I call myself an Expressive Voice Psychotherapist because I believe that our ability to express ourselves through our voice, is how we truly become more fully ourselves and how we build meaningful connections in our lives.
If the blocks to speaking up, are too great, we remain stuck and frozen inside, unable to bring our deepest selves into our lives, and this can be devastating.
I came across quite an interesting article blurb in a magazine recently on how using our voice can reduce inflammation.
Sing a Song
The vagus nerve, aka the 10th cranial nerve, transmits signals back and forth between the brain and gut, communicating about stress, shifts in gut bacteria, anxiety and more. It’s the driver of the parasympathetic nervous system – the “rest and digest” counterpart to fight or flight. “Toning” the vagus nerve makes it better at returning your system to balance and coming out of fight or flight. Since it enervates the throat, as well as many other organs and tissues, humming, singing, and chanting stimulate it. (Another way to trigger the calming vagus nerve? Splash your face with some cold water.)
So what exactly is MovingVoice Therapy?
One of the primary differences between MovingVoice Therapy and traditional talk therapy, is that it’s focused on paying attention to the sensations and emotions that are held in our body and giving them expression.
We don’t just talk about things. We use mindful awareness to study and heal the blocks that occur around speaking up and expressing ourselves.
The goal of MovingVoice Therapy is to build a more confident, expressive and joyful sense of Self by bringing more of our voice into the world.
How does MovingVoice Therapy help me overcome these voice blocks?
The voice gets shut down or muted, as children, by experiences where our needs were not met, and it is healed by experiences, where there is space for those same needs to be heard and understood.
In MovingVoice Therapy, we get to know these different parts of ourselves, to embody them and to give them voice. We gradually face the vulnerable parts of ourselves that have been stuck inside, lonely and confused, and we simultaneously grow the muscle of expressing the joyful and powerful parts of ourselves.
We build a stronger sense of Self, a solid ground with roots that connect us to who we truly are and long to be.
If you are (or have been) doing MovingVoice Therapy, how has it helped you to open to your true Self and voice? Reply in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!