When Singing Led Me to Something Bigger: Why Your Instrumental Body Is Expanding
When Singing Led Me to
Something Bigger
Why Your Instrumental Body Is Expanding
For many years, people have known me as a voice teacher.
Singing has always been at the heart of my work, and it remains one of the greatest joys of my life. Helping singers discover freedom, expression, and trust in their voice is something I will always care deeply about.
But what many people don’t realize is how personal this work has been for me — and how my own journey continues to shape the direction of Your Instrumental Body.
When Singing Stopped Feeling Easy
My journey into the Alexander Technique began during a time when singing — the thing I loved most — had quietly become a source of tension and self-doubt.
On the outside, everything looked fine. I was still singing, still teaching, still moving forward in my career.
But internally, something had changed.
Singing no longer felt reliable. I found myself trying harder and harder to recreate sensations that used to come naturally. The more effort I put in, the more disconnected I felt from my voice and from my body.
At the time, I didn’t have language for what was happening.
Now I understand that my body was doing exactly what bodies are designed to do.
It was protecting me.
The problem was that those protective patterns were interfering with the coordination I needed to sing freely.
Discovering the Alexander Technique
When I first encountered the Alexander Technique, I wasn’t looking for something to fix me.
I was looking for a way back to myself.
What I found was not a set of exercises or techniques to force change. Instead, I discovered a new way of listening to my body and recognizing patterns of tension and effort that had become habitual over time.
Through this work, I began to notice how years of striving, stress, and the desire to “do things right” had shaped the way I moved, breathed, and sang.
Slowly, something began to shift.
Singing started to feel easier again.
But even more meaningful than the changes in my voice was what happened beyond singing.
I began to feel more at home in my body.
I learned to trust myself more.
My sense of effort changed.
And I felt empowered to step into my life with greater compassion, kindness, and grounding.
Vocally, I was no longer constantly fighting myself.
Becoming an Alexander Technique Teacher
That experience was profound enough that I chose to enter a four-year, 1,600-hour Alexander Technique teacher training program.
I wanted to understand this work not only for my own growth, but so I could help others experience the same sense of freedom and trust.
After completing my certification, I returned to my work with singers with a completely new perspective.
Voice lessons became more than learning notes and technique. They became an opportunity for people to reconnect with their bodies, release unnecessary tension, and develop a more integrated relationship with their instrument.
Seeing the Work Beyond Singing
Over time, something unexpected began to happen.
People began coming to me not only because they wanted help with singing, but because they were dealing with pain, injury, or major physical changes in their lives.
Some were recovering from surgery and learning how to live in a body that felt unfamiliar. Others had struggled with chronic pain for years and had tried many different approaches without lasting relief.
What I began to see again and again was this:
The body adapts in order to protect us.
But those protective patterns can remain long after the original reason for them has passed.
Through Alexander Technique work, many people began to rediscover coordination, balance, and ease — often in ways they hadn’t experienced in years.
Healing Old Stories About the Voice
Another pattern also began to emerge in my work with singers.
Many people carried old stories about their voice.
Stories about not being good enough.
Stories about being told to be quiet.
Stories about being judged when they spoke or sang.
As we worked together, many people began to recognize that those stories were no longer true.
In some cases, they were able to update those beliefs and release the fear associated with making sound.
While this work often showed up through singing lessons, it revealed something much deeper about the connection between voice, body, and personal history.
Deepening the Work
Because of these experiences, I have continued to expand my understanding of the relationship between the body, the nervous system, and our lived experiences.
Later this year, I will be embarking on a certification program in trauma-informed Alexander Technique with Betsy Polatin.
This training focuses on understanding how the nervous system responds to stress, injury, and life experiences, and how gentle somatic work can help restore a sense of safety, responsiveness, and trust.
I see this not as a departure from my work, but as a continuation of it — a way of deepening my ability to support each person as a whole human being.
Why Your Instrumental Body Is Expanding
Over time, it has become increasingly clear that while singing is a beautiful doorway into this work, it is not the only one.
Because of this, Your Instrumental Body is expanding.
My commitment to singers and performers remains unchanged. Singers will always be at the heart of what I do.
But I am also opening the door more intentionally to people who may not identify as singers, yet who are ready to experience greater ease, coordination, and trust in their body.
The Work Is the Same
At its core, this work is about helping people reconnect with themselves.
It’s about learning to notice the habits of tension and protection that shape the way we move and breathe — and discovering that we have more choice than we may have realized.
It’s about restoring trust in the body’s natural design.
And ultimately, it’s about remembering that we were never broken in the first place.
An Invitation
If you are a singer, please know that you are still deeply held in this work.
And if you have ever wondered whether this work might apply to other parts of your life — the answer is yes.
Because in the end, this work is not only about singing.
It is about being human.
Explore the Work
If you’re curious to experience this work firsthand, you’re warmly invited to join The Integration Lab™, a small group experience where we explore coordination, ease, and mind-body awareness together.
