Singing\u2019s all about showing our feelings, and risking being vulnerable in front of others. And it only works when we\u2019re truthful about our feelings. \u00a0So \u00a0there\u2019s an obvious catch 22 here. We need to be vulnerable to move an audience, and that\u2019s often the thing we\u2019re often most scared of.<\/p>\n
The courage has to come from us, initially. \u201cFeel the fear and do it anyway\u201d. \u00a0Let yourself suck and trust your intuition to guide you through.<\/p>\n
Being a really great singer, which means a true communicator and story teller, takes a lot of practice and commitment if you\u2019re starting from scratch.<\/p>\n
You have to really want to do it, and be prepared to succeed and fail many times along the way. \u00a0But it\u2019s all worth it for those times you truly connect, truly commit.<\/p>\n
In essence, you\u2019re bringing a room together. \u00a0In these times when people can be so separated from each other as we stare at our devices, bringing a room together creates a feeling of community, however brief. \u00a0And we all need that, however much the ego tells us it\u2019s not important:)<\/p>\n
If you reach a place of mastery, that\u2019s when it gets really fun. \u00a0I\u2019m not saying I\u2019m a master, but I\u2019ve had glimpses of it, and it feels wonderful.<\/p>\n
The best results are created when you come from a true place when performing, whilst observing what you\u2019re doing at the same time.<\/p>\n
Which means, trusting yourself and your choices. \u00a0You know you can chose whatever emotion you want to, and this feeling is something that\u2019s just moving through us and is gone, so in some way isn\u2019t us at all. \u00a0In other words, not holding on to the performance. \u00a0We sing it, express the emotion, then let it go, ready for the next one.<\/span><\/p>\n The ego, however, hates all this stuff. It hates being in the moment. \u00a0That brings freedom and that\u2019s risky:) \u00a0It hates us getting out of our own way \u2013 where\u2019s the safety in that? \u00a0It wants us to stay stuck in the head. \u00a0And wants to talk us out of getting out of our comfort zones\/into the body in any way, shape or form.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also \u00a0always looking to the future, telling us it\u2019s looking out for our safety, which ultimately makes for a safe, stuck, small performance.<\/p>\n But, these types of reactions are normal, everyone has them, and we face these types of challenges every day. They\u2019re simply heightened when performing. \u00a0We might mess up in any number of ways, \u00a0and that\u2019s potentially terrifying.<\/span><\/p>\n Be gentle with yourself\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n So we should be gentle with ourselves when we approach singing, even though the fear that comes up can be overwhelming.<\/p>\n Overcoming it is a process, and denying it merely makes it worse. You can\u2019t order the ego to do anything, it\u2019ll just double down in my experience.<\/p>\n We need to bide our time, all the while gently suggesting a new way. \u00a0\u201cI know we used to be completely overwhelmed by the fear of performing, \u00a0but how about taking a derp breath now, and taking the attention down to the heart. How about feeling the ground beneath our feet, ego. How about taking another deep breath and feeling like we\u2019re in a protective bubble. See, it\u2019s not so bad. We\u2019re safe, you don\u2019t have to panic to protect me. I got your back, we\u2019re safe. Let\u2019s take this one moment at a time\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ego vs Spirit\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In this way, you move from ego into spirit and take charge. \u00a0Try taking your attention down to the heart as you do this, and notice the difference:)<\/p>\n In this way, you create your own boundaries.<\/p>\n When we\u2019re in our spirit, our source energy, we know it. \u00a0We don\u2019t take the experience so seriously, we don\u2019t take ourselves so seriously, we allow ourselves to fail, and we simply show up for the experience.<\/p>\n We might continually tense up and have to talk ourselves down, but if we\u2019re clear about what we want to achieve, the space to get into (simply being in the heart, no thought, just showing up for the experience), we will<\/em> get there.<\/p>\n Our ego tells us that we\u2019re trying to be the center of attention and showing off; we\u2019ve no right to be there, and that everyone else is judging us in some way or other. They may well be true:) \u00a0So what? \u00a0Ultimately, we\u2019re not doing it for them. Yes, most people want to be entertaining and be loved, to be the star of their own film.<\/p>\n And the fear that they might fail at that, and then have to deal with said failure, can once again be overwhelming.<\/p>\n We\u2019re doing it for ourselves\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n But the real truth is, with singing, we\u2019re ultimately doing it for ourselves. We\u2019re in our bodies, enjoying communicating with ourselves.<\/p>\n We\u2019re also exercising the diaphragm, which is usually tense and mangled up, because of all the controlling we\u2019re \u2018having\u2019 to do in our daily lives, and it feels so great to let go and simply enjoy it, take it our for a spin and \u00a0let our feelings flow freely (much easier to write than to say:)<\/p>\n When we sing from a relaxed, connected diaphragm it just feels great.<\/p>\n Trust yourself\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n At this point we: trust ourselves and our intuition, our bodies and minds working together. It feels effortless. We laugh off the mistakes, noting the place in the song so that we can go back at a different time and work on that part (away from the song) until we have that part right.<\/p>\n So, to recap, we have to fake it till we make it. Allow our selves to be the center of attention. It\u2019s not narcissism, but self respect.<\/p>\n If the song is sung with narcissistic movitation, then it won\u2019t move the audience, and you\u2019ll feel that something is wrong.<\/p>\n When we really connect, we\u2019ve gotten out of our own way, expressing our true inner selves.<\/p>\n And by so doing, we\u2019re simply being a channel.<\/p>\n And when you do this, YOU\u2019RE BEING BRAVE, A WARRIOR. KNOW THAT FOR YOURSELF!<\/p>\n So we owe it to ourselves to work towards being \u201ccentered\u201d, and if that\u2019s hard to find, to know that finding it is a process.<\/p>\n Do nothing<\/strong><\/p>\n The first thing is to know that you don\u2019t have do <\/em>anything. Simply <\/span>being<\/em> is enough. Practice simply being on stage; imagining it first of all, then work towards being it on stage.<\/span><\/p>\n Step by step<\/strong><\/p>\n The way in us to first speak the lyrics of a song, like a poem. Try to find a few different ways to say them, like an actor finding the subtext. Imagine you\u2019re different people, each with a different story speaking the lines for example. Make them real for yourself. Feel them.<\/span><\/p>\n Connect with the diaphragm and sacral point through the heart, feel your inner energy, say the lines again. Then sing the song from there. Obviously, do this when there\u2019s no one else around at first, since this can be challenging, but just try and sing the song from a real place, what it really means to you, how you\u2019ve always imagined you\u2019d wanted to sing it. Then get used to singing from there. Sing through your repertoire, and start to feel how it feels to go there automatically, and that it isn\u2019t so challenging, just a learnt response.<\/span><\/p>\n Most often when we sing a song from a real place, as ourselves, with no frills, trusting our bodies and instincts, it works out. \u00a0Allowing ourselves to just be authentic. \u00a0We know how to do it, and that, intrinsically, we\u2019ve always known how to do it.<\/p>\n Learn to connect with the diaphragm and sing from the sacral point (about 2 inches below the belly button, in the center of the body (the \u201criver of energy\u201d, as described in Level 2.<\/p>\n When you sing from a place of trust, with the energy centered in the heart, it all works out. And we also know when we\u2019re blocking, and the mind is getting in the way, and when we\u2019re trusting, and truthfully connecting:) <\/span><\/p>\n And that some times you\u2019ll feel you\u2019ve connected , and sometimes you\u2019ll suck, but that\u2019s the path of the warrior. Because in truth, when creating music it\u2019s all the moment, the here and now, and simply trying to stay in it.<\/span><\/p>\n The monkey mind might take to the other side of the Universe in a second if you mess up, but if that happens simply refocus and choose to be in the moment again, energy centered in the heart.<\/p>\n Related articles:<\/p>\n
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