Mindfulness: Voice Tension Release Exercises

How can you use mindfulness exercises to release tension from your voice? It may be a new way of dealing with vocal tension for you but research tells us that it actually works. So stay open-minded and keep on reading. 

I truly believe that if you are experiencing vocal tension and you are not considering your thoughts and emotions as a factor that causes some of that tension, then you are not seeing the whole picture. For some people, their emotions are the biggest factor affecting their tension. For others, it may be a small part. But for most people, our mindset affects the way we perceive our voice and vocal issues.

Emotions and Voice

Do you believe that our emotions affect our voice? Yes or no? 

Just consider this. I want you to think back to a difficult conversation that you had in the past. Maybe a conversation that you did not want to have or a conversation on a topic that you were trying to avoid. I bet that your emotional state at that moment was affecting your voice. 

Another example of our emotions affecting our voice is performance anxiety or fear of public speaking. Your mind is affecting your body and voice and in those moments, it feels like your voice stops working or is out of control. Your throat muscles feel tight, it’s like you have no control over your voice. We all have experienced something similar so I am sure you know what I am talking about.

Research on Meditation and Voice

Finally, there is research that tells us that meditation or mindfulness exercises in combination with gentle vocal exercises actually leads to more healing of the tissue of the vocal folds than vocal exercises alone. Isn’t that interesting?

There was a study done that compared three groups of people:

• a group of people who just rested their voice,
• a group of people who did vocal exercises, and
• a group of people who did vocal exercises and 15 minutes of meditation or mindfulness exercises.

All three groups of people went through a series of high demanding vocal tasks that put a lot of pressure on their vocal folds. The study was measuring changes in the tissue of the vocal folds and it found that the group of people who combined the vocal exercises with mindfulness or meditation exercises significantly outperformed the other two groups. Their tissue healed the most in a short period of time. And all it took was 15 minutes of sitting and breathing in a quiet space.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is becoming a popular term these days. It simply means to be present in the moment and pay attention to our thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment with openness and curiosity.

In today’s world we often worry about what is to come or what we should have done in the past. And I believe that this type of thinking is ever so present in people with vocal issues. 

And as you can imagine worrying about the future and regretting the past will only add to the cycle of tension. These types of thoughts will translate into emotions that have physical signs such as tension, throat constriction, changed breathing patterns or upset stomach. 

If you are experiencing voice tension or even pain when speaking, and you are ready to work towards a free, strong and confident voice, you can apply to our Vocal Freedom System coaching program. Click this link to find out more.

Mindfulness Exercise

Let's do a short mindfulness exercise. I call it Breathing 478. It’s a simple breathing exercise during which we focus on breath.

You can make this exercise your own; you can make it longer or shorter. You can change the numbers or focus on something completely different. I am going to show you a simple 2 minute breathing exercise during which we inhale for the count of 4, hold breath for the count of 7 and exhale for the count of 8. It helps me when I focus on my breath to keep me in the present moment.

There are a lot of breathing apps for this purpose. I am using an app called Relax: Meditation and Breathing but you can use any other breathing app available in your country. Watch the video below for demonstration. 

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_QCgNOQzhA