The Power of Gentleness

One of the most common pitfalls for singers is the belief that they must exert tremendous effort to produce sound.

This pushing and straining can create tension in both the body and the voice, leading to an unnatural singing experience.

The struggle to project is often reflected in the singer's facial expressions, as well as in the quality of their sound.

There’s a significant contrast between the energy of genuine passion and connection visible on a singer’s face, and the strain and effort that comes from pushing too hard.

One comes from a deep emotional connection that is reflected in the singer's expression, while the other, strain and effort, arises from a desire to please, to conceal, or to stand out—these motivations also manifest on the face on in the voice.

How can I connect with and align to my inner world while singing? What does it mean to be gentle with myself, and is this approach powerful or simply a sign of weakness?

The vibrational medicine within us only needs a nudge to get it going so that it trickles open and flows through the spine.

The thought for this weeks voice classes was- The Above Welcomes the Below. What does this mean and why is it important?

Any struggle we experience is reflected in our faces; it’s like we wear our emotions on our sleeves.

This is evident in our eyes, mouths, expressions, and posture.

We carry a significant amount of protection that shields us from revealing our true selves and feelings, which is generally appropriate in life—until it’s time to sing.

In my classes I ask the singers to position their whole selves so that their voice and the energy within it are welcomed and free to express themselves.

This is when I can see struggle appear on the faces that says ‘no, this is not what we do!’

Opening and welcoming ourselves in the way that I am presenting here can be a threat to the status quo of protection and defensiveness that the voice is identified with so much of the time.

Rumi says, ‘God accepts counterfeit money as if it were real.’ Which I believe means ‘fake it until you make it!’

This Welcoming Face starts at domino effect activating the Vagus nerve which switches on the calming parasympathetic nervous system and starts a gentle trickle of relaxation, present moment awareness and a softening to flow throughout the whole body.

The task of the singer is to burn through the resistance that is in the way of this gentle presence and to find an openness that welcomes what is happening right now in the body, the mind and all of the tender bits and pieces inside.

Welcome the energy that is rising from below and falling down from above. This takes time to be able to first of all become aware of this energy and secondly to learn to tolerate it and allow it to be present in the body.

This gentle power will open you to the sound of your beautiful voice through welcoming the passion, the energy and the love that you are.

Our voice reflects this alignment.

Or, our voice reflects whatever we are aligning to in the moment.

None of this is wrong.

Only reflects where we are.

The key is to simply notice these feelings, which can lead us into the delightful process of becoming aware of the sounds, sights, smells, and sensations of our current surroundings.

Our face serves as another way to access this moment, allowing us to open up and welcome ourselves in.

The power of this gentleness is our inner most stacking doll and is the stuffing for all the other dolls.