Vocal alignment starts with your feet!

Start thinking of yourself as a vocal athlete and your voice work as a vocal workout.

Athletes take care to line up their bodies for optimal performance. Like the rest of your body, your vocal mechanism is made up of cartilage and ligaments and muscle and more. Since the whole body system is interrelated, optimal body alignment can contribute to an optimal vocal workout.

And free and supported vocal resonance takes delicate balance and coordination of the entire body, especially if you have #Hypermobility, #LaxLigaments.

Proper alignment contributes to an optimal physical workout. The same principle applies to your vocal workout.

Try starting with foot alphabet.

The foot and ankle adjustments from foot alphabet can start an upward cascade of re-alignment that contributes to free and supported resonance. This can help get you set up if there's no vocal warm-up room before an audition or performance. You can do this without drawing a lot of attention to yourself.

• Before you start your voice work, rotate your feet & ankles as if you were spelling the alphabet with your feet. The point is to have non-repetitive motion of stretching and contracting at multiple angles and from varying positions.

  • You can do foot alphabet while standing. Alternate feet and make sure you are supporting yourself so the work of balancing yourself isn't creating compensatory activity that reduces the effectiveness of the exercise.

  • You can do foot alphabet while sitting. You can do it one foot at a time, or together. You can do it in mirror fashion or coordinate your feet so that they are writing in the same direction.

  • Try isolating the movement by supporting your legs under your knees.

  • For vocalists with #Hypermobility #LaxLigaments - tiny, contained foot alphabet movement can do the job better than big movement.

• Stop just before you begin to feel a burning sensation - you don't have to finish the alphabet. Every body is different and for some the making the letter A is enough to get the effect needed.

• When you're done - notice

  • (in a standing position if possible), become aware of and pay attention to how the rest of your body responds to what you just did with your feet and ankles.

  • Don't expect anything in particular.

  • Don't judge anything.

  • Don't try to make something happen.

  • Just notice a change - or no change.

  • Notice if there is something to be noticed.

  • Enjoy the noticing.

Please remember - if this tool doesn't work for you, let it go and find the tool that does work for you.

#VocalAthlete, #LaxLigaments, #Hypermobility, #FootAlphabet, #HypermobileVocalist

© Monica Schober, VoiceUnbound℠ 2017. A link back to this blog post and credit to VoiceUnbound.com is required in order to share it on your personal blog or website. Thank you.