CONNECTING THE BODY & THE VOICE THROUGH YOGA

Importance of Physical Connection for Vocalists
As a vocalist, it is important being more connected and more active with the body and physical being. When a vocalist is more in tune with their physicality, I have noticed that their performance is stronger and the most efficient. I believe it is very important and essential to understand your own body and physicality as a musician and as a performer to execute a strong stage presence and performance.

Yoga's Impact on Singing
“As a singer studying yoga you may experience a freedom in your singing resulting from opening the rib cage, allowing the diaphragm to release and aligning the head and neck, allowing the larynx to be freely suspended in the neck. You may also develop greater flexibility and physical strength throughout your body, a stronger immune system, relief from injuries caused by misalignment and a new way of managing stress and performance anxiety,” Whitten states in her article called “Yoga and Singing”. This is a fundamental explanation of the connection between the practice of singing and yoga. When a singer practices yoga, they expand their awareness of breathing and physicality, connecting the flow of each pose just like how singers connect their breath and their notes. Yoga practice also exercises core strength and balance, and this is very essential for a singer to have, especially since endurance and strength are needed for breath support and control when singing long phrases and high notes.

Integration of Physical and Mental Strength
Yoga helps integrate physical strength through core and balance exercises and poses, and mental strength through training the mind and concentration throughout the performance. It makes us more aware of our breathing and respiratory capacity and how our bodies feel and react when we are practicing our art. It also helps overcome relaxation and performance anxiety, which most performers experience. Yoga also improves stage presence and helps to be more present and active in the performance and enhances mental and physical awareness. She further supports, “The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit word for “join” or “merge”...aspires to join the physical, mental and spiritual in a state of balance through exercises that open, align and strengthen the body while quieting the mind. Breath is a great facilitator and the key to achieving a meditative state.”

Yoga's Role in Vocal Training
When this connection is exercised continuously and regularly, the body and mind experiences freedom in their own function. Joining the physical and mental state requires concentration and discipline, and when the two are practiced together, the performer is more aligned and aware of their own balance in performance and life. Yoga also requires meditation and postures that help the singer find the resonance and space for breath. The postures like downward dog, ragdoll, tree pose, warrior, sun salutations, and shavasana help facilitate the engagement of vocal and physical muscles working together and help stabilize the core muscles.

Flow and Connection in Yoga Practice
What I love the most about yoga practice is the flow and connection from one pose to the other, creating a simultaneous flow of movements in the body and the breath. Singers have to be disciplined in their breathing techniques and exercises in order to execute pitches and notes and yoga emphasizes that respiratory capacity in a vinyasa flow. After every practice, the vocalist should feel more aligned, centered, and balanced in mind and body and carry it on throughout my performance, especially when I am in a show where it is more movement and dance heavy in addition to singing.

Teaching Singers through Yoga
When I am working with my students in finding their center and balance, I always resort to yoga so that they themselves find their own unique connection with the practice. We have made breakthroughs in our own lessons and are more present in the body while singing, especially since musical theatre is a very active type of singing and performance. The discipline of yoga merges the mind and body connection to create a strong foundation for singers and musicians and creates a technique that exercises awareness throughout the body.

Written by: Kathrina Feigh