Yoga for Voice & Voicemoves Yoga
Yoga can directly impact the voice by its effects on body alignment, breathing pattens, unhelpful muscle tension and stress reduction.
Psychological stress often impacts voice production, This is particularly the case if you have become stuck in a maladaptive stress response.
In addition to reducing stress, certain yoga techniques can improve self awareness and focus making it easier to learn vocal techniques.
As a Speech Pathologist and dual trained Yoga instructor, Carmel has 25 years experience supporting voice therapy clients with yoga postures, breathing and other yoga techniques to optimise voice therapy outcomes.
Read her article for Speech Pathologists, published in LPV journal here.
Based on her yoga and other somatic trainings, with ‘practise-based evidence’, Carmel has refined the way she uses certain yoga practises linked with vocal techniques to optimise voice therapy outcomes. Many people are surprised at the powerful shifts that can occur through simple postural changes which impact voice production through the muscular, skeletal and fascial systems. In addition to releasing unhelpful tension, we often need to strengthen and learn how to actively recruit particular muscle groups,
If you already practise yoga, Carmel can assess your yoga practice and suggest modifications and incorporation of vocal exercises, so that your voice therapy and yoga practise support each other.
Yoga can be practised in a way that can be detrimental for voice production for example by developing holding patterns that effect body alignment or breath support. Some techniques e.g. Ujjaiyi breath require modification so as to not increase constriction in the throat.
Carmel may also refer you to a physiotherapist / specialist pilates instructor to extend and refine alignment, strength and functional use of your body and breathing to support your voice.
Carmel works face-to-face and online, and accepts referrals from other Speech Pathologists wanting to support their clients with a yoga-based approach as an adjunct to voice therapy.
The Development of Voicemoves Yoga
As a Yoga teacher, Carmel first developed Vociemoves yoga in 1999 whilst completing her Diploma of Ki- yoga (Japanese meridian based Yoga) strongly influenced by Japanese actor Masahiro Oki. Carmel ran classes for actors and acting students, designed to support and balance the meridians traditionally used to improve voice production. She undertook additional research on the acupuncture points used to treat singers in China and Japan.
Discovering the powerful effects of yoga on her own voice, inspired Carmel to enrol in a masters by research program at the Sydney University ‘National Voice Centre’. She consequently presented at Australian Voice Association and Speech Pathology Australia Conferences and taught workshops for Speech Pathologists.
As she taught more Voicemoves yoga classes and workshops, many participants reported the additional benefits of the voice work on their sense of well-being.
What is VoiceMoves Yoga?
Voicemoves Yoga incorporates vocal technique, movement, breathing and subtle yoga practises with other self regulation practises such as heart coherence, mindfulness & self compassion, to both free the voice and create a sense of inner harmony.
When we explore new ways of producing voice, we create new pathways for expression of our authentic voice. Certain yoga practices align us in subtle ways that make it easier to access new vocal settings. With these yogic techniques the shifts occur ‘from the inside out’. Awareness of how we created these shifts and the accompanying body – mind states can provide a rich resource that can be integrated to achieve lasting change.
Voicemoves Yoga processes can help release habitual contraction patterns and move us into the ‘flow-state’ of embodied expanded awareness.
Voicemoves Yoga has two aims:
Firstly, to free, develop, and empower the voice.
Secondly, to teach an array of yoga, and self-regulation tools together with vocal and subtle yoga techniques that can shine light on and help transform habitual patterns of contraction into aligned presence and expression.
What happens in Voicemoves Yoga sessions?
Voicemoves Yoga sessions, workshops and courses can be tailored to your vocal and life goals. Elements include:
- Learning yoga techniques that influence the health, strength and vitality of the ‘body-vocal’ instrument.
- Exploring the inter-relationship between physical posture, breathing and the voice.
- Engaging core musculature and energising the body to support an embodied voice.
- Learning to re-posture the ‘vocal tract’ and discover the power of specific vocal techniques to bring more resonance and clarity to the voice and your whole being.
- Aligning the ‘central channel’, releasing tension in the jaw, tongue, face & throat impacting both voice and awareness states.
- Deepening awareness of how shifts in the body/mind effect the body-vocal instrument
- Developing tools to create balance in various fascial lines and ‘energy-centres’ to support voice production.
- Learning acupressure points and meridian stretch techniques, that may impact the voice according to the traditional chinese medicine system (TCM).
Accessing expanded awareness and a sense of ‘inner harmony’ with a range of tools including chakra based (hatha) and meridian based (ki-yoga) perspectives.- Exploring the science behind and the application of generative gratitude, mindfulness, self – compassion and heart coherence.