I don’t think of myself as a singer. I don’t sing in the shower. And, I don’t remember lyrics. For sure, I don’t remember which band recorded what album.
However, now that I am taking private singing lessons, I have to modify these statements. After getting over the initial terror of fronting up for lessons, I’m loving learning to sing.
I put my toes in the Waters of Song seven years ago when I joined the Wingsong choir. That was brave of me at the time.
Carried along on the wings of my choir, I discovered I sing reasonably well. No one has asked me to do any solos, but with regular choir practice, I’ve improved. It’s a joy to join with people to create harmony, and it’s made me more interested in singing.
Our choir director has me lead some yoga-type stretches at the beginning of the choir session, and the group follows along as I demonstrate and instruct.
As for what we do, I try to think about what will prepare us best for singing. We do movements that open up the lungs, loosen the rib cage and release tension from shoulders. I can hear audible sighs of relief when choir members let go of pesky shoulder tightness.
With my individual lessons, I’m still in singing kindergarten. That’s a very good thing, too. Building firm foundations. It’s what I try to instill in my yoga students.
Today I practised grounding my singing through my pelvic floor. Not so easy. I also learned something about breathing, not yogicly, but singingly. Parsing the breathe and being quick. And finally, I learned that I can reach the upper registers of notes when I let go of my fear of them.
I do believe singing, like yoga, can be done by everyone. You might be like me, a seasoned yogi who wants to improve your singing. Here’s a great link from Take Lessons with 15 little yoga videos to help you do just that.
Pretty cool Eve: bringing yoga to everything in life and Life to yoga. Union here, there, everywhere…. I’m off now to try out singing from my pelvic floor!!