Week 1! Body Mapping and Alignment

 Basic Summary-

The body is the center of everything we do, and SINGING IS MOVEMENT! Being anatomically educated and physically aware is crucial for musicians, and singers especially benefit from this in their breathing, tone quality, and health.

Body Mapping-

- what is a body map?

------> a body map is one's personal concept of his or her anatomy

-Body mapping is an ongoing learning process singers need to engage in. This involves learning where different bones, muscle groups, or organs live in the body, changing your body map and self concept as you grow, and correcting common misconceptions you may have. Especially in the classroom or lesson space, instructors and students alike must openly admit these misconceptions in order to prevent or redirect incorrect movement, make others aware of their own body mapping issues, and to overall create an environment that invites error and growth! 

How can someone learn about their body map?

-study anatomy that is medical in source (and therefore more reliable and accurate)

-look at illustrations

-look in the mirror!

-palpate (feel on the body) for anatomical structures

-draw*

*for example: when I was in physical therapy, I was asked to draw my spine on a side-view human body outline. I put it almost in line with the edge of the back body. This is definitely not correct, but was very helpful in revealing why I held my body incorrectly and led me to change my posture in "regular life" and in my "music life."

The Kinesthetic Sense and Inclusive Awareness

-What is Kinesthesia?

------>It is the awareness of the body in motion

-Kinesthesia is CRUCIAL to successful singing. This sense lives in our sensory receptors in joints, muscles, fascia, and connective tissue and needs to be woken up in day to day life as well as singing. Being aware of both macromovement and micromovements can be difficult, but it helps with almost every aspect of performance practice. It is especially important in determining effort produced, which can lead to injury prevention and improved technique.

-What is Inclusive Awareness?

------>being aware of internal and external surroundings simultaneously, connecting to one's present experience

--This is the ideal type of attention

------>Other types of attention: concentration (focusing on a single area/subject), scanning (rapidly moving between areas/subjects). Both can be overwhelming for a singer trying to focus, creating (in my mind) a sort of mental circus of performers competing for the brain's attention. 

Six Points of Balance

-The word "posture" can have connotations evoking a rigidity in the frame that singers want to avoid. Instructors are instead using vocabulary like "balanced" and "bouyant" when describing the body to highlight the importance of mobility.

THE "SIX POINTS OF BALANCE"-

-A-O (Atlanto-occipital) joint, located where the base of the skull meets the spine

-Arm structure

-thorax

-hip joints

-knee joints

-ankle joints

What and why?

-The Six points of Balance have been developed and illustrated by voice professionals to demonstrate an ideal alignment for the singing body that facilitates breathing, comfort, tone, stature, expression, and movement. The idea is not to stack the body perfectly and keep it immobile in this line, but rather to create a position of optimum performance in the body that still allows for micro-movement and adjustment. Illustrations make this clearest for my learning. 

Other important body facts to understand, search, or note:

-Every part of the body impacts another: none function in total isolation. This is why injuries and pain are so important to monitor: an upset stomach can hurt the voice like a sore back can give you a headache! 

-Skeletal muscles are voluntary. The brain calls the shots for which moves when. Muscles pull on bones by contracting while another muscle releases; they co-contract together in pairs. 

-EVERY HUMAN BODY IS DIFFERENT. We all have unique versions of the same blueprint. Being anatomically educated is only part of the battle: you must get to know your own body by watching, palpating, and kinesthetically tracking movement. Voices are especially unique and need to be treated as such in personal study and teaching.