The Embodied Voice: Part 2

Those amazing vocal cords! I won't go deeply into the anatomy and physiology of the vocal cords -- there is a ton of information available if you just google Vocal Cords.

They are comprised of muscle and tissue and are very small, considering the amazing amount of sound they are capable of creating. Women, in general, have shorter and thinner vocal cords (1.25 cm--1.75 cm) while men have longer and thicker vocal cords (1.75 cm -- 2.5 cm). That accounts for the (generally) deeper, chestier voices of men.

Vocal cords are very affected by hormones. As people age and hormone levels drop, the vocal cords become slightly thicker and the vocal range may diminish in an untrained voice. However, with the right vocal training and care for the vocal cords, one can maintain, and possibly even develop more range (even after those hormonal changes take place in our 50s.) 


Care of the Vocal Cords

1. If you watch the video (link at the bottom of this article) of the actual vocal cords as the person makes sound and breathes, you'll see that they are very moist. Drinking lots of water is especially important. Vocal cords need to be well hydrated for good health and functioning.

2.You will also see, in the illustration above, and in the video below, that the position of the vocal cords is very different for breathing and for speaking or singing. The vocal cords open up wide when we take in a full breath. To speak or sing in a way that is healthy, the vocal cords need to be mostly closed and then they vibrate together to create the sound. That means only a very small amount of air should be coming through with the sound. If we push a lot of air through the vocal cords as we are speaking or singing (as in whispering or singing in a "breathy" style) we will, over time, weaken the vocal cords.

The good news is -- the body knows how to adjust the air flow if we make sounds in a strong and connected way. For example, many of us like to hum along to songs but too often we do it in a quiet, breathy way which is not so good. If we hum or make that MMMMMM sound and we make it a little stronger and more definite, then we are allowing the vocal cords to stay closed and vibrate properly. (In making that MMMMMM sound, make sure the jaw is relaxed even though the mouth is closed. Even with the mouth closed, you can still drop the jaw to some extent.)

Sometimes, with shy people, there is a tendency to speak in a hesitant,  quiet, uncertain, breathy way. Or if we are in a position to have to sing with a group, I know my former favourite trick was to kind of sing "under my breath" so no one would hear me! To take the best possible care of our vocal cords, it is really important for our sound to be connected and definite. So I still recommend (as I did in Part 1 -- the previous blog post) that we learn to breathe deeply into the deepest part of the lungs and then we concentrate on making the sound correctly and allow the body to adjust the breathing to support the sound. When you are using only a small amount of air, you may find that you can hold the note much longer than you previously could.

3. Caffeine and alcohol are very dehydrating to the vocal cords, so be sure to follow those substances with extra water.Or, even better, eliminate them if you can.  Dairy products can create a lot of mucous in the vocal apparatus. If you try vocalizing or singing the day after you have ingested dairy, you may feel quite "phlegmy" and needing to clear your throat a lot. By the way, constantly clearing your throat can also be hard on the vocal cords. Notice when you need to do it. If it is mostly a nervous habit, see if you can just take some deep breaths instead. Or try decreasing (or eliminating) your dairy intake.

4. All general rules of good health -- adequate rest, good diet, hydration, exercise, also help the vocal cords function at their best ability. Whether we love to sing, sound, vocalize, tell stories, offer our voices in sound healing  or we want and need to be able to speak our truth in a definite and strong way, it all starts with healthy vocal cords.

A GRAPHIC View of the Vocal Cords

Sooooo -- Love your voice, Love your vocal cords!!

These are amazing and awesome gifts we have been given.

Barbara

The Embodied Voice: Part 1

This past Saturday I offered The Embodied Voice Workshop and I'm very grateful to the wonderful group of people who showed up on a Saturday morning and so willingly and openly shared their beautiful voices and energy. The healing power and and the beauty of our final "sounding from the heart" still rings in my memory and vibrates through my body. Wow!




An Embodied Voice Begins with Good Spinal Alignment

We began our embodied voice work by settling into our bodies and becoming more conscious of our posture. One danger in all of the "chair sitting" that many of us have to do, sometimes for prolonged periods, is that we tend to rest against the back of the chair which curves our spine into a "C" shape, as opposed to the beautiful "S" shape that is natural. As a result, not only is the spine then out of its natural alignment, but the front of the body  gets shortened and crunched in -- making for inner organs that are compressed and squeezed.  When that happens, the organs cannot function properly because they have no space to do so. The lungs get compressed and breath cannot flow easily and deeply. And all that leads to a constricted voice that is not supported by breath and cannot move through the body or the Chakras. How ever we find our good spinal alignment (my personal favourite posture tool is Iyengar Yoga, and there are many others like Alexander Technique, Pilates....) I think that an open, aligned posture is the number one essential step in creating a more stable, more embodied voice.

The link below is an interesting and helpful talk on the subject of the spine and proper posture.

TED TALK About Posture.

  

Once the body is allowed to be in its more natural alignment, the breath will likely begin to flow more easily and deeply with little or no conscious effort from us. Being able to breathe deeply into the bottom of the lungs (which will probably feel like we are breathing into the lower belly) is essential for developing a healthy, embodied voice. And it is essential for our good health in general!

In the workshop we began our breathing exercise by simply tuning in and observing the flow of breath in and out of the body. This by itself has a remarkably calming effect on the system. The breath will often become calmer and deeper without us doing anything more than just tuning in and holding it in our awareness.

 Connecting Voice with Heart and Soul

Afterwards, we did bring the breath more directly into our Hearts so that we could speak (and listen) from our Hearts. Then we "invited" the breath to move more deeply, right  into our core or Root Chakra (the pelvic floor) so that we could reflect and speak from an even more "embodied" place. This is a wonderful and very simple way of getting more connected with what wants to be spoken (or sung or sounded) from the depths of the Heart and Soul.

The Importance of "Inviting" the Breath

It is really important to have the attitude of "inviting" the breath, as opposed to pushing or forcing. Only bring the breath as deeply as it is ready to comfortably go. If our breathing has been generally shallow or mainly from the upper chest, we want to allow deeper breathing to happen slowly, in its own way and in its own time. Shallow breathing and tightness in the ribcage might be the result of old emotional issues or trauma. Any resistance to opening up and moving freely needs to be treated with patience and kindness and respect.

 Often, people are drawn to this type of vocal work because they are experiencing some kind of issue or constriction in their voices and/or in their bodies. Constrictions or restricted breathing patterns don't happen for no reason. They frequently are some kind of defense mechanisms that the person needed at some point as protection against abuse or criticism or trauma or physical injury.

So....GOOD POSTURE, CONSCIOUS BREATHING AND A LARGE MEASURE OF PATIENCE AND KINDNESS TOWARDS OURSELVES .... and we're on our way to developing a more stable, embodied voice.

In The Embodied Voice: Part 2,  (coming soon!) I'm going to offer some explanation and detail about the Vocal Cords and using sounds and vocalizing to develop them.

Until then, take good care of yourselves and -- Love Your Voice!

Barbara