What’s going on with the shoulders has a huge impact on how easy it is to have a powerful voice, because the muscles that move the shoulders are very much linked with the muscles that surround your larynx, or your voice box, in your throat. In this video, we explore a bunch of different positions that bring extraneous tension into the shoulders, and how that impacts your voice.
This includes doing something that people get told to do a lot— “pull the shoulders back and down”— this position actually makes it harder to breathe and harder to make sound, because it’s not the natural position of your shoulders. I talked about this a lot in my previous video, “Why sitting/standing up straight doesn’t help your voice”, which you can watch here.
In this video, we explore some simple release exercises that help you feel where the shoulders naturally fall. I encourage you to do these simple exercises on a regular basis and notice if they make speaking easier.
Want more in-depth exercises? Check out my podcast, which offers all kinds of free voice warm ups.
Still struggling to breathe? Check out my $30.00 digital course, Demystifying Deep Breathing in 30 Minutes.
This is the 5th video in a series on my @Voice what Matters YouTube channel that explores how voicing is a whole-body process, from the feet up.
Watch the first video, “What do your feet have to do with your voice?” here.
Watch the second video, “What do your knees have to do with your voice?” here.
Watch the third video, “What do your sit bones have to do with your voice?” here.
The link for the fourth video, “Why sitting/standing up straight isn’t helpful for the voice”, is above.