Why YogaVoice®?

Why not me?

I recall asking myself this question when, as a teenager, I watched my first Metropolitan Opera broadcast on television. The singing was thrilling, and I wondered how difficult it must be to become a professional singer. I assumed that it was beyond difficult, but a quiet, clear inner voice immediately replied, “Someone has to do it. Why not me?”

After graduating from the Oberlin Conservatory, I began my career as a professional singer. Soon, I had my first opportunity to teach voice to a group of young singers. The experience of collaborating with these students, the spontaneous creativity it inspired, and the visceral joy of teaching made me realize that my purpose in life was to teach. Why not me? 

Over time, I developed a passion for Yoga, eventually becoming a yoga instructor and therapist. I intuitively explored the connections between Systematic Vocal Technique (as taught to me by my mentor, Richard Miller) and the principles of Yoga. I discovered a union between the chakra system and the elements of functionally efficient voice use and began refining a method that synthesized both: YogaVoice®. I practiced the techniques in my singing and noticed benefits in how my voice responded differently with yoga. Perhaps more importantly, singing also became a framework for self-awareness. Was this a new pedagogical approach to voice that was the product of my unique interests and intuitive understanding? Why not YogaVoice®?

As I incorporated YogaVoice® techniques into my voice studio, I witnessed dramatic and instantaneous changes in my students' voices. What truly impacted me was that they became more comfortable with themselves in body, mind, and spirit. They gained agency in their singing by becoming aware that their voices came from energetic sources already present within themselves. Through this process, their transformations were not just vocal; my students’ lives were changing.

Somatic awareness has become a recognized component of 21st-century voice pedagogy, but the goal of YogaVoice® has never been to make “better” voices. Instead, I have always aimed to influence the broader singing culture by empowering people to use their voices to discover and authentically express their inner purpose or truth. From a yoga perspective, using our voices with this intention can be a way into the deeper states of consciousness and self-awareness that profoundly impact wellness. YogaVoice® was created to empower people to find their unique personal meaning and to express it with the confidence that accompanies a deep state of wellness in body, mind, and voice.

So…why not you?