Posture is directly related to breathing. If your lungs are going to be able to empty and refill efficiently you will need to give them enough space to do so.
The lungs are two sacs contained in the ribcage. If you are bent in the back and slumped in the front, then your ribs will push down and squeeze on your lungs.
With this in mind it is important to visualise yourself standing up straight allowing your ribs to expand and contract naturally. An image that may help you is to picture your head carefully balanced on your neck, and your neck carefully balanced on your shoulders, and your shoulders carefully balanced on your back, and your back carefully balanced on your pelvis. The idea being that each section is independent of each other and should one section become imbalanced the others will follow and collapse - this is not the result we are looking for.
When doing this exercise it will help if you have access to a mirror so you can see the position of the various parts of your body e.g. head, neck, shoulders, back and pelvis.
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•Ask yourself do you look comfortable?
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•Do you look relaxed?
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•Are your shoulders high or could they relax more?
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•What is your breathing like - fast or slow, deep or shallow?
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•Do you breath with the diaphragm?
The main principles are:
Check for muscle stiffing in your body, then mentally identify them one-by-one, and try and relax these muscles by just being aware that they are stiff. For example, if your neck is stiff, do not stretch your neck or pull your head back, just focus on the area and be aware of the stiffness and then 'think' the area to relax - this may not happen immediately but over time your body awareness will develop.
To get you started a helpful image is that of a puppet on strings. If you were the puppet, and the string holding your head-up was too loose, your head would drop. With this image in mind, when you stand, sit or walk allow your head to slightly nod gently forward, but at the same time, imagine an invisible line is very gently pulling upward at the crown of your hair, as with a puppet - your neck muscles must not be stiff but they should be supporting your head, and your head is balanced on your shoulders.
While you are working on the balance of your head, check around your body and ask yourself are any of my joints stiff and if you notice there is, isolate one and just make yourself aware of it and mentally tell it to relax. Never at any time during these exercise should you try and make changes by pushing or making your body do something by means of effort.
To be aware of your posture and how your body positions itself will be a great help to you. An element that is rarely mentioned but is helpful to understand is that the human body uses a concept system called 'muscle memory'. All this means is that if you repeat a process enough times the brain and the muscles will collaborate to ensure they coordinate exactly at the right time when you need them.
Muscle memory and all the patterns we need for normal functioning are laid down in an amazing road map for the mind and body to use. What can happen overtime is that some of the roads, paths, entrances and exits have been covered up by years of bad habits and general misuse. Your job now is to clear these obstacles so that the way forward can be discovered again and the body has a chance to operate according to its design.
Now find yourself a quiet place to do the above awareness exercise and allow about ten minutes a day to get in touch with your body and posture. To help you relax make use of some soothing music, or a favourite aroma or just simple silence in a comfortable place. The key to success is awareness of the body and tuning-in to its needs.
Finally healthy singing is about good posture and good posture promotes good breathing.
Breathing is singing and singing breathing. All the elements that you need for improved singing are on the DVD.
