The Spotlight

We are all beams of light and when we look directly at someone we light them up and hold them in a sort of Spotlight that can feel good, or, not so good.

The dominant (confident) person who might be comfortable in shining their light will light up someone who is not so used to being seen in this way and therefore might feel over-exposed, or uncomfortable in ways they may not understand.

One of the major focuses in my voice class is learning about the seven energy centre's of the body called the Chakras. This is particularly important because our entire body is an instrument for our voice, not just our throat.

Activating these chakras through singing makes us more aware of our energy body and it is through this lens that the light body begins to appear brighter or more vibrant to others.  

We long to be seen and heard but there are old injuries within us all that keep us from connecting to others and being seen in the right light. 

In classes there is an opportunity to develop this being seen and heard through singing and expression.

Of course it's natural to retreat back to our old patterns of hiding and being afraid of being seen and heard, and this is not a problem per se, only our judgements of this pattern of retreat.

Becoming aware of my patterns of hide and seek is a step along the path towards my freedom and expression in my life.

The other way of hiding in plain sight is to push through any discomfort I am feeling and deny my real feelings in my body so I can appear confident.

Again this is not a problem unless I am judging this pattern within me. I can't change what I am not aware of and I can't change what I don't love and embrace.

Those who are a dominant light need to be aware that those who are not so dominant do not enjoy this attention upon them at first. 

Those who do not enjoy this attention are not at all smaller or less aware somehow than the dominant person, only more light sensitive to others attention for various reasons I will attempt to expand upon.

Classes are an opportunity to develop this subtle awareness of the relationships that exist between us through singing.  

Just as the voice reflects the whole inner life of someone through the tone, range and colour of the voice, it also lights up our patterns of how we use our voice or how we hide our voice.

The relationships that are in front of us when we sing in class expose whether we feel safe or not safe. And this safety or lack thereof is experienced in the body as space. We need space to sing and when we don't feel this space the voice sounds small or weak.

The voice reflects the space that exists between two people, and, the space that I feel in my own body.

This is the real stuff of confidence and the ability to share my voice with myself and my audience.

Our gaze is not unlike a flashlight or a spotlight that lights up and exposes us. Singing classes are an opportunity to face this light and stand in it in a relaxed way. This takes the time it takes.

If we are aware of this sensitive dynamic in the relationship between us the space can begin to feel safer and allow for a freedom in the singing voice.

Any spotlight being shone directly upon us lights us up and can expose us too much, especially at first, and we can feel ‘blinded by the light’.  

In classes we can begin to consciously direct this light when we sing or witness someone singing by standing beside them or at an angle so that the spotlight on each other is not over-exposing or flooding them.

Most people that come to my classes have been over-exposed in life in varying degrees through abuse, abandonment, traumas, betrayals and other injuries.

One injury that occurs that I have seen over the years is the injury of inundation and comes with the feeling of being suffocated or smothered by someone.

This hovering helicopter parent creates an over focus on the child which then develops an over-exposure of attention that might have felt unsafe and scary.

Some have been under-exposed through the opposite injury of abandonment, the satellite parent, which felt more like neglect and having distant, unavailable parents.  

This injury creates an under-exposure and not enough focus on the needs of the child.  

And some of us have experienced both over-exposure and under-exposure of attention and focus in our upbringing.

Whichever focus you had growing up created injuries around any attention we may feel we can receive or not receive from others. 

The singing voice reflects this injury of over and under exposure when we sing and are in relationship with one another.

This feels like a lack of confidence or power in how we sing and express ourselves as well as the opposite pattern of over confidence and arrogance.

The singing voice reflects all of these patterns and injuries in our bodies through the felt sense of available space, or, the lack of space within our body. 

It reflects the need for attention, or, the need to get away from having that attention.

As the group becomes more aware of these subtitles of attention through the spotlight of our gaze a stronger container of love can be held that brings vulnerability as well as strength.

This new container creates a whole new paradigm of love and safety with the individual and the group.

And from there the healing powers of sound and light can really do their stuff.