The Science Behind Why Singing Makes You Feel Better
By Malin Andersson, City Vocal Coach
3 Things that makes singers the happiest people on the planet.
Here at City Vocal Coach we are all about having fun while learning! Music brings meaning and a lot of joy to our lives and that could be enough said about why we are a happy bunch at CVC. However, there is actually also an explanation to why in particular singing makes you feel better. If you take good care of your voice – your voice will also take care of you 🙂 You might have heard about how singing can do wonders to your mood or you might even have experienced this yourself. How there can be a shift in emotions, a boost in energy levels or a sense of calm after a session of singing. This is not a coincidence – it is a fact; singing does have a positive and healing effect on our mind, body and wellbeing.
How can we actually use singing to boost our wellbeing? And do we have to use our voice in a specific way to feel better or simply just sing?
When singing, frequencies and resonance are moving through our body and are having both a physical and emotional effect on us. The resonance created by our voice is calming the nervous system and stimulating the vagus nerve.
Before we dig into each part of why singing can be so healthy for us, I’ll briefly explain how I personally got to be so passionate about knowing more on this subject.
I have since a child been singing and writing songs. Drawn to express my feelings through music, I early decided to pursue a career in music as an artist and a coach for other singers and songwriters. Music has for me always been a steady companion and a vital activity for my mental and physical health. I’ve been fortunate to follow a lot of my students’ journeys within music, not only the development of musical and artistic skills, but also how it has gained them confidence, feelings of self-worth and eased depression and difficult feelings.
I decided to dive into the more holistic part of singing. Studying wellbeing and mindfulness for singers through Vocal Health Courses and started learning Alexander Technique for musicians. On my own I was also exploring Yoga for singers and using chakra sounds for voice. It is a never ending wellspring of information, knowledge and insights to understand it all, but in this blog I will be sharing some of what I’ve found helpful to know so far.
One thing I know for sure is that everything is connected – you will benefit from looking at all parts; body, mind and soul/energy to make singing into your go-to-practice to feel good.
We’ll begin with what is physically happening in the body when we use our singing voice…
1. The Chemical Reaction
When we sing, there’s several good hormones and neurotransmitters released in our bodies, such as endorphins, oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin. All of these belong within the group of happy hormones and chemical messengers that promote positive feelings, pleasure and love.
Endorphins
Creates a feeling of euphoria.
Reduces our stress levels.
Oxytocin
Reduces anxiety and stress.
Reduces feelings of depression and loneliness.
Dopamine
Gives a feeling of well-being.
Improves memory, movement and motivation.
Serotonin
Helps the feelings of satisfaction, happiness and optimism.
Reduces anxiety and depression.
According to this, singing could potentially be the perfect remedy (without medication!) for heightening your vibrations and getting you out of a place of low feelings.
2. Body Awareness & Alignment
One of the first things to look at for singers that wish to use their voice more freely, is how we can get more aware of our whole instrument by practicing the connection between mind and body. How amazing is it that the voice includes the whole body and not just our vocal cords!?
Our vocal cords are a small but of course very useful part of our body connected to muscles, bones and tissue. To be able to use the voice fully and freely we need to have an aligned, relaxed posture and be able to “tune in” with the body and allow muscles to relax that aren’t needed. It doesn’t mean standing super straight but rather to align each part of the body on top of each other from your feet and up, making sure we can be comfortable and not causing any unnecessary tension.
Singing posture is therefore a position that allows the body to save energy and not cause any stress to our joints or muscles. When in this position we also allow the energy within our bodies to flow freely. This can be compared to sitting in a straight position for example meditation or mindfulness exercises.
In singing we want to become aware of our so called “holding habits” to be able to sing with complete ease. Some holding habits can be clinching your jaw, overusing the tongue, excess use of neck and upper body muscles to name a few. When training ourselves to be more mindful of these changes in our body we can then practice how to break these habits and instead create new healthy habits for our body and voice. This is where a vocal coach comes in handy to spot where you might be holding tension and help you to release and let go of these habits.
Another thing that has a huge impact on our body when singing is the breathing…
3. Breathing
Singing engages one of our body’s greatest stress relievers – our breathing. In singing we learn to control our breathing, having a steady flow of air when we exhale and a relaxed inhale. Breathing while singing can have the same effect as yoga breathing as we keep a steady tempo and controlled air flow. Hence Yoga for singers is becoming increasingly popular!
The breath brings oxygen to all cells in our body for us to function and have enough energy. In singing we often get into a rhythm for the breath, inhaling to a lower part of our lungs instead of shallow breathing high up in our chest. This can increase the oxygen levels and also calm our nervous system.Â
Embrace the chemical reaction, connect mind to body and breeeeath to use your voice fully as often as you can and I promise that you will feel the change 🙂
Happy singing! Malin x