Do worries affect our voice? I think you can guess the answer but in this video,
I want to demonstrate this point by sharing a message from one of my
followers and her way of dealing with her constant worries about her voice.
My name is Katarina, I am the founder of Vocal Freedom System for the Speaking Voice,
where I help people reduce tension, strain or even
pain when speaking and get them back to speaking with a strong voice that lasts.
In this video, I am going to share a message from someone who has been dealing with Muscle
Tension Dysphonia. I thought that sometimes it is important to hear other people’s experiences,
not just my tips. Here is a short excerpt:
Here is some advice and thoughts from a fellow MTD sufferer who is finally coming
out the other side after several years of recovery. I'm a singer and my MTD came on
gradually. At first, my voice would occasionally get hoarse and fatigued,
and over time it became more frequent. I believe this was caused by a combination
of some bad vocal habits and overuse. I felt that something was wrong and I went to an ENT
and got diagnosed with MTD. It was great to know that I wasn't just imagining the problem.
Let me just quickly comment here - many people with tension-related voice issues are told
or think that their problem is just in their heads and this cannot be more from the truth.
But, knowing I had MTD ended up hugely escalating the problem because I was constantly worrying
about it. I saw two speech pathologists and did all the exercises they gave me.
I quit my job to take time to heal. I did daily meditation, yoga, speech exercises,
eucalyptus steaming and massage. I was being so diligent but I was stressed
about my voice every single day. I felt like I didn't know how to talk properly anymore,
let alone sing. My constant anxiety about my vocal health ended up being the main hurdle to recovery.
Ok. Another comment: MTD is not just a physical problem, actually many voice issues - if not all
- have an emotional part and if we don’t address it, we are not addressing the whole problem.
In my case, I had to learn to let go of worry and perfectionism. I had to learn to be okay
if my voice was fatigued. I had to learn to be okay if my singing voice didn't sound as
good as I wanted it to. I had to learn to be okay if my throat felt a bit tense. It
was very difficult! I've only felt this shift in mindset in the past 6 months,
but already my voice is a lot better; the less I cared about how I sounded, the better it got.
Thank you for this message! It is so valuable to hear these words from someone who has gone
through this situation. This message demonstrates how important acceptance
is. Our relationship with our voice is a big part of the healing journey.
Thoughts and emotions are one factor affecting the voice. But there are more
factors to be considered when dealing with complex vocal issues like Muscle tension
dysphonia. If you want access to a resource with various factors affecting the voice,
click this link or a link below this video to get it.
If you found this video helpful, click the like button and subscribe to my channel to stay in
touch. Check out my other videos right here below. I hope to see you soon. Bye.