Breathing is a HOT topic at the moment
There are experts doing the rounds on podcasts talking about how we are all breathing incorrectly. And whilst I agree that many of us could breathe more efficiently, and there are clear health benefits to this, sometimes overthinking our most basic reflex can make things worse and create distrust and anxiety in our own body!
It is a contentious subject, and advice seems to be contradicting at frustratingly complicated. What I do know is that singing and quite frankly the whole respiratory system is a flipping miracle, and the design of the human body is AMAZING! What the brain and body coordidate to make a sound is astounding, and for most totally automatic. For many, be it through asthma, injury, long covid etc, breathing can be frustratingly difficult. There is help out there! Speech therapy, vocal coaches, manual therapy etc.
I do think that singers can get into a pickle when it comes to breathing and feel that we drag in what feels like gallons of air to sing a long phrase, powerful or higher note.
In many cases I think we can take in too much air, contributing to either a super breathy sound, or a ton of sub-glottal pressure (feels like you are holding your breath).
Whilst we do need more air when we are singing compared to passive breathing, if it is very forced, laboured and audible we might tire out the vocal cords.
Lets Check in:
How does my breathe feel when I’m
- Resting?
- Speaking?
- Singing?
When I’m singing do I run out of breath quicker than I’d like?
Do I feel like I’m holding my breathe?
Can I hear audible resistance when I inhale?
Does my breath feel comfortable or laboured?
Do I breathe through my mouth or nose or both?
There are no definitive right or wrong answers to these questions, it’s just a way to bring awareness to our breathing habits and what feels comfortable or uncomfortable, or helpful and unhelpful to you.
Some things to try that might help:
When you are practising or warming up, extend your exhale whilst moving your hips or shoulders, when you get right to the end allow your body to take a RELAXED inhale. Try this on tiny snatched inhales as well as longer pauses.
Try and think of your inhale as ‘LETTING THE AIR IN’ rather than pulling or dragging it in. Notice if you can hear the air dragging through your nose or mouth. Usually if it is quiet, there is less constriction or friction (although there are exceptions, especially if its there as an emotional choice).
Remember that breathing is aided by the ribs, the abdominals, the muscles in the neck and shoulders…It’s a whole body thing! The most important thing is that the muscles need to be as free as possible, are you holding in any way?
Try some SOVT Exercises, especially with straws into water (See previous Blog post all about Straw phonation HERE ). This will help build a healthy air flow / air pressure whilst giving you a lovely vocal massage at the same time!
We know there are huge benefits to breathing through your nose, it filters the air and helps us regulate our nervous system etc. This, however, isn’t always possible or realistic when we sing. Firstly it can be noisy (especially when we are congested) and can sometimes make us lean too heavily on the secondary respiratory muscles (those in the neck and around the sternum and shoulders) and sometimes the space to breath is so tiny that its just not efficient. So let’s experiment with inhaling through our nose and mouth at the same time, switch it up?