As a professional singer-songwriter and vocal coach, I’m constantly awed by the power the human voice has to move and heal people. It’s a force I’ve witnessed countless times throughout my life. But for every time I’ve witnessed the voice’s power, I’ve also been witness to another kind of phenomenon. Let’s call it “Sing-Shaming.”
Sing Shaming
Sing-Shaming is an idea that people don’t deserve to sing because they aren’t innately gifted. They aren’t “stars.” Yet research shows that only 2% to 5% of people are medically tone deaf. This notion comes as much from inner monologues as it does from our 3rd grade choir teacher telling us we had no future in singing, to the glorification of shows like The Voice. Look around: the idea that singing is the sole province of ‘stars’ is pervasive. Our consumer culture places a high premium on talent as a commodity, and somewhere along the line we’ve lost our voice.
But what if we took the voice out of the matrix of competition and commodification and put it back to what ancient cultures and spiritual teachings have understood for centuries? That singing is our birthright. It is a tool for healing and self-expression, a pathway to joy and inner peace and it opens us up to a more infinite aspect of ourselves. In fact, singing and sounding as an active meditation can quiet the mind much more easily and quickly than traditional sitting meditation.
But what if we took the voice out of the matrix of competition and commodification and put it back to what ancient cultures and spiritual teachings have understood for centuries? That singing is our birthright. “
A Gateway to Our Soul
The voice is a gateway to our soul. And our emotions are a primary language of the soul. Connecting with our emotions through singing and sounding can move deep trauma out of the body-mind system and assist in healing nervous system disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder. We now know through neurobiology that stuck emotion in the body is one of the major causes of personal disease and imbalance of health. When we access ourselves from and through the sound of our emotional body, we bypass the need for singing constraints and personal judgements and get to the heart of exploring who we truly are and what we need.
The voice isn’t reserved for the gifted, it is the ultimate public domain and free medicine – no prescription needed.
Read more about the physical, psychological and spiritual benefits of singing.
Schedule a Free Lesson or Consultation with Me
It is my mission to help you find your voice and to use it as a gateway to health, fulfillment and personal power. If you are curious about exploring and improving your singing or speaking voice, stage presence or if you are interested in a coaching or mentoring session, I am offering a free 20-minute consultation on any of my services. Contact me at info@jeneehalstead.com.
About Jenee
Jenee Halstead is founder of Inner Song and a holistic vocal and self-expression coach, embodiment teacher, performer, energy healer and songwriter. Her mission is to help others align with their soul and divine spark, to embody and empower themselves to live a fully aligned, expressed, whole and healthy self.
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