Potent Voice brings together all the various elements of whole-self voice-work that I have been gathering and refining over the last 33 years – the essence of my is fully grounded in the Feldenkrais process, so the name feels right to me…
Voice & PolyVagal Theory
Potent Voice is also central to Inner Voice, my Feldenkrais meditation system.
The benefits to the health of our nervous system that can be generated by:
a) sustaining vocal sounds, and…
b) focussing our attention on the sounds we are sustaining as we are sustaining them…
…while obvious to those of us who love to sing, have now been recognised by many in the therapeutic community, thanks to the pioneering work of Dr Stephen Porges and his ground-breaking PolyVagal Theory of mammalian neurobiology.
If you are not aware of Dr Porges theories, this film is a useful introduction – he details the relevance of extending our exhalation, the importance of attentive listening, and the healing potential of music, from around 23 minutes in, but watching the whole film is recommended if you would like to understand the relevance of these behaviours in context.
Of course those of us who love to sing don’t need scientific evidence to encourage us, but that there is a sound scientific foundation to the health benefits of singing is very pleasing for any voice teacher, and the ramifications are huge, so I will be writing more about it in my blog, as and when time allows.
My Potent Voice workshops combines Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® with the state-of-the-art vocal training techniques that have emerged in recent years, thanks to the more refined observational equipment available to modern vocal science. My intention is to enable anyone who wishes to develop a flexible, strong, healthy, authentic self-expressive voice to be able to do so.
Whether your interest is singing, speaking well as an actor or presenter, or freeing your natural voice as part of a self-healing or spiritual development process – and of course any combination of these elements – then there will be something in my classes for you.
There is no pressure on anyone to perform – the idea is to enable you to become more conscious of exactly how your voice works, and to develop your vocal awareness, confidence, and authenticity, so that – with practice –your voice can become fully integrated, both physically and emotionally. A naturally spontaneous, fully embodied voice is what I mean by a Potent Voice, and for this reason it is very important that you feel relaxed and able to experiment with making – often rather silly! – sounds, without any embarrassment or self-consciousness. I have found that working online facilitates this playful element, and that compensates us for the sometimes poor quality of the sound reproduction on Zoom.
Functional Integration For Voice
Hands-on muscle-releasing training sessions, focussing on integrating your neck, throat, face, rib cage, and the respiratory (and other) organs.
Feldenkrais comes in two formats, group training, known as Awareness Through Movement®, and individual hands-on training, known as Functional Integration®. Using sensitive touch as a teaching process can be a valuable addition to more familiar methods of vocal training, and may be particularly helpful if you feel your issues with performance are connected to deep muscle tissue holding patterns.
Potent Voice Workshops
Monthly On Sundays
Online + Recordings & Notes
Times and dates below…
£40 (suggested fee, or any donation welcome)
These workshops are suitable for…
Singers, presenters, anyone interested in the performing voice, and anyone with issues around vocal freedom and self-expression
Anyone interested in meditation and chanting
Anyone dealing with chronic tension in the tongue, jaw, neck, and throat
Coming up…
How does Your Voice Work?
October 22nd
Online + Recordings & Notes
2 pm – 5 pm BST [9 am – 12 pm EDT]
£40 (suggested fee, or any donation welcome)
This workshop will give you a thorough introduction to all the elements of my Potent Voice work. These Sunday workshops combine Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement with vocal training techniques that have emerged in recent years, thanks to the more refined observational equipment available to modern vocal science. My intention is to enable anyone who wishes to develop a flexible, strong, healthy, authentic self-expressive voice to be able to do so.
Whether your interest is singing, speaking well as an actor or presenter, or freeing your natural voice as part of a self-healing or spiritual development process – and of course any combination of these elements – then there will be something in this workshop for you.
There is no pressure on anyone to perform – the idea is to enable you to become more conscious of exactly how your voice works, and to develop your vocal awareness, confidence, and authenticity, so that – with practice –your voice can become fully integrated, both physically and emotionally. A naturally spontaneous, fully embodied voice is what I mean by a Potent Voice, and for this reason it is very important that you feel relaxed and able to experiment with making – often rather silly! – sounds, without any embarrassment or self-consciousness. I have found that working online facilitates this playful element, and that compensates us for the sometimes poor quality of the sound reproduction on Zoom.
Free Your Authentic Voice
…In Performance & In Life
November 26th
Online + Recordings & Notes
2 pm – 5 pm GMT [9 am – 12 pm EST]
£40 (suggested fee, or any donation welcome)
We do not tend to notice our breathing unless something has influenced it in some way, and even then the change in breathing may not be the first thing we notice. This is not surprising, breathing is a constant process and were it to demand regular attention it would interfere with daily life. Healthy natural breathing makes automatic adjustments to sudden changes of pace, and the fitter we are – i.e. the more efficiently our lungs process oxygen – the more easily we adjust to a sprint for the bus, a long flight of stairs, or perhaps even a sudden emotional shock.
Shifting emotions also make distinctive changes to our breathing and for many of us this is why our breathing is not as free and full as it could be. The sudden, dramatic and uncensored changes of emotion seen in young children are not acceptable in adult society, and the process of masking our emotions from those around us begins early. Some are so successful at it they manage to conceal their feelings from themselves as well as others. What better way to mask feelings of, say, anger, than to be unaware of those feelings yourself? Emotions are complex, and difficult to control, but their physical manifestations are less so. Stop and think about how it feels to cry, and notice the feelings generated in your chest, throat and belly. How would you disguise the impulse to cry? Probably you can sense that you would hold one or more of these areas rigid. This bracing can become habitual, and is a common cause of the chronic muscle tension that can lead to posture problems in even young teenagers. As adults we may start to recognise these emotional limitations and many people discover the Feldenkrais Method as part of the process of unravelling the habitual tensions that maintain their limitations.
As your diaphragm expands on inhalation the contents of your abdomen are pushed downwards and forwards causing your belly to round, and this regular massaging of the organs by the upward and downward movements of the diaphragm is another benefit of natural breathing. Unfortunately, when the belly is hard and tight, whether for aesthetic or psychological reasons, the diaphragm cannot work as it is designed to, and instead the ribs are forced upwards into an excessively raised position. The downward movement of the diaphragm creates about 60% of the lung’s capacity, the expansion of the ribs another 30%, and the lifting of the clavicles – which often prompts the lifting of the shoulders as well – the final 10%. Thus a tight belly severely limits your air supply, and, to make matters worse, this lifting action both mimics an excited, anxious or distressed emotional state and requires more energy than natural breathing, as the muscles have to work against gravity. For some of us the tension is in the upper back or the rib cage itself, making it harder to access our joy and vitality.
All truly expressive singers and actors have a free and flexible chest to go with their soft, responsive belly, as mobility in both these areas is a major factor in the kind of physical and emotional self-awareness that is the essence of a truly charismatic performer. For the rest of us it is part of developing our self-awareness and freeing ourselves of the fear of expressing who we really are and how we really feel in the company of others.
Weekly WellBeing Zoom class…
Potent Inner Voice
Sensory-Self-Awareness & Self-Hypnosis for Self-Healing
Wednesday Evenings
7 – 8.30 pm BST / 2 – 3.30 pm EDT
Online + Recording £15*
(*suggested fee, or any donation welcome)
These extended* evening classes focus on my Feldenkrais-based self-healing strategies, and the recordings are intended to make it very easy for you to develop these skills for yourself. I am exploring the evening format with the intention of supporting better sleep as well as pain relief and self-calming.
One seldom-discussed aspect of the potency of the voice is the influential presence of an internal voice, constantly commentating on our lives. The voice inside our own heads can be an ally or an enemy; for a while now I have been discovering how to train my inner voice to be a better ally in my on-going project of self-healing. Here is an introduction to the process, from an article on my website:
“Self-Hypnosis – also known as Autogenic Training – has been around for a long time. I first came across it back in the Eighties, in a book called Superlearning. This was at right at the beginning of my interest in meditation, and practising the autogenic sequences from the book were the closest I came to achieving the deeper states of inner calm that are reportedly the most effective brain wave frequencies for healing chronic conditions.
Thus, when a bout of chronic fatigue left me with fibromyalgic pain that did not easily respond to the mindful movements that had helped me free myself of sciatica in the past, my investigations brought me full circle, and this time I made a connection I had somehow failed to make before. I remembered that Moshe Feldenkrais was also interested in self-hypnosis at a similar age, except that – being the over-achiever he was – he translated a significant book on the subject into Hebrew, and boldly added his own thoughts in a 26 page commentary.
The book was The Practice Of Autosuggestion by the Method of Émile Coué (1929), and Moshe’s original contribution has recently been published as Thinking and Doing, A monograph by Moshe Feldenkrais. He retained his enthusiasm for these concepts throughout his life, attempting to republish his translation in 1977, and using the techniques he still valued to speed his recovery after his stroke.
You will need to book with me directly to get the Zoom link, and a recorded version of the lesson is included in the fee. Bookings are by email, or via my contact form.
*I am aware that 90 minutes is a long class, so do please know that you can choose to join us for the first hour only, particularly if that would make joining the class regularly more manageable for you.