Considerations for Vocal Health Part II

Considerations for Vocal Health Part II Suzy S. Last week, Long Beach instructor Jim S. shared some tips to help ensure top performance when it comes to your vocal health.   However, there’s even more to it than just nutrition and keeping yourself hydrated. Read on for Part II of the article and even more considerations that will protect you from vocal challenges: Use a Neti Pot for nasal irrigation twice a day: A Neti Pot is the safest way of clearing out your sinus passages. You can find Neti Pots in most health food stores and pharmacies. This is a much better and safer way to keep sinus passages open compared to using ocean spray inhalers or over-the-counter nasal inhalers such as Afrin. Anything you shoot up your sinuses has the possibility of forcing mucous further into the passages, as well as causing sinus irritation or re-infection. I use a Neti Pot twice daily even when I feel great. You’d be surprised to find out the amount of pollution most of us are breathing daily! Even though I live oceanfront in Long Beach, CA, smog and brush fires are sometimes in the air, as well as pollution from the harbor and high pollen counts. Choose an ionic/ozone air filter for your home: I prefer Ecoquest’s Living Air Classic. HEPA filters can actually put pollution back into the air once they are filled up. Ionic filters zap particles out of the air and can help keep mold, dust and germ levels way down. This is especially helpful to singers suffering from respiratory illnesses, asthma or chronic allergies. Choose a good water filtration system for drinking and shower water: Our drinking water is especially important. Choose spring water with minerals, alkaline balanced or oxygenated water, or put a filter on your tap. I also suggest bathing in filtered water, as hot water can penetrate through pores, which means we’re getting low levels of chlorine, lead, mercury and other toxins. Over time this can build up in the body and cause challenges. Avoid yelling, screaming and excessive talking on the telephone. It is advisable to rest your voice, especially if you are in an opera or musical theater production and have long hours of rehearsals. Same would be true for those in school/university or church choirs, or soloists who work regularly. Of course, exercise is also an integral part of your vocal health, since as singers we rely on our lungs to provide support for our voices.   Consider these exercise tips to take it one step further: Yoga breath work and Meditation: I make all my singers do a bare minimum of 20 minutes of breath work daily. Gentle Hatha yoga is a great place to start. Yoga breathing techniques can be your greatest asset in strengthening your lungs, developing vocal power and projection, and preventing illness and injury. Here is a list of a few of my favorite breathing techniques to aid in your development: Gentle Hatha: Breathing diaphragmatically in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4. This helps to slow your breathing and it also strengthens the diaphragm. Breath of Fire: This is a Kundalini yoga technique used to tone and strengthen the lungs and sinuses, as well as detox the whole body. Look for video illustrations on YouTube to help you get familiarized with the concept. Bikram Breath: This posture and breath has helped many of my beginning singers to double their power and sound in a few weeks. It also helped me in my early teens to completely rid myself of chronic asthma. Bikram is a form of hot yoga. You can find videos on YouTube, or simply Google Bikram to find studios that teach pranayama (breath work) in your area. Other great forms of exercise include swimming and brisk walks. Readers, what other ways do you supplement your vocal health, beyond the basics?   Leave a comment below, or stop by our Facebook page to join the discussion! Sign up for email updates here! Join thousands of other subscribers and get emails catered to your music interests with advice, tips and more! James S. teaches piano, singing, violin, mandolin, music performance, music recording, music theory, opera voice, songwriting, speaking voice, theatrical Broadway singing, acting and fiddle lessons to students of all ages in Long Beach, CA.   He joined the TakeLessons team in June 2012.   Sign up for lessons with James, or visit TakeLessons to search for a teacher near you! Photo by Unfurled.