Master Postural Confidence

POSTURE?  SINGING?  CONFIDENCE?  How are they linked?  Read on….

I greet the stranger I pass in the street; she smiles tentatively. It’s not her usual response but she obliges. Unaware of what she shows the passing world, it is clear she lacks confidence.

I notice her normal posture giving her an extra burden.
Her eyes scan the ground most of the time.

Have you any idea what extra effort it takes the whole frame to carry the head off-centre, when it is literally a head ahead of the rest of the body.

Now, no matter what this girl does or is in her life, she takes not only her weighty head but also her demeanour with her. And her unconscious feedback from her world is a poor one.

Goodbye self esteem; hello downward physical pressure. Spiraling and spiraling…..

BUT…….what else is there?

Can you force confidence? Fake it till you make it? Assume as if you are confident and you will become happy/confident? Let me play devil’s advocate!

Does it really work?

Or is it possible, forced confidence/attitude/posture comes at an expense to something else perhaps? Some ease maybe: some natural co-ordination? Elsewhere?

What does a confident person look like? Think like? Act like?

Actors and opera singers spend a lifetime perfecting characters that portray every kind of attitude with the look of hangdog to too much confidence. In their manner, their voice, their physical movements. They also spend a lifetime finding out how to ‘undo’ those characters they have been playing.

Not surprising then that actors like Dame Judy Dench and Hugh Jackman and our own New Zealand icon Jennifer Ward-Lealand (see image inset) have long used Alexander Technique to help themselves ‘reset their home buttons’ so to speak.

Thinking about self confidence which words would your best friend say describe you? By the way, there are no right answers! Just to answer for yourself.

‘Confident’, ‘strong posture’, ‘comfortable in your own skin’? Or….

….’Could be more assertive’, ‘lacking confidence’, ‘doesn’t look you in the eye’?

To grasp the gentleness of our physical structure with the need for strength in our actions, most typically singing, is a life time’s perfecting….aiming for perfection!

Being our best is not only this road we are on, it was there in the beginning!

So what is a singing body…….?

In a nutshell, it is everything to do with the moment you start your first note.

And ironically that has everything to do with confidence.

It is the weight of your head, it is your mind, the thoughts; it can even be the way you are not thinking! Limited to fear!

It is how the muscles and bones respond to the unconscious hidden thoughts.

The hips, the knees, the ankles all play a part in the WHOLE production.

I call it a production because that is what it is! But it is not acting! It is real.

Prepare to sing the first note.

Take the tension out of that first note (the whole production) first and you have confidence.

I don’t teach singing, I teach the secret of using the steadiness of the well buoyed head: The free floating torso releasing the hips and ankles – to achieve success in the fullest sense right at the start of the song.

Would you ever guess that the muscles in your hips can get in the way of a pure singing tone? That the area around the breathing bones can be overloaded with wrong perception? Causing limits to the voice?

Sometimes it is the thoughts that invade right before the start, the first moment, that dam up the flow.

I teach inner body perception, intention, releasing into action to your fullest potential.

Respect your inner structure, work towards your natural design.

Then my work starts; to discover whatever limits are holding you back. To what tightens you up.

I’m about finding, seeing another freedom, unlocking the joints of the mind…..in the body. Another journey to your highest potential.

Next week watch for my article about how to nurture and support that growing confidence in the long term.

Weekly Confidence in Voice classes start 1 February.  A great opportunity to try it out. If you are interested –  Register DETAILS HERE.

Happy singing

Jann

P.S. I give you my core life experiences here so you can benefit from my ‘roadmaps’ AND set your own inner joyful singer free.  If you enjoy my articles, sign up for Natural Vocal Freedom tips, articles and advance notice of upcoming classes