Read more about my journey as a singer with voice disorders and how mindfulness helped me overcome muscle tension dysphonia. I now offer mindfulness classes for others with voice disorders. The curriculum is based on my own published, peer-reviewed research.
How Mindfulness May Help People with Voice Disorders
For people with voice disorders, stress can be a causative or an exacerbating factor, potentially worsening the disorder itself and impeding treatment. People with voice disorders often experience high stress levels; social and emotional isolation; and loss, including the loss of work opportunities, sense of self, and the ability to communicate. Mindfulness meditation may help.
Article: Effects of an 8-Week Mindfulness Course in People With Voice Disorders
Benefits of Group Mindfulness for People with Voice Disorders
Did you know that practicing mindfulness in a group has been shown to produce better outcomes than practicing alone? The popular press frequently touts the health benefits of mindfulness, but rarely states that those benefits are almost always gained in group settings. If you've been practicing mindfulness on your own using recordings or an app, consider joining a class instead.
Singing and Mindfulness Meditation: Complementary Practices
If you’re a singer who is new to meditation, figuring out where to start can be overwhelming. As a voice teacher and trained mindfulness instructor, I’d like to offer some insight. Let’s start by looking at four ways that singing and mindfulness can complement each other. Then I’ll share some valuable resources that can help you start your own meditation practice.
Study: Mindfulness for People with Voice Disorders
Nearly every modern textbook on vocal pedagogy, vocal health, or the causes and treatment of voice disorders recommends stress reduction as both a preventive and therapeutic tool for voice users and patients with voice disorders. We know from extensive research in various populations that Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs) can reduce stress. Yet I have been unable to find any studies on the effects of mindfulness in people with voice disorders. I decided to run my own.
