In this video, let’s talk about three types of exercises you should be doing to release tension
from your tight muscles around the larynx or throat. I will share one common misconception
about these exercises that may be the reason why you cannot find true vocal freedom. Let’s start.
Hi! I am Katarina, speech language pathologist and here on this channel,
I share practical tips about using your voice in a healthy way. So,
if this is a topic that interests you, consider subscribing to this channel and
hitting that bell notification icon so that you don’t miss any of my future videos.
There are numerous reasons why your voice gets tight or strained or even painful when speaking.
And usually there is more than one reason present. In general,
vocal tension happens when there is too much physical and muscular effort in the systems of
respiration (which is your breathing), phonation (at the level of the vocal folds) or resonance
(which is the part of your vocal instrument above your vocal folds).
In other words, tension is created by muscles working too much
anywhere in your body, not just inside your throat. It can be your breathing muscles, your
support muscles, muscles below your vocal folds or above. Anywhere in your body.
For example, it is very common to experience vocal tension when your abdominal muscles are too tight,
or when your false vocal folds are squeezing too much. If you feel discomfort at the level
of the larynx, it does not mean that the cause of vocal strain is in your larynx.
Why do we care? In order to be able to develop true vocal freedom,
we have to look beyond the vocal folds. We have to consider your body and your mind too.
Here are three types of exercises that you should consider when dealing with tension in your voice:
#1 Exercises for immediate relief of vocal tension
If you’ve been following my YouTube channel for some time, you would know
many of these exercises. We can put them into two buckets.
In the first bucket, you would find manual approaches to releasing tension from your muscles,
such as massage or self-massage, laryngeal massage, myofascial releases, trigger point
therapy, static and dynamic stretches, movements and more. Laryngeal massage is a very effective
method of releasing muscle tension from around the larynx or the voice box. Have you tried it?
Let me know in the comments below. I have to say that it does not work for everyone, but I
encourage everyone to at least try it and see for yourself if this is a beneficial approach or not.
Your larynx is surrounded by many muscles. Some of these muscles are on the surface
and their muscle tone can be affected by manual massage.
These so-called extrinsic muscles can cause tension inside your larynx, which can affect
voice quality and ease of sound production. Increased muscle tension in these muscles can also
cause the larynx to be naturally positioned higher than normal, which is not desirable for
most people. With manual massage, you can release tension from the superficial muscles of the larynx
and improve the function of the intrinsic muscles inside the voice box.
My video about laryngeal massage is one of the most popular videos on my channel,
so if you haven’t seen it yet, click the link below the video to watch it and try it.
The second bucket of exercises that release tension immediately are vocal exercises that
we call SOVT or semi-occluded vocal tract exercises. Examples are straw exercises,
fricatives, lip trills, tongue trills and other fun exercises. I have plenty of videos in which
I demonstrate these exercises on my channel and again, I’ll put some links below this video.
But I want to talk about a very common misconception about this type of exercises.
As I said, they are exercises for immediate relief of tension. They are not meant to change
the way you use your voice. They are best for times when your voice is already feeling tight,
strained or painful. For example, they are wonderful to use at the end of the day to
decrease tension from your vocal instrument that has accumulated in the muscles throughout the day.
I meet with many people who ask me: Katarina, I do straw exercises every day, I massage
three times a day and my voice is still strained. What should I do?
And that’s where we need to talk about:
#2 Exercises for improving vocal function
If you’ve been experiencing vocal tension for some time, you produce your voice in a way that
triggers tension as soon as you start talking. Over time, you develop automatic
motor patterns that produce tension and are inefficient.
The only way to deal with these tension-inducing patterns is to develop different motor patterns
that do not invite tension. If you are not doing any of these exercises and you are just
hoping that massage or straws will fix your vocal problems, you may be sabotaging your efforts.
My approach to finding more efficient patterns of voicing is to examine different
vocal structures and learn how to control them independently of each other. For example, can you
close your true vocal folds without the interference of the false vocal folds? Can
you produce sounds without jaw or tongue getting involved unnecessarily? Or can you engage the
big body muscles to give your voice support without creating tension in your neck or jaw?
Examples of exercises in this category are silent or vocal exercises that
improve your kinesthetic awareness of what is going on in your voice
and body when you produce certain sounds. Basically, you are “feeling” your voice,
regulating muscle effort and isolating movements of specific muscle groups.
This is a process that takes time but I believe
that this is the key to finding true vocal freedom.
If you are experiencing vocal strain, tension or even pain when speaking,
and you are ready to work with me towards a free, strong and confident voice,
you can apply to our coaching program. Check out the links in the description below this video.
Finally, we have: #3 Mindfulness practice
I have been very vocal about the effects of our mind and emotions on our voices.
I highly recommend that you start a mindfulness practice if you want to get rid of vocal tension
for good. Mindfulness exercises don’t need to be long, maybe 5 or 10 minutes or even
a couple of minutes several times a day. Mindfulness exercises calm your body down,
they kick start the “rest and digest” part of our nervous system. They improve
our responses to stress factors in our daily lives and decrease anxiety about our voice.
We know that mental stress adds tension and some people respond to stress by creating tension
inside their throat. There are many other benefits of mindfulness practice and if you are not
considering it as part of your daily routine, you may not be addressing all aspects of your voice.
These were three types of exercises that I recommend for anyone who complains about vocal
tension. I also made a video, in which I walk you through 7 steps that lead to a strong voice
without tension. If you want to know what other body, voice and mind factors you need to consider
to finally free your voice, click the link in the description below this video.
If you found this video helpful, click the like button and share it with your friends.
Check out the video on how to do laryngeal self-massage. I hope to see you soon. Bye.