Your vocal coach is BACK!! Well, not quite... still travelling home from my wonderful vacation in St. Augustine, Florida with my husband. Oh my, what a wonderful thing it is to be back at my precious ocean. I have been happily singing under my breath for the first time in a long time.

Vocally speaking, I noticed the correlation between people's posture and their speaking tones. It's incredible how differently human voices sound when they are sufficiently supported by breath. At one restaurant near the ocean in "Old Town" (where I had mahi-to-die-for), I noticed an otherwise beautiful young girl so hunched over she looked like a clam. I told my husband I wanted to poke her in the upper back (you students of mine will recognize this tendency I have) so she could lift her ribcage and breath. My husband suggested I let the urge pass :) I also heard many waitresses with razor thin, brittle "can I get you anything else" 's.

It takes energy and awareness to assume the open, flexible posture which automatically causes better breath support and control. Do yourself a favor. Count to 10, loud. Now ask someone you trust to poke you in the back, right in the middle about an inch below your shoulderblades. Respond by moving your spine forward there, opening your ribcage and giving you a tad bit more height. Try counting to 10, loud, in this posture. What do you notice?

If you're doing it properly, you'll notice that you actually breathed deeper and your throat should have felt just a bit less constricted.

Now pass it on... go poke somebody else!

PS... I'll be back in my office Tuesday Oct. 16th with a little sand in my suitcase and calipso in my head... see ya soon!