Tag: myphilosophy

I listened to Seth Godin say something this morning that stopped me dead in my tracks while I walked my dog.

In his book Tribes, he uses a fabulous analogy of a balloon factory, to talk about the institutions that we train and work under where the systems we have in place keep things humming along at status quo level. It’s safe in the balloon factory, it’s comfortable, and you learn how to do what you need to, to produce the product you want.

But, the problem with a balloon factory is there are these other things, sharp things, that are the enemy of the balloon. Things like pins, knives and, yes, Unicorns. If you work in the balloon factory you learn to fear those sharp objects.

If a Unicorn walks into a balloon factory, he suggests, it can send everyone into a panic. The disruption a Unicorn causes can make workers become protective of their work, fearful of the change it might cause and make people turn their backs.

As I listened, I realized I AM A UNICORN IN THE BALLOON FACTORY OF THE VOICE WORLD!

We are trained in school about the systems of the voice – respiration, registration and phonation. We read all the pedagogy books which teach us about the voice and how those systems work from the standpoint of ideals on a page.

I’m over here saying WAIT, what about skeletal, nervous and muscular systems of THE WHOLE BODY?  What about the fact that no one has a nervous system that developed perfectly, so we don’t actually function like a 2-D skeleton on a page? We have joints that are limited in range, muscles that are underused, imbalances and lack of function globally in the body. Those are the issues that impact the voice that NO amount of vocal technique can solve.

I’m disrupting the vocal balloon production line by suggesting that we can’t just say the pedagogical platitude the whole body is the instrument, we actually need to know what that means AND what that looks like in the body; our own and those of our students. We need to be the boss of our body so our careers are sustainable and productive.

I get it, Unicorns and their horns are terrifying if you need to make 30 beautiful balloons by the end of the year and have only 1 hour every week to work on them. Isn’t there enough work to do already? Everything you need to know you already learned from those 22 books you read on balloon production in graduate school, right?

The voice world, like so many other industries that rely heavily on the ‘this is how it’s done’ mentality, fears the Unicorns. But, we so desperately need Unicorns to help us grow and change and improve what we are doing and how we are doing it so we can do our jobs better than ever before.

Join me in popping those pedagogical voice balloons to find new ways of really understanding the body and voice and how they work together.

Here for you.

Your Vocal Unicorn,

Sarah

 

We all know that right? Consistency is what will ultimately bring about change. Want to shift your voice? Your body? You have to put the time in.

But…there’s always a but, right?

What if being consistent is the thing that stops you in your tracks?

I’ll be the first to admit I usually start something great guns, but after a while I will peter out. When I began to investigate why that is I made a startling realization.

I’m someone who really needs external accountability to keep me on track. In my life that can look like paying for a gym membership, buying the right shoes for the movement I want to do, signing up for voice lessons. Hell, I rescued a dog so I would be forced to get out the door and move every morning because I knew if it were up to me I’d just stay where it’s warm and cozy.

Gretchen Rubin has done some really cool work in this area and come up with Four Tendencies – categories that most people fit into – Obliger, Rebel, Upholder and Questioner. You can take a quiz here to see which category you are.

I’m a classic obliger. If I tell someone I’ll do something for them, I do it. If I tell myself I’ll do something for me, it’s more than a little questionable as to whether I’ll follow through, unless I find a way to make myself accountable for it.

It is my understanding that there are an awful lot of obligers out there.

So, here’s my question….are you wanting to make a change to your body or voice, but simply making that commitment to yourself isn’t getting you where you want? If you need some external accountability, reach out and let’s talk. Maybe it’s a class. Maybe it’s a series of 1 on 1 sessions tailored to your needs. Maybe it’s a workshop.

But, rest assured, you don’t have to do it alone. I’m here to help keep you accountable!

For a number of years I held this picture of stacked rocks in my mind as a representation of balance. To me, the rocks meant it isn’t easy, but balance is achievable. And, once you get it, balance is a beautiful, serene, permanent state.

This fall I’ve revised my thinking on balance. The stacked rocks above are balanced, but how easily will they topple? Wind, a push of a hand, a heavy snow or a wave will knock them over. Those rocks can’t yield to the unexpected forces of nature.

In the past I’ve thought ‘if I just figure out x, y, and z I will find balance,’  as though there is some magic formula yet to be discovered. Parenting, working, marriage, music, yoga…they would all just fall into place perfectly and I would live happily ever after.

When I stack the rocks of my life up a particular way, declare myself balanced and then life asks to me spin in another direction, I topple.

I’ve done just that, over and over and continued to wonder, “Why can’t I find balance?” Then I proceed to feel less than because I can’t figure out how to achieve balance and surely everyone else has.

It turns out life just doesn’t work that way. It is ever changing. This fall I realized there has to be a better way. Those stacked rocks can’t be my symbol of balance. But, what could be?

As usual, when life smacks me over the head with these realizations, I turn to my movement practice for answers.

Tree pose offers a new frame to explore the concept of balance.

If you’ve ever tried tree pose you know how challenging it can be, and seldom is the pose ever the same. It is easy to get caught up in the external factors that impact the pose… your foot’s contact with the ground, the pressure and position of the bent leg foot against the inside of your standing leg, the tilt of your pelvis, the position of your hands and arm, where the wall is in relation to your body and on and on. We can only truly focus on one of those forces at a time and it can seem impossible to pull all of them together into one, balanced pose. Sometimes, when we are beginning that’s all we can do – we have to address strength in our feet first and then move on.

But, if you are always and only tuned into the individual, external factors, you miss that balance comes from within. You find balance in tree pose when you can move your attention inside, breathing and ‘being’ in the pose rather than ‘doing.’ Trees are grounded through extensive roots. They reach in all directions, striving for sunlight. They move in response to the forces of nature and they communicate with other trees to create a community in which they can all thrive.

The same is true in our lives off the mat. If we are always looking to external factors like work hours, after school activities, sick days, snow days, meal times, product launches, auditions, concerts, we are trying to stack rocks against an eventual tide. Sometimes we need to begin by addressing an individual factor, but we must quickly move on from that.

True balance comes from within. We are balanced when we can adjust to life’s challenges by simply being and releasing the need to do. We understand that sometimes we experience being out of balance and rather than judging we get curious and move back towards center.

We breathe.

We move in response to what is asked of us.

We are present.

We communicate and community-create.

Balance is an ever moving spectrum.

I love what the new year represents – a fresh start, a new beginning and the idea of a clean slate. But, I’ve learned not to do much in the way of resolution making. They just don’t work for me. Resolutions are the things two weeks at the gym are made of. You know, the first two weeks in January where the gym is super crowded with folks who have resolved to get fit, exercise 7 days a week and lose 50 pounds by bathing suit season. But what about the other 50 weeks of the year?

Why don’t we keep our resolutions? What’s missing, I think, is the connection to what your soul wants. When your soul speaks it has a purpose – to set free our deepest, most heartfelt desires. This is the stuff of your dharma, or your purpose in life; what you are put on this planet to do.

Your dharma answers the question, so well put by Mary Oliver in her poem The Summer Day: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one, wild and precious life?”

There is a process to discovering your dharma which involves understanding your gifts, embracing your uniqueness and identifying what it means to fulfill your distinct purpose. This comes from tapping into the voice of your soul and understanding how our desires both material and spiritual and our longing for pleasure and liberation manifest. Our greatest power lies within and it is from here that we can realize our potential.

Once you identify your dharma, you need to figure out how to get there.

In yoga, we call these steps, or resolutions, sankalpa. The word sankalpa breaks down into san, meaning, from the heart and kalpa, meaning, unfolding over time. It is the next most important step you can take in achieving your dharma. These aren’t meant to be pie in the sky ideals. They are the nuts and bolts, practical steps that will work to liberate your greater purpose.

It won’t all be smooth sailing, you’ll encounter resistance, both external and internal, but with a sankalpa that is about the greater purpose of your life and not just about what you want short term, you have a better shot at staying the course.

So, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?