Voice Training

This morning I essentially had private acting coaching or voice training as I am getting ready to perform my first spoken word piece for the Kripalu community next week at our holiday party and talent show. What I learned is how much my voice has come from higher places in my body, such as chest and shoulders and that makes my voice higher pitched and more nasal. However, when I breathe and release words on the exhale, they come from the rooted place of belly and pelvis. I also worked on isolating quality of voice eliminating facial expression and bodily ticks such as turning my head and moving neck and shoulders.

For the longest time I have not loved the quality of my voice and for the first time I wonder if I have heard my authentic voice and wonder if my natural voice was a performance or a mask of some sort. I'm beginning to make connections about developments and how certain aspects of my life have woven their way into my body producing habits, masks, patterns, and expressions.

Often times I feel like there is something locked inside me. I'm not sure who or what that is and why it is locked or what it will take to unlock it, but there was a sense of release and discovery this morning. My favorite exercise was holding weights in my hands, balancing a basket of books on my belly and squeezing an exercise ball with my legs as I spoke my poem. The voice is a muscle, one that I am looking forward to flexing much more.