Sound with Movement

While traditional yoga is all about the breath, Vocal Yoga is a new practice that incorporates sound with movement. As people flow through positions, a primal sound is added to the exhale. “As people mature, we tend to make less noise. Vocal Yoga is an hour of letting our vocalizations be more childlike, which releases tension that your body wants and needs to release,” says Laura Bresee, a speech pathologist at Memphis Speech Solutions.

The body’s muscles naturally tense and brace due to physical, emotional, and societal pressure. Vocal yoga is designed to help students unblock the breath and voice from parts of the body where it has been braced by the body’s natural stress response. Practicing deep abdominal breathing and rib cage expansion also helps increase respiratory volume, promotes rib cage flexibility, and reduces rib muscle calcification associated with the natural aging process.

“As a speech pathologist, I face people who have vocal fatigue or pain in their throat. Speaking from your abdominal muscles is a more effective way to deliver your voice,” says Bresee. “Elongating the exhale with sounds helps train the voice to remain strong and rooted in the body’s core during vocal performance. Vocal Yoga is great for singers, public speakers, and anyone who wants to relieve stress and tension in the body.”

Published January 2018

Read the article online at Memphis Health + Fitness Magazine featured Vocal Yoga as a Top Fitness Trend in 2018