WHY I TEACH VOICE HOLISTICALLY
A fellow singer FB friend was appreciating my holistic approach to teaching singing, and asked how long I have been teaching voice, and when I let go of more traditional approaches and started teaching holistically.
Here is the long answer if you are also curious...
I've been teaching voice for exactly 20 years (since 2001).
I have actually always taught very holistically, as my first voice training was in vocal improvisation (with Rhiannon and Laurel Murphy) and theatre (UBC). And when I started teaching, I had already been writing songs and performing for 10 years, so I came to teaching as a professional artist, once I felt ready to guide others.
The first voice classes I taught combined improv with songs and some basics of breath and resonance. I called my class "Singing from the Soul," and taught variations on and off for years.
As I learned more about vocal technique and pedagogy through the years, I focussed more on that for awhile, feeling like it was my responsibility, and was what many of my students most wanted and needed.
Then when I became an Expressive Arts Therapist 10 years ago, I noticed a shift - the people who were coming to me were less interested in developing their voice with scales and formants and mastering songs for performance. They were seeking a deeper healing connection with music and reclaiming their own voice and right to sing.
I started learning more about sound healing practices, and discovering/researching where things intersect with vocal development, improv, and healing. I started to integrate chant and mantra and working with the chakras as I felt I finally had enough understanding.
One amazing day around 2014, one of my students had a huge breakthrough after doing some simple chanting through the chakras. She experienced a huge opening and new freedom for her voice; this one practice seemed to be more effective than all the technique I had taught her up until then. That's when I really knew my path.
Then for the past few years, especially while working on my Masters in Arts Education, I craved focusing in and creating something that could hold all my most powerful and favourite holistic vocal practices and experiences, in a comprehensive system. Everything from embodiment to breath to improv and sound healing. And the power of songs and harmony too. Combined with the potent healing power and sacred space of a women's circle.
When I realized that all of the elements of singing I wanted to share intersected with the 5 elements of nature, it really landed!
As much as I love working with the chakras, the Euro-Celtic lineage of the elements is more authentic to me and inspires an embodied mythic sense of interconnection with the earth, which I feel is vital for the evolution of the collective as well.
My method is now called "The Wild Voice Way" (book coming soon) and my course which expands on it is called "Voices Wild" (finally launched in this new format one year ago).
Creating music for my students to sing with is quite new though - I just started doing that about a year ago. I feel like this new aspect of creating singalong music really brings my holistic approach together in a joyful, beautiful and accessible way for those who come to free their voice with me. And it allows me to express myself as artist AND educator, which I deeply, truly love.
Attached is a model of the Wild Voice Way (TM) so you can see how it is all interconnected.
If you would like to experience a taste of my magical, healing, playful, meditative, holistic singing program for women, join me in my FREE VOICES WILD INTRO WORKSHOP on Jan. 25.
