The power of your voice

Some books sit on my shelf for years and then one day, out of the blue, they pop back and call me to pick them up. This usually happens at a time on my journey where there is a certain lesson I need to learn or the Universe sends a reminder which offers reassurance that I am on the right track. 

I bought a book titled “The Alchemy of Voice” back in 2006. The author Stewart Pearce, who is a voice and presence coach, was recently a guest on a talk show I follow. He was speaking about his book “Diana the voice of change” released in 2020 based on the work he had done with the late Lady Diana to help her find her authentic voice. After watching the interview I remembered the book I had bought and it’s only when I found it that I realized it’s actually written by the same author. 

Pearce confirms through his work that our voice carries its own special note; we need to “find our authentic voice, the voice of change that resonates within the core of our whole being, assisting us to live our soul’s purpose”. He says that “our voice is our identity in sound. It is far more than just a means with which to communicate our thoughts and feelings; it is the expression of our integrity and individuality in the world.”

“Developmental, Educational, environmental and geographic factors affect the voice we may form”. He has a whole section in the book on how these factors affect our voice and it is fascinating. I will not go into it here but highly recommend reading it in detail if you get the book. 

Here are some excerpts from the book to introduce what I will share next about my personal journey.

“The breathy voice of the shy, withheld person, the cracking voice of someone in fear or under stress, […] are all clear illustrations of a person who is not emotionally or physically balanced and in good health. Similarly, if a person places their voice solely in the head a cerebral quality is communicated, rather than the rich, passionate warmth of emotional resonance that is heard from one who speaks from the heart”. 

“The voice reflects our innermost feelings.” When people cannot produce the sound they desire, “it Is largely because they have unresolved painful feelings created by past experiences and are out of balance with themselves.”

“The psychoanalyst Carl Jung referred to the throat as ‘the ring of fear’, an observation derived from his […] interaction with human trauma. He was referring to the closing of the sphincter muscles in the trachea, larynx and pharynx, which occurs during trauma.” 

“Obviously, when we are physically challenged by stress or trauma, our voice reflects the internal pressure that we are experiencing” 

“If an individual is in pain, the whole body contracts on a muscular level. It is difficult to breathe fully and deeply, and as a result the voice becomes thin or shrill, existing in the head and not the area where the pain is felt.” So just imagine what chronic stress can do to our body and as a result the quality of our breathing and our voice.

In the book, the author basically shows us how we can direct and heal our life through sound by finding our 'personal signature note'. Reading this made me realize that I have been on a journey to find my personal signature note since I was a little girl.

I always felt my voice is my gift. I started singing at a very young age and people connected to my speaking voice through my work. I remember that a client at the first organization I ever worked for in my early twenties liked my voice so much that he asked me to record the greeting on their new telephone system. 

Growing up I also felt I was the voice of those who cannot speak for themselves. I was always defending my friends and standing up for those who I felt were unjustly treated and getting in trouble because of it; so much so that my parents thought I would become a lawyer.

Connecting to my purpose, healing layers of trauma, standing in my truth and centering my life at the core of my being have been my journey to finding my voice and anchoring it in authenticity. I remember as I went through my own transformation over the last 10 years, the quality of the coaching and facilitation I offered started to change. I didn’t need to convince people to work with me anymore; I would speak, and they would listen with deep attention and curiosity. But because I speak authentically from my heart and a place of knowing, people just connect to what I have to say and they feel the pull to work with me. In that given moment, the note my voice sends strums on the strings of their heart. A heart-centered voice vs. a heady empty voice of the ego just trying to tell the person in front of me how much knowledge I have. Their soul resonates with what I am saying and they just know that I am the one who can guide them now on this phase of their journey. 

Voice and breath are intertwined. The more breath you breathe into your life the deeper and stronger your voice. 

Through my journey of embodiment and the newfound connection to my body, I started to realize that my breathing had become shallow over the years and that at times it was harder for me to speak. So I decided to improve it and engaged the trainers and body workers I was working with on this journey of reconnecting with my breath. Then I joined a choir and I am now training with a voice coach to prepare my first solo in years which I will be performing in June. Breathing exercises are an essential part of singing. When the breathing is correct, it blows life into one’s voice and the voice comes out bolder, louder and more powerful. 

People who have been on a spiritual journey, people who guide meditations and mystical teachers often have a voice that invites deeper brain wave activation, and offers so much velvety smoothness that you just want to dive into it and allow this voice to rock you. My first ever meditation teacher called this the alpha voice, in reference to the alpha brainwave. When I work with experienced facilitators of transformation in our field, I hear wisdom and depth in their voice and a part of me recognizes the journey they’ve been on because it reverberates connections to my own. 

I love writing these articles because they help me connect the dots on my own journey as well as create associations for my readers between different elements of study, which are in this case, the voice, the breath, authenticity and purpose. This newsletter is actually another way for me to use my voice and connect with you.

Before I sign off this week, here are a couple of questions I would like to leave you with:

If your voice is your signature and your identity in sound, what does it say about you?

How are you using the power of your voice today to live a life of authenticity and purpose? 

Looking forward to reading some of your comments!