VOICE
Verse 1 - The Thread

The voice. 

It’s one of the first ways we express ourselves on entering this world. Trying it out with a scream. 

Actually, isn’t it how the world came to be at all, trying out its own voice with a big bang? Setting ripples of change forth?

Since most of us use it every day, it might feel like a well worn path. Something deeply obvious and taken for granted. Yet, if we listen in closely, we recognise that the voice holds power(s), and can reach into our innermost being in an intimate manner that has a touch of magic to it. 

Over the next three months I invite us to explore together the power and intimacy held by voice(s); to relearn what voice can be, in all its richness; to look at which voices pull our strings, and which we need/want to empower; and to reconnect to the world as breathing, speaking, and communing with us.

Each voice is so deeply unique and personal. It is much more than sound. Your voice, my voice have texture, depth and character. Almost colour, and temperature. Each and everyone has their own grain, cadence, hue, and tone. 

Think of two familiar voices.

What are their grain, cadence, hue, and tone?

Are they warm, or cold?

Flat, or do they have depth?

When we describe the very special nature of individual voices, we can hear, see and sense how no two are alike, how they feel, not just to our ears, but to the whole of our bodies. 

Some are sharp and cold, making us stiffen, and putting us on alert. Others are warm, bringing a sense of safety, care, and soothing. Some voices are like caramel slowly dripping into us. Whilst others express the resilience built through a life of struggle in their grainy fabric. 

Whatever its unique character, voice seems to penetrate and do something with us. I distinctly remember how I felt about my partner’s voice at the beginning of our relationship. Since it began as a long-distance relationship, we had lots of time to familiarise ourselves with each other's voices over the phone. And each and every time I heard him it felt like sunshine slowly pouring into me, reaching my every corner. I purred like a cat, and had the visceral feeling that the waves of his voice were playing beautiful music with the strings of my being. There was such presence manifesting through his voice alone.

Which voices fill you up with ease and joy?

The prosody (the rhythmic and intonational character) of his voice reached my nervous system in a way that was wholesome for me, that allowed me to feel safe enough to be deeply touched and experience joy. Therapists, and all those who hold confidential, nurturing spaces for others, know how much our voice communicates about our intentions and our state. If we are mindful of that prosody by regulating our breath, the rhythm of our speech and the tone in which we speak, we create an environment where trust and safety can flourish. And yes, pleasure and beauty too. 

We don’t need a pretty voice for that. Feeling grounded, safe and present matters much more. Much like the Incas had a system of threads that carried messages via an intricate code made of knots, thread length and colour called Quipus, our voice is a thread to who and how we are that we extend out to others.

Try this with me: 

Find a comfortable way to sit or stand. Take a few comfortable, slow and pleasant breaths in through the nose, and out through the mouth. You might want to sigh or yawn as you exhale.

Now with your mouth softly closed, hum until you feel like breathing in again, and notice the vibrations in your body. Repeat this a few times. 

Now let your mouth open with your lower jaw hanging loose, and make an A sound. Feel where your body vibrates now. Breath in whenever your body feels like doing so. Do this a few times. 

Then do the same with the sound O. Where do you sense the vibrations now? 

Or maybe you prefer to listen to singing, a powerful practice in its own right.

Most of us know these moments when, whether there are words or not, and even if we don’t understand them, we feel like a voice reaches into our guts, like it expresses something we carry in us, even if we don’t know what it is. This can be a tremendous release, like moving something through layers into the fresh air. 

I offer you two such audio experiences to massage your soul with the vibrancy and thread of song. 

First, a traditional Corsican song that finds the back strings of my heart, and sets them slowly on fire, galloping on the wild plains of my spirit. 

Secondly, an Icaro, a traditional shamanic song from Northern Latin America, used during ceremonies of healing associated with plant preparations. It is known as a song line.

As much as we in the West focus on the healing power of the plants, for most native people of the region the Icaros carry the real healing power, because of their ability to touch us deeply in our flesh during the experience, and to provide a thread for our mind, emotions and spirit to journey along. Hence why it is called a song line. Notice how my voice changes grain, depth, tone and cadence to paint a different emotional palette for you to explore, and notice maybe how it moves you differently with those changes.