our first stop is a local workshop on using yoga to manage performance anxiety, turning that negative energy into positive, powerful energy on stage.

Thank you all again, for your responses, I hope you will continue to talk with me on line and in person as this venture grows!

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!