Yoga For Singers: : Tuning Your Instrument with an Ancient Discipline

Have You Done Your “Downward Dog” Today?
If you don’t know what that means, get with the program. Yoga is where it’s at in the 21st century, and it’s not a passing fad. It pre-dates spinning, Tae Bo, Pilates and Jane Fonda by thousands of years and will probably outlast them by thousands more. There’s a good reason that yoga has been around so long—once you start practicing regularly, you’ll never want to stop. And because so much of this ancient discipline centers on breath, mental focus and core muscle strength, it’s an ideal way for singers to enhance their art through increased respiratory capacity, body awareness and concentration.

According to Susan Hurley, a voice teacher who is certified in the Ashtanga style of yoga, regular yoga practice is an excellent supplement to traditional forms of vocal training. “I remember when taking Saturday morning to practice yoga instead of singing seemed wrong, but when I did it I discovered how much better my singing was,” she says. “Everything I do now, I do better than I did before.”

Hurley attributes this jump in performance to the enhanced physical and intuitive awareness that practicing yoga has provided her. She is also more confident in her own abilities than before, which alleviates performance anxiety and improves stage presence.

Many singers today include some kind of physical exercise in their training regimen, and more are turning to yoga each day as word of its benefits gets out. Still, there seems to be a mystique about this discipline that keeps others away. What is yoga, they wonder: a religion, a metaphysical belief system, a cult that leads practitioners to worship many-armed deities? They envision a man with long hair, a beard and funny-looking clothes sitting cross-legged and barefoot on the floor and enlightening them with esoteric scripture.

Hurley says that when she started her yoga practice six years ago, she got funny looks and jokes about it from colleagues. “Yoga is not spooky or weird, as some might perceive it to be,” she says. “There’s a reason behind each practice. For people who have a concern, it’s not a religion. It was designed to deepen whatever your spiritual practice is. It’s also designed as a science—an inquiry into the nature of the body and the mind and how they interface.” Most people’s fears about doing yoga are easily dispelled with a little education.

What? Older than Jane Fonda?

Yoga started in India some five thousand or so years ago. It came to America in the 1800s and caught on in the 1960s when peace, love and mind expansion were all the rage, but it only enjoyed marginal popularity until the 1990s. As yoga moved into the mainstream, more and more people began to realize its potential to serve them both professionally and personally.

Unlike saffron- and white-robed gurus of eastern cultures, most yoga teachers in the U.S. today are “normal” looking, well-balanced people who enjoy an enviable degree of health and vigor. Naturally, as in any discipline, teachers vary widely in skill and experience. Practitioners range from children to seniors and come from backgrounds as diverse as scientists, waitresses, accountants and singers. Different people practice for different reasons—one for health, another for mental clarity, another for spiritual enlightenment and another because it’s fun to learn how to stand on your head. For singers, it can tune their instruments in marvelous ways. Many voice teachers already know this and are putting the knowledge to work for their students.

“If you really do yoga, it will help you in all areas of life,” says Suzanne Jackson, the Yoga/Relaxation teacher for the Young Artists’ Program of the Americas at Washington Opera. Jackson, who has also taught voice for fifteen years, incorporates yoga into every voice lesson. “From the first yoga class I took [in 1997], I immediately saw the application for my voice students. As I developed my own yoga practice, I began applying yoga techniques in my vocal practice and with my voice students, from the stretching and alignment to the breath work.”

I Already Know How to Stretch!

Just for the record, yoga is not stretching! It does involve stretching, but this is a small part of the overall practice, which is a combination of breathing techniques (pranayama), physical postures (asanas) and meditation (dhyana). The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit word for “join” or “merge.” The practicing yogini (female) or yogi (male) aspires to join the physical, mental and spiritual in a state of balance through exercises that open, align and strengthen the body while quieting the mind. Breath is a great facilitator and the key to achieving a meditative state. Yoga sessions can be very gentle or extremely challenging, but the key to a good practice is to leave your ego at the door and work within the limits of your own body. Since our culture is inherently competitive, and singers more than most, this can be the most difficult part.

“I teach young singers and see them judging themselves as they’re singing,” says lyric soprano Gina Crusco, who has taught voice for 20 years and yoga for six. “Yoga is a huge help to them in more freely communicating and being able to perform without judging it at the same time.”

Yoga provides singers with training that they would not otherwise receive in a traditional voice class. Posture and structural alignment of the body, for example, are often neglected in vocal training. “Through yoga you can retrain the muscles to accept a new aligned posture,” she says. “Muscles need to accept the new alignment so you’re not always in pain just trying to stand up straight.”

Dr. Judith Carman has taught voice for 35 years. She began practicing yoga seriously in 1992. Then something wonderful began to occur. She explains: “Asana practice gave me strength, flexibility for movement, and much better posture and alignment for singing. Pranayama [breathing] practice increased my lung capacity, my exhalation control, and my willpower. Humming exercises…contributed to a smooth singing tone and increased breath span. Concentration exercises improved my mental focus in singing. Meditation opened my expressive capacities.”

Carman decided to share these benefits with her voice students. She took a yoga teacher training course in 1998 and developed a specialized six-week beginner’s course called “Yoga for Singers” soon afterward. “Initially I taught the course to my own voice students and was able to track their progress in their weekly private lessons,” she says. “Following the trial course, I offered five sections per week of the courses and had a very positive response from singers and teachers of singing in Houston. I have continued to teach the course, three times in the University of Houston/Moores School of Music Continuing Education Program, and in private settings. I have also taught classes to the interns of the National Association of Teachers of Singing summer intern program (for young voice teachers).”

For her part, Crusco has practiced a gentle style of yoga called Integral Yoga since 1989. Naturally and over time, the practice has extended her breath capacity. It has also helped her deal with the difficult competitive nature of singing in a healthy way. “For me, yoga has created a much more centered state of mind and ability to deal with performance anxiety,” she says.

Baritone Peter Van Derick, who teaches voice and has an international singing career, had a similar experience. “I had many posture problems and difficulty using my body in my singing. I found the yoga helped,” he says. “The first time I did a session with my yoga teacher before I performed a concert was a revelation. It broke the physical hold that my nerves had on my muscles. I was then able to do onstage what I had been able to do in practice.”

Because there are hundreds of poses (asanas) in yoga and countless variations, teachers can design a program for singers in a myriad of ways. “Any asana requires the engagement of some body parts and relaxation of others,” says Crusco. “It’s helpful to gain a sense of mental intention over the muscles. Many of us find a way to sing quite naturally and almost unconsciously, but if we need to describe what we’re doing, it’s difficult. If you develop more awareness along the way, you’ll be able to maintain a healthy singing technique.”

In her “Yoga for Singers” classes at the Integral Yoga Institute in New York, Crusco targets four main areas: lung capacity, relieving upper body tension, posture and alignment, and handling performance anxiety. Among the exercises for improving lung capacity, she teaches “triangle pose” (Trikonasana), which expands and relaxes the muscles along the ribcage. For relieving tension in the jaw, tongue, neck and shoulders, she teaches breathing exercises such as “lion pose” (Simhasana), in which the yogi roars on the exhale and sticks the tongue out. For posture and alignment, she emphasizes bringing the shoulder blades together in exercises such as “fish pose” (Matsyasana), and for performance anxiety she recommends that singers not do any exercises that get the adrenals flowing, such as spinal twists, but rather focus on the internal experience and staying present.

In her course, Dr. Carman uses the standing postures for body alignment and postures from every group (forward bends, backward bends, sitting postures, etc.) to strengthen the instrument as a whole.

At Washington Opera’s Young Artist program, the main emphasis of Jackson’s teaching is opening the body to make space for more air, creating a sense of grounding, strengthening work for endurance, and correct alignment of the body. “Breath work and relaxation are a very important part of each class,” says Jackson. “I also work on making singers aware of the energy centers in their bodies and how these relate to singing.”

In addition to breath work inherent in all exercises, Dr. Carman utilizes humming and chanting in her course. “Humming musical exercises of all kinds, in addition to humming well-known songs on one breath, also refines the tone while extending the breath span. Focusing on the breath is an invaluable tool for singers in almost every area of singing—calming the nervous system in performance, keeping one’s technique moving smoothly, and entering into a meditative state that opens the heart for expressive and meaningful singing. Of course, the movement of the breath is the foundation of the singing act itself,” she says.

Since singers are generally aware of the breath and how it works, Jackson finds that the pranayama (breath) aspect of yoga is easy to teach. “Singers understand flowing breath and the integrity of breath in the system,” she says. “It must be complete to achieve vocal line. Breath is central to yoga just as it is central to singing.”

Though much of her yoga teaching centers on young singers, Jackson also gives private lessons to professionals of all levels. She recently traveled to New York to give a private class to Cynthia Lawrence, who was between performances at the Metropolitan Opera. And she also held a session with renowned tenor and Washington Opera artistic director, Plácido Domingo. “When I worked with Plácido, I gave him very specific kinds of stretching and relaxation exercises … and breathing and grounding exercises. He included yoga for singers in his Young Artists program at the Washington Opera one year ago and knows the value of yoga for the professional singer.”

Why Bother?

From her own experience and that of students, Jackson believes that all singers could benefit significantly from yoga, provided they find a good teacher and a style that suits their physical and emotional needs. “Also, always remember that yoga is not a competition and that you don’t have to do any poses that make your body (or vocal chords for that matter) uncomfortable,” she says. “Don’t push. Let it happen.”

Practicing yoga can bring singers greater vocal range, breath capacity, stamina and grace. It is also designed to calm the mind and improve concentration. (See accompanying article, “Suzanne Jackson on the Benefits of Yoga for Singers”) The key to realizing such positive growth, not surprisingly, is work. Like any other discipline, yoga takes commitment and effort to be effective. Though teachers vary in their recommendations, practicing daily will yield the best result.

“I recommend that singers take a course designed specifically for singers if one is available. If not, taking several regular hatha yoga classes with a good teacher would be wise, so that the singer is well grounded in the physical aspect of yoga,” says Dr. Carman. “There is no substitute for daily personal practice on one’s own, especially for singers who want to incorporate elements of singing into their yoga practice.”

But because most singers, whether students or professionals, simply do not have time to jump right into a daily practice, Jackson recommends starting off easy and accelerating the practice any way you can.

“Begin with class instruction two times a week,” she says. “To reinforce what you’ve learned in class, some sort daily follow-up is beneficial, even if it’s just ten minutes. Like vocal practice, the more you do it, the easier it is to tap into, and the more deeply ingrained the benefits become. As long as the body remains open and relaxed, do as much yoga as possible. With practice, it will become a part of your daily life, inside and outside of class.”

Suzanne Jackson on the Benefits of Yoga for Singers

Suzanne Jackson is the Yoga/Relaxation teacher for The Washington Opera’s Young Artists Program of the Americas. She works with students and professional singers, teaching weekly classes and creating yoga routines specifically tailored to their needs. Jackson has produced a video, “Yoga for Singers and Performers,” released in March of 2003. “Yoga provides a focused way to take care of the physical self, allowing singers to give much more in performance without being depleted emotionally or physically,” she says. Suzanne and her students have experienced the following benefits from practicing yoga on a regular basis:

Physical: Greater balance, flexibility, stamina, endurance, strength, and a boosted immune system (yoga poses stimulate the lymphatic system which in turn increases the immune function).

Mental: Stress reduction, relaxation, concentration and focus, and more freedom to create.

Emotional: Yoga promotes positive attitudes and thinking, and singers want to be in a balanced, positive frame of mind for optimal performance. When the body is relaxed, the emotions are as well. Yoga helps singers to be at home in and comfortable with their bodies.

Creative: Physical and mental freedom increase creativity in moment. As you increase the strength and fluidity of the body, you will reduce tension while increasing resonance and ease in technique. The part of the mind that usually goes to technique now can go to the imagination and allow greater focus on the art.

Spiritual: Yoga poses open up the “chakra” (energy) system along the spine. Because the yoga practitioner experiences a heightened sense of well-being, new opportunities arise, and the ability to create a more multi-leveled, dynamic performance increases.

As singers open up the ribcage and chest, they also open up the heart energy center, and this increases emotional availability for singing. Singers naturally open up their hearts each night; you hear it in their voices and see it in their faces. One singer can ignite the entire cast and audience with an open heart.

Schools of Hatha Yoga

Yoga’s ultimate goal is to bring the individual into harmony with the “big picture.” What that big picture is will be different for everyone: it may be the universe, nature, a Supreme Being, collective oneness, or the ultimate principle. It may be religious, and it may be a simple search for peace and health. While some Western teachers incorporate a spiritual element into their yoga instruction, most of the classes available to you or me focus mainly on the physical aspects, or hatha yoga.
Ha, Ha, Huh?

Hatha—the most common form of yoga practiced in our material world—is the physical branch of yoga that entails exercise, breathing and meditation. There are many different styles, or schools, of hatha. The best a beginning yogi can do is try the various styles and find one (or more) that fit his lifestyle and fitness level. Check it out:

Ananda: Om, shanti, shanti, shanti. Ananda yoga, a preparation for meditation, is both physical and spiritual. It emphasizes the tensing and energizing of muscles followed by deep relaxation.

Anusara: Go with the flow and open your heart to joy. Anusara is a relatively new school of yoga, developed in 1997, that emphasizes muscular energy and follows “Ultimate Principals of Alignment.” Due to its positive philosophy and ability to bring yogis to new skill levels in their practice, this heart-centered yoga system is growing in popularity.

Ashtanga: Prepare to tremble and sweat! Ashtanga, developed by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, is the most intense and rigorous style of hatha yoga. It involves synchronizing the breath with a progressive series (vinyasa) of postures designed to build heat in the body and purify the system. Whew!

Choudhury Yoga (Bikram—Yoga College of India): Did someone leave the heat on? For those who like to sweat, Choudhury yoga will do the trick. In temperatures of 80 degrees or more, practitioners do a series of 26 postures that stretch and tone the whole body, and then repeat the series. If you like a challenge, go for it!

Integral: You can have it all. Integral yoga is a smorgasbord of yoga practices—physical exercises, breathing, meditation, service to others, prayer, chanting and self-knowledge. It has a more internal than physical focus.

Iyengar: Oooooh, accessories! From the teachings of yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar, this challenging style emphasizes correct alignment and attention to detail. You’ll use props (blankets, bolsters, straps, blocks and chairs) to support your postures, extend your spine and achieve symmetry.

Kripalu: Discover your inner yogi. Kripalu is introspective and gentle. It is a meditative, continuous flow of postures designed to guide the student to a deeper awareness of the body, mind, and spirit.

Kundalini: Better than a triple mocha grande. This ancient method taps into the source of divine energy, or Kundalini, present in every human by combining intense breathing exercises with postures, meditation and chanting.

Sivinanda: All that and a bowl of lentils! Sivinanda aims to develop physical, mental and spiritual health through proper exercise, breathing, relaxation, diet and positive thinking. Sun salutes, breath exercise, chanting…all there.

Viniyoga: It’s all about you, honey. Viniyoga adapts to the specific physical and emotional needs of each individual. It emphasizes developing a personal practice using postures, breathing, meditation, ritual and prayer.

Judith Carman holds Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in vocal performance and pedagogy and has taught singing and related subjects both at the university level and in the private studio for over 35 years. She has practiced yoga for ten years and has completed 100 hours of teacher training, holding a teacher certification from the Yoga Institute of Houston. Dr. Carman designed the course “Yoga for Singers” and has taught classes since October 1999, including classes in the University of Houston/Moores School of Music Continuing Education Division. In June of 2002, she taught four “Yoga for Singers” classes to the interns in the Summer Intern Program of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and also conducted a “Yoga and Singing” workshop at Boise State University (Idaho). In July 2002, she presented a paper on yoga and singing at the national convention of The National Association of Teachers of Singing in San Diego. Dr. Carman writes the regular Music Review column for the NATS Journal of Singing and is the editor of Art Song in the United States, 1759—1999: An Annotated Bibliography, Third Edition (Scarecrow Press, 2001).

Suzanne Jackson has been the Yoga/Relaxation teacher for The Washington Opera’s Young Artist Program of the Americas since March 2002. She also teaches students aged 10-14 and 15-19 during WO’s summer youth programs. She teaches weekly classes to students and professional singers and creates yoga routines specifically tailored to their needs. In November 2002, she worked with Plácido Domingo during The Washington Opera’s production of Idomeneo. Plácido’s son, Álvaro Domingo, produced Suzanne’s video, “Yoga for Singers and Performers” (released in March 2003). Suzanne holds a Master of Music in vocal performance from The University of Maryland and is a certified Kripalu Dancekinetics and Yogarhythmics teacher. She has been singing with The Washington Opera Chorus since 1988 and has also worked with The Baltimore Opera and Summer Opera Theater in Washington, DC. She will conduct a “Yoga for Singers” workshop and retreat at the Coolfont Spa and Wellness Center in Berkeley Springs,West Virginia, June 13-15, 2003.