Connecting Mind, Body, and Voice

Just as a guitar can’t play music without its fretboard aligned, its strings tuned, and its player in focus, our voice practice too requires a symbiotic relationship between all the parts that make it come to life. Today I wanted to share with you 3 exercises you can practice to strengthen your relationship with your voice and help it develop more fluently.

Connecting With The Body 

Box breathing — This is a simple technique which has been shown to reduce anxiety and help you connect to the present moment. Breathing exercises of this type work by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which signals safety to the brain from its most primal root. Here is how it works! 

Step 1: Breathe in for four seconds

Step 2: Hold for four seconds

Step 2: Breathe out for four seconds

Step 4: Hold for four seconds

To help you focus on the breath, you may visualise drawing each of the sides of a square on the sand with each step.

Connecting With The Mind 

The Choose Again Method — This simple reflective exercise, created by coach and author Gabrielle Bernstein, helps us reframe the mind when we’re experiencing self-sabotage rooted in negative self–talk or fear.

1. Notice the thought, label the feeling — Ask yourself “what are you feeling in this moment?” Using the second person helps create space in the mind and more clarity; ask this question like dropping a pebble on a pond, and simply observe what comes up. Example: I feel scared to use my affirmed voice at work because I sound ridiculous and my coworkers are going to judge me.

2. Forgive the thought —  Gently guide yourself towards softening up with your breath:
   "Breathing in, I see my thoughts,
   Breathing out, I smile at them.
   Breathing in, I see they don't define me
   Breathing out, I let them go."

3. Choose again — Find in yourself a more supportive reframing of your thoughts. You may start simple, with an objective, non-judgemental rewording of the negative thought. Example: I feel scared to use my affirmed voice because it doesn’t yet match my vision, and I don’t know how my coworkers will react to it. Using my affirmed voice at work is an opportunity to learn more about it, and get closer to my vision. I can do this, just as I have faced all other fears in my journey. My voice deserves to be heard.

Connecting With The Voice

Humming — This is an amazing vocal warmup. When you hum up and down in pitch, you stretch and release your vocal cords. Go higher in pitch, and your vocal cords stretch longer; go lower in pitch, and they contract back to their resting position. 

Step 1: Gently close the lips and relax your jaw

Step 2: Inhale through the nose and exhale on a hum

Step 3: Play around with humming at higher and lower pitches

Tip: As you're humming, try to focus on which area of the face you feel the buzz in.

Here’s a video of voice coach Elissa demonstrating a simple humming exercise.

Thanks for reading! If your’e interested in building your mind-body-voice connection, you can sign up for a free consultation by clicking here.

All the best,

Jordan Ross