Reduce Your Anxiety and Improve Your Overall Well-Being with Yoga, Pilates and Singing

Reduce Your Anxiety and Improve Your Overall Well-Being with Yoga, Pilates and Singing: 

It has been studied and reported for many years that yoga and music (specifically singing) can reduce anxiety, improve your overall mental health and just plain make you feel good!  NOW of all times is a good time to explore this concept!    We are all facing different challenges in this Pandemic of 2020.  Some from our work & school, others from family and friends and being responsible by staying home.  It introduces good things (more family time, time to explore hobbies, clean out the garage, get things done) and stressors (missing friends, performances being cancelled, time to enjoy our hobbies with others outside of our homes).  Both yoga and singing are said to help improve our mood and focus.  Now is a perfect time to explore the affects of Yoga, Pilates and Singing combined!

Yoga is a practice that  focuses and calms your mind, aligns your spine, improves posture, and strengthens your whole body which is all beneficial to singing.  Pilates takes mental focus in addition to strengthening your body from the inside out with much emphasis on ‘the core’ or abdominal muscles which are the powerhouse of a singer.  Both pilates and yoga are practices that help you to be more in tune with your body and pay attention to the needs and comfort of your body and mind.  Because your body is your instrument, it is essential to be in tune with it and take care of it as a singer.  It is clearly a good combination to work on your singing skills!

Singing itself releases endorphins that make us feel good.  We are seeing so many examples of how music is helping people cope and heal on social media today.  Because we all have added stresses and are adjusting to a temporary new 'normal', we can use a little extra help balancing ourselves using a combination of yoga, pilates, exercise in general and music to help our mental health.  

Lets take a moment and think about how yoga and pilates are helping our singing as well!  As a singer, your body is your instrument, so you should take care of it by exercising and eating well.  Both yoga and pilates help posture for singing.  Time is spent on body alignment, deep breathing, releasing tension within the body and mentally finding a better state of being.  Moving yourself to the mat with thy myriad of free programs available today will get you in a better frame of mind when anxiety creeps in.  Getting your body moving will calm your mind and the poses release physical tension while strengthening your muscles (and mind).  With regular practice, you will  have more control over your breath, be able to sing longer phrases, have more endurance, and feel better about yourself.   You will also be more in tune with your body and, just like an athlete, the more awareness you have over you body, the greater your success.

So, lets get moving. Try a few yoga poses to calm you brain and body.  A few of my suggestions are 

* Downward Dog and a few Sun Salutations will help you connect to your breath.  

* Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 poses to bring you empowerment and strength.  

* End with Tree to center you and lengthen the spine.  

 "Oommm" and relax and breathe.

And a few more Beginner Yoga Poses

Stay tuned for more on yoga next week!