What is Vocal health?
The question might actually be simply, what is Health. Our voice is the vehicle to our thoughts, the paint brush of our emotion and our money maker at the end of the day for most of you reading this. This hard working instrument is IN us. Take a minute to think about that. Everything affects our voice. What we eat, how we breathe, how much exercise we do…or don’t do, how much water we drink… you get the point. The good news is, living a healthy lifestyle really checks all of those boxes for the most part. So here’s the “what” and “why” to keeping your voice healthy.
Nutrition and Hydration
Clearly hydrating is a pillar to keeping your vocal cords from drying out. But water itself doesn’t pass by your chords it goes down the other tube. Drinking water during your performance isn’t actually helping your voice in that instance. It’s how you hydrate before that matters. It takes 20 minutes for hydration to kick in. So keep that water bottle handy and take small sips throughout the day is ideal. Nutrition is just as important. A balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals is key in keeping your immune system in check and whole grains and protein will keep your instrument ready to go and energized.
Movement:
Yes, movement for the voice. Why? Because our voice is controlled by our breath, respiratory muscles and our diaphragm. So, how do we train our diaphragm and practice breath retention? Movement! And learning how to control our breath and heart rate while moving or under stress. As we dive into movement for the voice, we will learn how to make a habit of breathing properly, so that when you are “under stress” a low supported breath happens naturally. Exercise in general will help your stamina, so whatever that is for you, walking, yoga, swimming etc.. try to incorporate an intentional, low breath to start. A great way to practice this is “Zone 2 cardio” so any type of cardio that is just below the level of you not being able to carry out a conversation. Usually a power walk or a very slow jog. This type of cardio is great for practicing proper breath work.
Mindset
In all reality, you could be the best performer in the world and never hit the stage because you’re held back by nerves or impostor syndrome. I’ve seen it AND experienced it. This doesn’t just apply to performance. Execution in general is scary and fear of failure is real. That’s when being vulnerable sets in. Before any of my vocal coaching and sometimes even before performances, I take a page from Dr. Brené Browns book, and show my vulnerability. In my opinion, we don’t speak about how amazing it is to fail, and grow from failure enough. How boring would life be if we decided we’re perfect at everything and we had no where else to grow. Stage fright, pressure, being unprepared… it can all lead to stress which affects the breath, that in turn affects the voice, posture and performance. So with the help of movement, breath work and proper nutrition and rest to support us, we can use tools of visualization, meditation and community to help keep our minds clear and confident.
“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage, Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weekness” – Brené Brown.