By Frank Bublitz
Singing, it is said, is just fast talking. That’s right in a sense, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.
A singer actually uses his or her entire body to sing well. You can benefit from doing the same thing. It’s good for you and takes very little time to learn.
Here’s what Christina Menaldi, PhD, taught me to do to sing from mu diaphragm:
1. Step back to a flat wall. Put your ankles against the toe kick.
2. Lean the small of your back against it as long as you are not in pain
3. Place your hands across your abdomen. Your diaphragm is in the midrange
4. Breathe in and feel your diaphragm rise.
5. Breathe out and feel your diaphragm fall.
6. Keep doing that for at least a minute.
7. Step away from the wall, keeping your posture in the starting position
One of my favorite singers, Clay Aiken, showed how to check your diaphragm’s position and function. He would reach dramatically for his midriff and belt. He was making sure his diaphragm was in the correct position. His dramatic move, placing his hand on his midriff, made sure his lungs were being supported.
Singers must also take a proper stance, feet no more than shoulder length apart, and keep their knees relaxed. When you are standing for a long time at work, talking to customers or shouting over factory noise, you can do the same thing.
The hidden trick that singers use to calm themselves as the perform for thousands of people, or their favorite audience of one, is to breathe in this manner. It releases your tension and allows you to push air through the throat more easily.
People with anxiety, even panic disorders, can do the same thing to help them cope with their tremendous anxieties. The more relaxed you are, and the more help your diaphragm gives you to control your breathing, the less panic you will feel.
Breathing this way also allows you to focus your mental energy, lower high blood pressure along with medicine, and has other health benefits I don’t cover here. Before you say you can’t do this, or don’t have enough time, remember this.
There are 1,440 minutes in a day. The exercise I wrote for you takes 3 to 5 minutes morning and evening. That leaves you 1,380 minutes left to eat, work, play, and sleep.
Use your time wisely!
