Self expression comes in many different forms. Art, dance, singing, your home, your habits, your environment, even the friends you hang with all are an expression of who you are, who you want to become, or what it is your trying to say. Body language, habits, patterns all have been studied and researched and so have vocal patterns, language, speech patterns. What happens to your voice when you are under stress, breathing in a poor environment, when your body is not healthy and working at peak conditions. Awareness and Action are necessary for any voice actor to ensure your recording sessions will be an easy read, with quick decisive decisions making skills, a clean flexible voice to work with. Understanding ways you have to clear your energies and clear your voice may help to improve your working environment. Have you heard of chakra work? Singing bowls? Let's take a look.
The fifth chakra in your seven chakra centers is called your throat chakra. This energy center is located at the base of the throat, in the V that is formed in the center of the collarbone. This chakra will act as your personal force of one’s own expression and communication: Your “Voice.”
Your 5th Throat Chakra, named the vishuddha (or vishuddhi) is the center that governs our voice, communication with others, expressing of one’s truth, and can open many areas you might have not yet explored before, like: languages, dialects, character voices, sound effects, rhythms, tones, and song.
A chakra, in Sanskrit, means “wheel” or “disk” of spinning energy. This energy corresponds to nervous system and major organs, and areas of our energetic body that affects our emotional and physical well-being. Chakras should stay open, aligned and balanced when you are strong, healthy and joyful. With different environmental and personal challenges your energy centers or chakras can become unbalanced or blocked. This may cause physical or emotional symptoms.
A well known Yoga Medicine Therapeutic Specialist, Diane Malaspina, PhD, states that when your 5th throat chakra is blocked or unbalanced some symptoms you may experience are:
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being fearful about speaking your personal truth
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have a harder time expressing your thoughts
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feeling anxious about speaking or communicating in public
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stuttering, stumbling over words
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Physical symptoms can include: throat lumps, a goiter, earaches, ear problems, sinus infections, thyroid problems, laryngitis, sore throat, tonsillitis, teeth problems, thrush, jaw problems (like: TMJ), arthritis in shoulders, sore shoulders or arms, neck problems, and stress.
Speaking and expressing in tones of positivity and honesty will help you to become more adapt in truth, and manifest a creative expression for you to explore your personal honor and health. How well you can express yourself to the world, in groups, in writing, in public, and with family and friends can help you to be aware if your 5th throat chakra is balanced or not. Awareness and knowledge can help you to identify issues and resolve any blockage or congestion quickly.
If your throat chakra is not balanced, you will be unable to express yourself with confidence and your communication skills will become hesitant, shy, and words will be misinterpreted or misunderstood by others. You will also find you will tend to give mixed or vague messages and any instructions will not be clear and concise. Until you find balance within the throat chakra, your communication with others or that of your voice expression will be stunted and disarrayed. You may find this can disrupt your recording sessions. If your recording sessions seem to have become a constant struggle or you feel unsure in your delivery of the script, always questioning your results you may want to take action and incorporate some of the suggestions in this article to balance and clear your 5th throat chakra.
Finding your balance, opening your chakras, clearing your energies and vibrational tones, and discovering ways to help you reduce your symptoms and to help gain your personal confidence back for a perfect recording experience can be a challenge. Below are some suggestions for ways that you may overcome any imbalances that you are experiencing.
Color Therapy : 5th Chakra resonates to the color SKY BLUE: with the throat chakra tied to communication, knowledge, serenity, wisdom, loyalty, and truth you can benefit by surrounding your environments with the SKY BLUE color to help open your throat chakra. To help increase your recording session success you can benefit from surrounding your booth area in the SKY BLUE color as this may activate your physical and mental energy resonance to help relieve the tightness in your throat, balance your stress and anxiety levels, and calm your nerves. Color has been known to help stimulate creativity, encourage focus and to help limit distractions so you can concentrate on what needs to be done. Do your research and discover more on this subject to increase your success. You Got This!
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Reading Out Loud: Historical evidence backs up the claims for the benefits for reading out loud. Known benefits have been listed to: improve vocabulary, improves literacy skills, comprehension, pronunciation, improves memory, improves active listening skills, forming words with mouth shape and sounds, increases attention span, strengthens cognition, improves understanding, strengthens fluency, and reduce stress. Reading out loud daily, at least 15 minutes per day, will help you to find your throat chakra loosening every time you speak and soon your recording sessions will flow. Challenge yourself. A Voice Actors job is to read scripts, of all kinds, take this exercise and choose something foreign and uncomfortable to you. If you find some types and formats of reading harder than others, or some genres of texts are harder to understand or pronounce like medical, languages, Shakespeare, or others for example. Use this exercise to read from those uncomfortable texts to increase your knowledge, flexibility and your language skill. Good Luck!
Tongue Twisters: More historical evidence has proven that tongue twisters has seen impressive results in the following areas: improving vocabulary, improves literacy skills, comprehension, pronunciation, improves memory, improves active listening skills, stretches and strengthens the muscles forming words with mouth shape and sounds, increases attention span, strengthens cognition, improves understanding, strengthens fluency, reduces stress, emphasizes speech clarity, and helps with effective articulation. Voice actors have warm up rituals for there are no short cuts in the voice over industry and daily practice has proven to have great results. As you know every profession requires some type of proper exercise, warm-up, and preparation for the task at hand as you will need to give a peak performance when your recording time comes. Warming up your vocal cords will help your recording sessions perform smoothly.
Singing Bowls: This is an ancient practice known throughout Himalayan Tibet cultures and used in religious and spiritual, healing ceremonies and in meditation. These are bowls made from metal alloys and crystal quartz. These methods have encouraged brain waves; beta waves or trance-like theta waves and used to increase tonal vibrations and resonance tones that have been researched to help reduce blood pressure, reduces tension, anger, fatigue and depression, increasing brain waves to help reduce cortisol levels throughout the body. As with all alternative therapies use caution and thoroughly research for possible cautions and side effects, for example: start slow with beginners, never use with persons who have epilepsy, never use with metal implants, people with tumors or artificial joints should avoid using them, avoid use with a person that has a mental health diagnosis, avoid during pregnancy and be very cautious with children.
This therapy is worth taking a second look at and can be beneficial with sound therapy for opening up your 5th Throat Chakra.
Take a look at this product to start your journey to having your VOICE be heard.
Chakra Singing Bowls Set Cuencos Tibetanos With Cushion Mallet Tulsi Beads Mala Tibetan Prayer Flag For Meditation Mindfulness
Sound Therapy: Elementary Frequency 192 Hz: using tones by humming, singing, chanting, and listening to instrumental music (like drumming or singing bowls) will strengthen your muscles, focus your mind, release your anxiety, and help your vocal cords to become flexible and create your personal flow.
These methods have been used throughout ancient times and are well known throughout many cultures. Researching and discovering the different uses for sound therapy has shown humming, chanting and tones are used today for ceremonies in temples and religious events, to ward off superstitious evil spirits, for meditational stillness, and used in the healers remedies to heal the mind and soul as well as the body.
Listening to and creating sound waves and tones from any vibrational source can be the key to releasing your vocal chords, opening your 5th Throat Chakra, and clarifying your inner tonal or vocal energies to finally allow you to find your voice and speak your truth. Finding the power of your voice will open up your confidence and build your career to levels you might not have ever considered.
Other benefits for sound therapy can be helpful to focus the mind, slow mental thoughts and clarify your purpose, stabilize your heart rate, strengthens your breathe and muscles of the diaphragm, open vocal folds, strengthens vocal chords, and strengthen your confidence in communication skills.
No matter how you want to incorporate sound therapy in your daily vocal warm-ups remember that when you use your mouth, tongue, jaw, throat, and vocal chords on a daily bases you’re practicing will quickly see results as you start to build and stretch your muscles and create a more flexible mouthpiece to deliver your script perfectly.
Take a look at a Chakra Tongue Drum Set to get you started on your tonal sound therapy:
Steel Tongue Drum, 15 Notes 14 inch D-Key Handpan Percussion Instrument - Tank Chakra Drums with Padded Travel Bag, 2 Mallets, for Meditation, Decompression, Music and Gift
Some steps to follow for chanting, humming:
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A bija mantra is a one-syllable sound that, when said out loud, and helps to activate and balance the energy of a particular chakra you want to target. Each chakra has a unique bija mantra, sound or tone.
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The throat chakra’s bija mantra, is “HAM”
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To chant this sound, use a natural, comfortable tone for your personal voice. As you breathe out, let the “HAM” sound flow slowly for the duration of your exhale.
Below are some great examples for the use of singing bowls with instructional videos and sound therapy to balance and open up the 5th Throat Chakra, watch and learn, then be sure to research and discover how you can personalize your therapy and how you would like to include any of these therapies to benefit your choices.
Good luck, good vibrations, and great recording sessions!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz0ZZm2RUX8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBXG0obrSs4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ux5e7IYlkE
Below are some other simple methods you may try to stimulate balance or trigger your 5th Throat Chakra:
Take Singing Lessons: learning to sing will help your vocal confidence grow in strength and in endurance, breathing rhythms and patterns will help you greatly in your script reading and minimizing your breathing noise picked up from your microphone. Singing develops your lung capacity and your tone and will help you with tone and pitch. Do some research and discover the best way to incorporate singing lessons into your voice acting journey. There are some great YouTube videos for singing instructions to perform in your own home environment.
Hire a Voice Coach/Mentor/Language & Dialect Coach: think about the benefits for hiring a mentor that you connect with and will help you through your questions and work through the concerns you are having. Learn from their expertise and experience. You will find a great improvement with communication, a strong connection to self confidence, improve your thinking patterns, learn insider knowledge, improve your articulation and projection, learn the hints and tips of the trade not only in your vocal range but your booth and microphone set up, how to deal with clients and script interpretation too. Take a second look at this option, in the long run you might find this is what you need to gain confidence and stimulate and open your throat chakra. Narrator.life is a fantastic source with proven, professional narrators for this purpose. Give it a try.
Journaling: the physical action and intention of hand writing and organizing your thoughts has proven to improve memory, prioritize tasks, releases stress and anxiety, improves depression, and journal writing is an excellent tool for cultivating the capacity to listen to yourself. Communicating, speaking your truth in any form will help to open and stimulate your energy fields, balance your chakras, and trigger your 5th Throat Chakra.
“Getting quiet and doing freewriting is a powerful exercise for connecting the heart with the mind — this is where the throat chakra lives between body and mind,” says Malaspina.
Wearing Chakra Stones or Crystals: These pieces of jewelry, that fit directly above the throat location, may stimulate the energy vibrational waves from the stones can enhance the talisman purpose. Feeling the stones or crystals against your skin or touching and rubbing the stones can focus your energies and mind to clear your purpose reconnecting us to the natural world. With their elemental energies they can help us to channel our intentions, raise our vibrations, and can help us to remember that everything in life holds a vibration and if we can match our inner vibrations to the things we want in this world, we may be able to manifest them into our lives.
Blue, dark or light stones, and crystals can target and trigger the energy for the 5th Throat chakra and open our vibrational purpose to manifest what our goals and needs are. In the blue spectrum here are a couple of stones you can incorporate into your life to enhance your voice: Aquamarine, lapis lazuli, amazonite, sodalite just to name a few.
Here is a great research source to find out more on this subject:
Tiny Rituals: https://tinyrituals.co/blogs/tiny-rituals/throat-chakra-stones
Practice Simple Breathing Exercises: One technique is called the Lion’s Breath or simhasana in Sanskrit. This well known yoga breathing pattern is performed by sticking out your tongue and roaring like a lion. One of the purpose this breathing method is targeted for is opening up the 5th Throat Chakra, the seat of creative speech, communication, speaking your truth, and self expression. This exercise will engage your lungs, diaphragm, upper chest, mouth, tongue, throat, and vocal folds. With this breathing technique you may help improve sleep, alleviate stress and anxiety, lower your blood pressure, enhance your lung capacity, open your voice talents, and increase confidence. Make sure you do your research for cautions and side effects for any new alternative health practice you wish to incorporate in your daily routines.
Deep breathing also goes by the names of “diaphragmatic breathing”, “abdominal breathing”, “belly breathing”, and “paced respiration”. When you breathe deeply, the air coming in through your nose fully fills your lungs, and the lower belly rises. Deep abdominal breathing encourages full oxygen exchange — that is, the beneficial trade of incoming oxygen for outgoing carbon dioxide. Not surprisingly, it can slow the heartbeat and lower or stabilize blood pressure.
You have heard the expression “Take a Moment” or “Think Before You Act or React” a popular breathing technique to try in stressful or emotional or intense situations is the simple 4-7-8 method.
First step: is to empty your lungs of air
Second step: breathing slowly and quietly take a belly breathe (engage your diaphragm) in through your nose for the count of 4
Third step: hold the breathe in your lungs for the count of 7
Fourth step: exhale your breathe through your mouth for the count of 8
Repeat these steps 4 to 6 times. Some may experience dizziness or light headedness for a beginner it is best to try them method sitting or laying down to prevent falling. This method is well known as pranayama, a common term in yoga.
Something to think about; with new technologies coming out every year new breathing support and building tools have been invented to help you keep your lungs strong, encourage breathe endurance, and expand your lung capacity. There have been some tools to help keep your vocal cords hydrated, moist and used by professional speakers, entertainers and celebrities throughout the world.
Check these helpful tools out below:
1. Handheld Mesh Nebulizer w/0.09% saline solution for Inhalation: This has been the top choice of vocal performers the last couple of years; when they are on the road or doing home performances:
https://myvocalmist.com/products/vocalmist-portable-nebulizer
2. THE BREATHER: A Natural Breathing Exerciser/Trainer for Respiratory
3. 2nd Choice for Handheld Mesh Nebulizer for Breathing (Also used to moisten Vocal Folds)
4. REFILL: Individual 0.09% concentration Saline Solution for Inhalation
Simple Neck and Shoulder Stretches: Making sure your spine is aligned with your neck is important to keep your balance. Yoga poses and stretching can do wonders to relieve stress and the tightness in the throat and shoulder area. Many voice actors have their warm up rituals to include some type of neck and shoulder stretches to relieve any tightness and to increase blood flow to the area that will be needed for their recording sessions to flow smoothly.
It is my hope that gaining awareness in any form to help progress your success forward in your voice over acting profession will not only benefit and develop stronger script reading, script interpretation, and the ability to be able to read with more confidence. In addition you will find your vocal professionalism will improve and your confidence will soar! Be prepared and excel with confidence.
Good Luck in all you do!
SOTVO Team
References:
https://draxe.com/health/color-therapy/#:~:text=Today%2C%20color%20therapy%20is%20based,%2C%20stress%2C%20depression%20and%20hopelessness.
https://www.healthline.com/health/dangers-of-singing-bowls
Saulsberry, Rodney: Tongue Twisters and Vocal Warm-ups with other Vocal-Care Tips; Tomdor Publishing:2015
https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/mantra-chanting-heals-and-connects/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37532602/#:~:text=Studies%20have%20shown%20that%20singing,heart%20rate%2C%20and%20respiratory%20rate.
https://tinyrituals.co/blogs/tiny-rituals/throat-chakra-stones
https://www.healthline.com/health/practicing-lions-breath
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/relaxation-techniques-breath-control-helps-quell-errant-stress-response
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324417#:~:text=The%204%2D7%2D8%20breathing,the%20practice%20of%20breath%20regulation.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25780258/
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