Vocal Health Exercises for Music Therapists
As a music therapist, your voice is one of your most important tools. Since you spend much of your day singing, speaking, and engaging clients, maintaining vocal health is essential for both your impact and longevity in your work. But vocal health isn’t only about what happens in your vocal cords. You might not even realize how big of a role stress in your body plays on your vocal health. So, whether you sit or move around most of the day, this blog post will leave you with some gentle stretches and exercises that aim to:
-Loosen stiffness
-Alleviate strain
-Improve circulation
-Encourage proper posture
-Facilitate breathing and diaphragm use
-Promote mind-body connection
All of these factors will positively impact the health of your voice, ultimately helping to prevent vocal strain and injury. Many of these can be incorporated into your work with clients, too!
Upper Body Exercises
Overhead Stretch
Interlock hands above your head.
Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth, and notice your rib cage expanding.
Lean gently to one side, breathing into your side ribs.
Switch sides after a few breaths.
Neck and Back Stretch
Place your hands behind your neck and wing your elbows back.
Lean back slightly through your upper back.
Hold the position and take several deep breaths in through your chest, feeling the stretch in your sternum.
Bend forward and take several breaths into your middle back.
Shoulder Rolls
Place your fingertips on top of your shoulders.
Gently roll your shoulders backward, letting your elbows “wing” back as your shoulders move
Repeat several circular motions backwards.
Switch to forward rolls.
Neck Rolls
Tilt head gently to one side, stretching through your neck.
Make slow, circular “rolling” motions with your head in each direction.
Initially, you may feel tension. Regular stretching throughout the day will help your body loosen up, and allow you to feel more present in your body.
Posture & Alignment Exercises
Posture and Presence
This particular exercise was shared with us by a speaker in one of our monthly Music For Kiddos Community Calls, Katy Pfaffl. It is a physical therapy exercise that she takes one step further to promote mind-body connection.
Whether seated or standing, lift your shoulders straight up towards the ceiling.
Swim your palms back towards the wall behind you with your arms at about a 45-degree angle.
Feel your shoulders rotate and shoulder blades push back.
Bring your shoulders back down.
“At this point, notice where your neck is. It is probably sticking out forward. Now notice where your feet are and take a breath. Repeat the exercise, making sure to breathe and staying aware of your neck and your feet. Close your eyes if that is helpful.
If you do this exercise with kids, you could follow it up by having them walk around the room. As they walk, encourage them to keep that posture with their heads up, making eye contact with one another. This actually really, really helps with confidence.” -Katy
Posture Strengthening
Dr. Josh, Doctor of Physical Therapy, demonstrates an exercise that addresses both the tightness and weakness involved in poor posture.
Breathing Exercise
To remind your body how your diaphragm works and to activate it:
Take a big, deep breath through your nose.
Exhale through several short hisses.
Feel your belly activate naturally.
Continue for several breaths.
With one more inhale, exhale as long as you can through one long hiss
Once out of air, take a big open mouth breath
Have your young clients be snakes or dogs to make this exercise more fun!
This brings awareness to your lung capacity and all of the space in your abdomen and rib cage. Stress tightens intercostal muscles, making breathing difficult. This exercise helps relieve that tension.
Massages
For Your Larynx
Place two fingers on each side of your larynx, pressing gently to move up and down the length of your throat.
Gently push against your upper larynx, moving it side to side.
For Your Jaw
Gently massage the space under your ears where your jaw hinges.
Turning palms toward the wall behind you, place the bones just below your pinkies into that same space under your ears. Press into the space and slide your hands slowly down the full length of your jaw, breathing through any tension you might feel.
These massages and stretches from @maurice_goodwin target the larynx, jaw, and tongue!
Straw Bubble Slides
Place a straw into the water or warm tea you are hydrating yourself with.
Blow gentle bubbles through the straw.
Add a soft pitch to your bubbles.
Slide your pitch up and down for several breaths.
Try incorporating these exercises into your daily warmups and cool-downs.
Let us know in the comments which ones you love, or what exercises you already utilize that work well!
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