For this exercise, you’ll need a straw. Stand or sit upright, sensing for a dynamic, easy head-spine relationship. Be mindful about using your arm to bring the straw up to your mouth rather than shortening through the spine to bring your head down toward the straw. Exhale an easy stream of breath and sound through […]
Category: Vibration & Resonance
This is an alternative to the straw phonation exercise, for when you don’t have a straw handy. Stand or sit upright, sensing for a dynamic, easy head-spine relationship. Shape your lips around an imaginary straw, then bring your finger up to touch them, partially blocking the opening. Be mindful about bringing your finger to your […]
This exercise is based on the work of Dr. Joseph Stemple. All of the exercises should be performed at the softest possible volume that still allows for a fully-engaged sound (i.e., no breathiness). Sustain each exercise until you totally run out of air. Those last few seconds will create an isometric contraction in the intrinsic […]
Stand upright, sensing moment by moment for a dynamic, active alignment in your bones. Release the jaw, allowing it to hang loose as the lips part and the throat softens. Begin to bounce through the heels. Bounce some breath in, and bounce some breath out. Let it be messy. If you sense that you’re controlling […]
Stand upright, sensing moment by moment for a dynamic, active alignment in your bones. Allowing for a grounded inhalation between sounds, explore extending the duration of a /s/ or /ʃ/ without compressing the ribs, spine, or throat. Maintain awareness and curiosity about your surroundings as you expand into the sound. Add some voice if you […]
Use all ten fingers to explore the muscles of the jaw, neck, and scalp. Allow your breath to arrive and depart without holding. Follow your pleasure. What feels good today? When you’re finished, take your work with you into the next thing you do.
Clench the teeth lightly a time or two to locate the temporalis muscle on the side of the skull above the ears. Using fingers, knuckles, or the heels of your hands, gently massage this muscle, allowing the jaw to release into gravity and the breath to expand and deepen. Remember to bring the hands up […]
Clench the teeth lightly a time or two to locate the masseter muscle, feeling it’s activation. Using fingers or knuckles, gently massage this muscle, allowing the jaw to release into gravity and the breath to expand and deepen. Remember to bring the hands up to the jaw, rather than shortening the neck to bring the […]
Use the fingers of one hand to locate the center of the muscle on the top of your opposite shoulder. Give this point some comfortable pressure with your finger tips. If you’d like more pressure, you can hang onto the elbow using your other hand. Send your head away from this pressure point as you […]
Anchor the collarbones and sternum firmly with the hands. Send the chin forward and away from this anchor point, tilting the face upward toward the sky. Make gentle arcs with the chin as you allow the breath to arrive and depart on its own. Continue by sending the lips in the same direction as the […]