Finding your voice

What does the word 'voice' conjure up for you?

Taken literally, our voice is the sound we make when we speak. It has physical characteristics, such as pitch and loudness, and quality such as fullness or reediness. But voice is often given a further meaning, to denote the way we interact with the world - both the things we choose to say and the attitude with which we choose to say them. And in some languages the word for voice is also the word for vote, presumably stemming from a time when to vote you had to stand up in a public assembly and literally give voice to your choice.

While the pitch of our voice is largely a function of the length of our vocal cords (which we can't change), the quality of the sound we make is a function of how resonant different parts of us are. This level of resonance is something we can change if we know how to adjust muscle tonus in different places with precision. By changing the muscle tone in our abdomen, chest, neck and face, or adjusting how we open our mouth or how we breathe, we affect the sound we make.

Learning this kind of control takes practice and is immensely rewarding. For anyone that needs to speak or sing in public this is essential work. But even if you don't need to make speeches or get up on stage, discovering this level of control over our self is pleasurable and helps us feel capable, hopeful, and 'at home in our skin'.

Bodywork practice using the Feldenkrais Method has been life-changing for me. Not only can I move with more ease and less effort, I also have more control over my voice. This is true in a literal sense, as greater awareness of how I use myself means I can adjust my self-organisation to 'fine tune' my voice. I am better able to sustain a note, modulate pitch while speaking, and notice which parts of me are most resonant. And it's also true in a metaphorical sense, because the discipline of bodywork calms the nervous system and promotes an ability to be more fully present. That makes it feel easy to react spontaneously and genuinely to whatever situation I may find myself in.

How has your voice changed? When do you feel most in control of your voice? Please leave a comment.