Intro for Emerging

I dedicate this book to all the women who have never had the opportunity to find their voice.

To all the women who are covered up, their mouths hidden behind a curtain of fabric.
To all the women who walk with their heads down, and whose heads may never rise.
To all the women who smile and walk forward, but leave their voices behind.
To all the women who spoke up—who had a voice—but paid the price for it.

To all the amazing singers that continue to step onto the stage and do it in spite of the inner voices that attempt to cripple them and try to stop them from shining.

I write this for all of them, in honour of them, and as a way to shine outward what I have held so tightly inward.
What I have had the privilege to uncover and awaken in myself over these years.

Inside, you will read about women from my little corner of the world and the brave, courageous journeys they have taken to cultivate their voices.

These women who summoned the courage to walk into my studio and open their mouths for the first time—shaking with terror, convinced I would tell them to leave, that they should never sing again.

And yet, in all my years of teaching, I have never turned anyone away. I have never said those words: "You should not sing."

I’ve heard stories like: “I’ve had your card for a decade, and I’ve been too afraid to call.”
Or: “I didn’t think I had it. I didn’t know where it went, or if it was ever there. But I had to try one last time.”
And for singers who, like me, were out in the world—injured from pushing their voices, shouting their way into a man’s world only to not be heard.
And when the shouting stopped, they called me—to begin the journey of softening and embracing their inner world where the true voice lives and is calling us to come home in order to express and share their voice with this part intact.

You will find detailed explanations of the infrastructure that supports the voice: the tongue, the throat, the mouth, the ears, the diaphragm, ribcage, solar plexus etc.
It is indeed the whole body that sings.

You will learn how to claim and awaken each vital part of you—so each part can have its voice, its say inside of your everyday expression, your vitality, and your life as well as how these parts participate in your whole singing voice.

You will discover the power of stillness, and the balancing act that must occur within us so that our beautiful voices can balance too—between dark and light, yin and yang, chest and head voice.

Singing and the art of singing is an evolutionary process—of waking up, of coming out of a man-made, fabricated world with hard edges and tight rules and into a soft feminine one, balanced with the light of the masculine who is in service to the feminine realizing and claiming her true essence.

It is a journey of realizing your true nature through singing.

To all the women I’ve had the great privilege of helping, of nurturing your voices into existence—
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for trusting me with this most precious part of you.

I have been so moved by your stories, and by your incredible light and energy—the very stuffing inside us all. You had the courage to go after it and to know it intimately once and for all.

To you, the reader:
I hope you’ll allow the old guard within you to crumble, so that your beautiful light can shine through your voice and out into the world. So we can add one more voice to the rising chorus of women finally being heard and seen, not just seen, but heard.

And for the women who have lived a double life—pretending not to be powerful, pretending not to know, holding inside of them the secret of how brilliant, vital, and connected they truly are—

It’s time to let go of the secret of your magnificence.
It’s time to emerge.

The Dalai Lama was quoted in saying that ‘the women of the west will heal the world.’ I believe he’s right simply because of the privilege that we hold here in the west.

We need each and every one of us to unfurl, to uncurl, to unfold and to uncover this power and this light within that is built for this era, this time. But this process takes time. I have taken this time and can shine a light a little bit at a time into a future that doesn’t leave behind any part of you in order to expedite your journey into the emergence of you.

I hope that each of these stories touches you and that you’ll use them throughout your week.
I hope that you’ll find the title you need, read it, and feel the courage to open your voice and your life to the power and light of who you truly are.

If you are a singer this book is for you. If you want to live a more authentic life, this book is also for you. If you are buried under a past that you can’t shake this book is most definitely for you.

This book is not meant to be read front to back—beyond this intro.
It is meant to be picked up when needed to offer solace, comfort, and inspiration as you walk this path of opening to your light, your wildness and your innocence.

It’s time to emerge.