Yoga For Singing

'Yoga for Singing' presents vocal students and professionals, voice teachers, and movement instructors with a unique approach to technique and performance improvement that fits the increasing interest in and prevalence of yoga practices.

Heather Lyle's Vocal Yoga, the Joy of Breathing Singing and Sounding is the first book of its kind synthesizing techniques from Yoga, pranayama, Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, The Bel Canto School of Singing, Sanskrit chanting, classical speech training and jazz improvisation, to unblock the breath and free the voice. Vocal Yoga contains 100 exercises that promote vocal freedom, resonance, and power, and help you uncover tension that might be hindering your voice and creative expression. Whether you are a singer, actor, yogi or public speaker, you will gain a better understanding of your voice and how to become one with it. Look in Amazon's MP3 store under Heather Lyle to purchase Lyle's double CD: VOCAL YOGA SINGING EXERCISES. 44 vocal exercises to improve your voice!

From opera diva Karita Mattila to Lady Gaga, from Broadway's Mandy Patinkin to pop star Jason Mraz, singers are doing yoga, and experiencing its ability to free their voices and psyches. Yoga provides bountiful rewards for singers: the practice of rib-opening and spine-lengthening asanas can improve alignment, while spinal twists, pranayama breathing techniques, and meditation can focus the mind and calm performance anxiety. Some singers have turned to beta blockers to deal with the stress of stage fright, but yoga proves there is a medication-free, self-nurturing method of combating the pressure of performing. Yoga For Singers gives singers and voice teachers the tools that yoga can provide to help improve their physical, emotional and thus vocal well-being and to manage performing with the most personal of instruments, their voices

Yoga for Singing presents vocal students and professionals, voice teachers, and movement instructors (many of whom include a significant amount of yoga in stage movement and dance courses required in conservatory vocal/opera programs as well as in pre-professional apprentice programs) with a unique approach to technique and performance improvement that fits the increasing interest in and prevalence of yoga practices.

The 19th-century Italian singing teacher Giovanni Battista Lamperti wrote the following about the primary requirement for the singer: "'Know thyself' applies to [the] singer more than to other professions, because to sing well, body, soul and mind are tuned together." This tuning together of body, mind, and soul is the essence of yoga. The practices of yoga can be used as tools to develop, maintain, and greatly enhance the art of singing in all its facets - physical technique, breath control, mental focus, musical flow, expressive communication, and radiant performance. Yoga for Singing: A Developmental Tool for Technique and Performance outlines the many and intimate connections between yoga and singing and presents a detailed approach to using the practices of yoga to support the developmental of singing technique, as well as to lay a foundation for confident performance and a lifetime of good health for a long singing career. Author Judith Carman presents a systematic approach to the yoga practices that are directly related to the art of singing and demonstrates how closely these practices match the needs of singers. The yoga practices and their connections to specific singing needs are presented as: physical postures (Asana), breathing practices (pranayama), concentration/meditation practices, and deep relaxation techniques. The copious illustrations and specific practices are designed to be used by singers and voice teachers, regardless of their level of acquaintance with yoga. The book also makes a persuasive case for the inclusion of ongoing yoga classes especially designed for singers in the university voice curriculum. Yoga for Singing presents vocal students and professionals, voice teachers, and movement instructors (many of whom include a significant amount of yoga in stage movement and dance courses required in conservatory vocal/opera programs as well as in pre-professional apprentice programs) with a unique approach to technique and performance improvement that fits the increasing interest in and prevalence of yoga practices.

Meditation exercises for listening to the four levels of sound, to still the body, quiet the mind, open the heart, and connect with the Divine • Details the teachings on nada yoga from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika with clear, step-by-step instructions to find and hear the inner sacred sound of nada • Explains the 4 levels of sound through a series of practical meditation exercises • Includes instructions for a daily nada yoga meditation practice as well as ways to strengthen your advanced practice The ancient practice of nada yoga is not complex. It is the yoga of listening. It is a journey from the noise of the external world inward to a place of peace and bliss, to the source of the transformational power of sound--the nada. By meditating on the inner sacred sound of the nada, we can release ourselves from mind chatter and obsessive thinking. We can still the body, quiet the mind, and open the heart to create a state of mind where joy naturally arises. Sharing his experiential understanding of the classic Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Baird Hersey offers precise, step-by-step instructions on how to find the inner sound of the nada. He explains the first three levels of sound--first, how to truly hear the ordinary sounds of the world around us (vaikhari); second, how to quiet the sounds of the mind (madhyama), such as sound memories and internal dialogue; and third, how to access visual sounds (pashyanti), tapping in to our ability to see sounds and hear colors. Mastering the first three levels prepares one for the fourth level of sound (para), the heart of the practice that connects one to the inner sound of the nada. The author provides detailed exercises to guide you through each level of sound and instructions for a daily nada yoga meditation practice. Hersey explains that by focusing our minds on this internal sound we reunite our essential self with the eternal and infinite. In this re-union we find bliss in both body and mind, an uplifted spirit, and heightened states of consciousness.

“Singing is as human as breathing, and this book tells us why.” —Mark Guarino, contributing music writer, The Guardian Celebrated yogi-musician Girish opens new possibilities for transforming your life through song, combining the ancient art of singing mantra with twenty-first century neuroscience research. For as long as he can remember, Girish has created rhythm to accompany life. His first experience of music as sacred art came in college, playing with jazz bands. “During improvisational sessions,” he recalls, “there were these unexplainable moments of synchronicity and intuition that felt like magic.” This led Girish to an unexpected journey—a seeming detour to live as a monk in an ashram for five years that inadvertently nourished his musical artistry. Here, he studied Sanskrit as a means to understand the deeper meanings of ancient chants, which sparked a life-changing event that led him back to music—and to combine music with Sanskrit chants. Now he shares what he’s learned to help people of all ages, backgrounds, and traditions to transform body, brain, and life through mantra and music. With Music and Mantras, Girish has created an interactive toolkit—including more than ninety minutes of companion audio material—for personal transformation through singing, sharing his own experience as a musician, yogi, and former Hindu monk. Weaving simple, elegant mantras from ancient traditions with neuroscience, Girish shows us how to achieve greater peace of mind, clarity, calm, focus, and even improved health and wealth through the yogic art of chanting—an ideal practice for singing our way to happiness, health, and prosperity.

An eagle soaring among the clouds or a star twinkling in the night sky . . . a camel in the desert or a boat sailing across the sea—yoga has the power of transformation. Not only does it strengthen bodies and calm minds, but with a little imagination, it can show us that anything is possible. New York Times bestselling illustrator Peter H. Reynolds and author and certified yoga instructor Susan Verde team up again in this book about creativity and the power of self-expression. I Am Yoga encourages children to explore the world of yoga and make room in their hearts for the world beyond it. A kid-friendly guide to 17 yoga poses is included.