Podcast – Episode 5: Release tension in your speech

Written by Ségolène

September 3, 2020

Exactly a month ago,  I posted on Instagram about the importance of deloading through writing.

Writing is a way of anchoring your thoughts and mind to your day. It allows you to open the door to ideas that have been whirling around your brain for a while, and rehome them. Bring them to the material world so you can invoke them at ease: memories, thoughts, emotions, ramblings… They can take many form

Every evening, I take 5min, to write a few words about the day, or to remove a thought, and emotion to make more space inside my head for new ones. Putting it down in words helps me create space for more thoughts and creations. 

This month, I’m including a creative challenge to my deloading and release practice, because of the video Game I’m currently playing: Ghost of Tsushima

Release is about making space to lighten your load.

As well as having a very compelling story, and a beautiful design, the gameplay in itself
 invites you to live and embody some aspects of the spirit and ethos of the Samurai – including reflection work.
In the game, your character – and you, the Gamer living the story with him – have
access to moments of respite, in beautiful sceneries.

I have included screencaps I’ve taken whilst playing earlier this week in this article.
The last picture was the scenery of my first “reflective work” as Samurai Jin Sakai
in the game. 

On a completely different note, and for the gamers among you, I’ll just add that having a game where you can pet wild foxes brings a lot of solace and joy to the soul.

While you’re taking in the nature around you, your character’s reflection is then
channelled in writing, as you compose Haïkus. 

Because the Samurai has a lot on his mind, he has to give in to reflective practices such
as these, in order to keep a clear head. To be capable of connection and truth in his actions.

 

In the art of expression, creation and in Vocal work, it’s the same.

You won’t be able to express or vocalise freely

  • if there’s too much clutter within
  • if there too much physical tension
  • if you don’t have enough space in the mouth, throat, ribcage

When you suffer from pain, knots or  have a tightness in your back or anywhere in the body. You seek a massage therapist, or a physio. They manipulate your body, work the stiffened and tight muscles. This helps release the neural and muscular tension, ease the pain, remove the tightness. You feel like yourself again, and your muscles to expand and move with ease.

They create space for your joints and muscles to move freely.

 

Our vocal space is affected by emotional, intellectual and physical tensions.

As we saw last week, the air which births your voice travels through the back, chest, thoracic, neck, jaw, head, ribcage… It is by echoing through those cavities and spaces that it becomes a sound.

That is why:

  • We work on breath because your voice is made of in and out breaths. That air needs space to travel.
  • We work on mental and emotional deload to lift the weight and stress of everyday life.
  • We work on creative deload to hone our creative skills and invite new ideas, new ways to express ourselves.
  • We work on posture and mobility, to always have room for our voice to echo in.

In Episode 5, I’m taking you on another breath flow, accompanied by a short massaging practice around the jaw, throat and the diaphragm.

I cannot stress enough, how important those exercises are when you’re trying to let yourself be heard and give your voice its full power.

Take your time. Try and incorporate this practice to your day, your week, your month.

This physical work, this breath work, combined with your deload practice (be it in writing, reading, singing, running… whatever works for you! Whatever aleviates your thoughts!) will guide you on your Voicing journey.

Deloading in a creative form, in my case through writing, helps also get in touch with your own truth, your values, your beliefs, your loves, your hopes, your dreams. And as we said in episode 3, these are an essential part of this work too. 

Speaking of writing… I told you I take 5min every evening to unload my brain and make space for all those wonderful new things…
Well, I am letting my Ghost of Tsushima / Samurai experience fully influence me: my evening writings this month will take the form of Haïkus. 

This is exciting to me because I’ve never attempted to write any before. It’s adding a creative flare to my Release work. Now this is a challenge I’m more than gladly taking on. 

I’ll keep you posted! Who know… I might share some here later in the month.

Enjoy episode 5!