The ways in which we live in our bodies in our day-to-day lives affects how our bodies will respond when we sing. It is essential to become aware of our day-to-day physical habits because undoing them can have a profound and positive effect on our singing.
By way of example, if my comfortable physical habit (meaning where I live in my body most of the time) is to have my sternum concave and my shoulders rounded forward, I am likely to live in my body that way when I sing, too. In this case, I would not be getting as free or open a breath as possible, and my neck would be thrust forward at an angle putting tension on the larynx and impeding the freedom of vibration. Whether I am singing or not, I probably don’t realize I am in this physical habit because it is home base, I am always there. It is comfortable, so it feels right to me. It is really hard for someone to use their body differently while singing if they continue to use their body in the same inefficient way at all other times. The habit will continue to be reinforced. With more physical awareness of how we live in our bodies on a day-to-day basis, we can learn what it feels like to make a different choice. In doing so, we relieve the tensions of inefficient body use that can affect our singing.
I believe the single most helpful thing a singer can do to come into more physical awareness is to become acquainted with your back-body. As Alexander Technique instructor/author Leland Vall suggests, ”Try experiencing the world from the back, forward. Awareness begins behind you.”
- Is your habit to shorten the back of your neck and retract your head slightly backwards and down? Think of softening and lengthening the back of your neck so your head can rise and float freely on the top of your spine.
- Is your habit to round your shoulders forward? Think of letting your shoulder blades slide all the way down your back.
- Is your habit to scrunch the small of your back creating a “sway” back? Think of dropping your pelvis towards the floor as you stand.
Once you have gotten better awareness of your habits in your back-body, then bring your attention to the front. Match the length and width of your front to the length and width you’ve cultivated in your back-body.
- Is your resting habit to thrust your tongue up on the roof of your mouth? Check in with your tongue and let it rest, soft and wide, behind your bottom teeth.
- Is your habit to collapse your sternum? Think of unzipping your heart-space into length as your shoulder blades slide down your back.
- Is your habit to suck in your belly and hold your abdominal muscles taught? Think of dropping your belly as you soften your abs.
The questions above can start to you give you awareness of what your habits are. Now your job is to check in with your body at random times during the day (when you are standing in line at the grocery store, when you are sitting are your computer, when you are in the shower) and ask yourself, “Am I in my habit?” You probably will be. In that moment, take yourself through the questions above to get back to a more free, efficient body usage. Each time you make a different choice in your body, the new usage gets reinforced until one day, you will check in with your body and find that you are not in the old habit anymore.
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and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Backstage or its staff.
