Photo by Vlada Ivanova on Unsplash
unpolished thoughts 2/3/2019
Would you like to be able to speak more powerfully?
Are you willing to try an experiment?!
Before you begin:
Read this sentence aloud and listen to the quality of your voice as you do so. Also notice any sensations in your face, your throat, and your chest as you speak.
When you get to the end of this experiment, you can do this again to see if anything has changed.
The experiment:
Pick one word out of what you see here and say it slowly and silently to yourself as you continue reading.
Become aware of the shapes you are making with your mouth, the feeling of moving your lips and your tongue.
Make sure that you continue breathing as you do this – feel that the air continues flowing in and out of your nostrils without any need to strain.
That’s good – let go of it for a moment and just continue breathing.
Can you feel where the air enters your mouth?
There are two small opening towards the back of your mouth, one on each side. The air enters your nostrils then passes through these openings before descending down your throat.
Perhaps you notice that the feeling of the air flowing into the mouth is clearer on one side. You could try covering one nostril at a time to isolate the air flow to sense this more clearly.
Imagine this whole journey that the air takes, entering your nose, the back of your mouth, then falling down your throat. From your windpipe, the bronchioles branch out – tens of thousands of tiny branches – into your lungs on the left and the right.
When you inhale, do you seem to expand more in your chest or more in your abdomen? More on the left or more on the right?
Now that you have a clearer sense of your breath, return to silently repeating the one word you were working with before, without interrupting the easy flow of your breathing.
Are you tensing somewhere in your throat, your face, your chest, or your belly that isn’t necessary?
If you notice yourself tightening somewhere that doesn’t help you in your silent mantra, then perhaps you can let go of it.
Pause for a moment, then choose a new word that you see here somewhere and begin silently repeating that word instead.
Notice what’s different about how you use your mouth than when you played with the first word. For a clearer comparison, alternate between the two words as you go along.
As you go through this experiment, you can take a rest at any moment. Anything you are doing that is unfamiliar will become a strain if you do it too quickly or too many times.
The idea here is not that you are doing something mechanical to make something stronger.
Instead you are doing something with your attention in order to become aware of things you usually don’t notice.
Let’s make this a little more interesting.
Stop the movements of your mouth and slowly turn your head from the front to the side a few times. Turn only a small, comfortable amount. Don’t strain in any way.
Place finger tips on the side of your neck and notice how you lengthen the muscles on one side and contract on the other. Feel how the skin stretches on your throat.
After a few times, pause.
Now, keep looking forward, but swivel your shoulders in the direction you were just looking. That means if you were looking to the right, move the right shoulder back and the left shoulder forward – but don’t turn your head!
After a few times, pause.
Now do those things together. Turn your shoulders and head together and notice if you can turn further without discomfort.
Continue to move slowly and notice: as you turn your head and shoulder – are you shifting your weight over your base?
Pause.
Does one side of your neck feel different than the other? Does one side of your face feel different than the other?
Ready to take this one step further?
Turn your head and shoulders again to the same side and stay there in that twisted position.
Listen to your breathing again, imagining the twisted shape in your throat as the air descends into your lungs.
Now, in this position, return to silently whispering your two words, being sure not to interrupt your breathing.
Pause.
Then go back to the same thing – still twisted to the side, still saying these words, but now whisper the words out loud.
How does this change the feeling in your throat and chest?
To compare, go back and forth between silently mouthing the words and whispering them out loud.
OK – just one last thing, a question:
Are you whispering on the inhalation as well as the exhalation?
It’s entirely possible to whisper on the inhale because you are not vibrating the vocal folds. You are making these sounds by shaping the air.
Find out if you can continue whispering as you inhale and exhale, without stopping.
How do you have to change your lips and tongue in order to make the whispering words sound (almost) the same whether you are breathing in or out?
Play with this as long as you are still interested, staying twisted to the same side.
Then pause and feel again the difference between the two sides of yourself.
If you have a little saliva in your mouth, or some liquid nearby, swallow – and notice if you feel something different on one side of your throat compared to the other.
If you’d like to take this further, you’ll find more suggestions below.
Note: You may be tempted to work on the other side first, to “even yourself out.”
That’s fine – but it’s not necessary – your brain loves the one-sided experience because sensing differences is the basis of all learning!
More experiments
Playing with the mouth:
– speak out loud in a normal voice (compare the sensations to whispering or mouthing words silently)
– speak in super-slow motion, exaggerating the mouth shapes into full-fledged cartoon expressions
– “Speak” with your mouth closed (the lips can move – or not). Don’t worry about pronouncing anything clearly, and don’t strain. Just find out what it’s like
– Make the speaking movements out of the corner of your mouth on one side, doing your best to keep the lips together on the other side
Playing with turning:
– Turn your head and shoulders to the side and stay there. Then turn your head back and forth towards the middle without moving your shoulders
– Turn your head and shoulders to the side and stay there. Without moving your head, move your eyes a little bit left and right.
– Do movements of the shoulders, head, and eyes from the middle to the side. Play with different ways of moving from these places in opposition to each other (eg. head and shoulders move together, eyes move opposite).
Playing with combinations
– Do turning movements and mouth movements simultaneously. Make the turning super slow so you can feel the changing shape of your throat as you go.
– Turn from side to side, playing with one vocal strategy on one side and a different vocal strategy on the other.
If you made it this far, and you actually tried out some of this experiment, please leave a comment about what you experienced!
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I stopped experimenting with the options when I started yawning for a minute or two, not because I was at all bored, but because my breathing was so interrupted.
Knowing when you’ve had enough is certainly crucial to having a good experience with this kind of experimentation!
Thanks for checking this out, Irene!