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Here’s how to use your voice to ease stress and feel calmer

(Video: Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

For years, I’ve taught others that using your voice is one of the easiest ways to calm down.

As a clinical speech-language pathologist, I support people with communication and voice disorders and counsel families whose loved ones are going through difficult treatments related to strokes, head and neck cancer, and other medical problems. In my career and my personal life, I’ve found that the key to effective voice work for self-soothing is deep, slow breathing and controlling the vibrations in our bodies that we create every time we talk, gargle or sing.

Our vocal folds (often called vocal cords) are two bands of tissues in our larynx (voice box). When we’re not speaking, these bands are open, allowing us to breathe. When we talk, the vocal folds clap together while air from our lungs flows past them, causing vibrations. These vibrations create sound and resonance in our throat, nose and mouth. (To feel vibrations yourself, place your fingers gently over the bottom of your throat and hum.)

In the 1990s, psychologist and researcher Stephen Porges proposed the polyvagal theory, which links nervous system relaxation to our breath, heartbeat, digestive system and voice. The theory has not been universally embraced, but over the past 30 years, there has been research showing that controlling vibrations in your neck can stimulate the relaxation response similar to other mindfulness techniques.

“The vibration of the vocal folds stimulates the recurrent laryngeal nerve which integrates with the vagus nerve,” said Mathilde Shisko, a voice coach who works at the Polyvagal Institute, a nonprofit co-founded by Porges, who is also founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium at Indiana University. “Any vocalization that has prosody — singing, humming, chanting — will elicit a parasympathetic response in our nervous system which enables us to rest, digest and restore,” Shisko said.

Humming can have positive effects on the part of the brain that controls mood, anxiety, cognition and memory. Follow these exercises to use your voice to relax. (Video: Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

Calming yourself

You can practice voicework anywhere. It takes as little as three to five minutes, though longer sessions will likely have more noticeable results. Whether you’re sitting or standing, be sure your back is straight but relaxed.

Humming is the easiest first step, and research shows it can help you relax.

In a study comparing the calming effects of humming, exercise and sleep, humming resulted in the lowest stress index for participants, with positive cardiovascular, respiratory and psychological effects. Another study showed that humming can have positive effects on the part of the brain that controls mood, anxiety, cognition and memory.

You can fit a couple minutes of humming into pretty much any routine: Add it to the end of a workout, or hum on your way to work, at bedtime or in the bathroom before an important meeting.

To practice focused humming, take a deep breath in for three to four seconds, expanding your chest and belly. Then, exhale for up to 10 seconds while making a long “mmmmmm” sound with your lips closed. Pay attention to how your body feels before, during and after. If you have time, try this exercise at different pitches to see what works best.

“Incorporating internal vibrations, such as through a gentle hum, often promotes further relaxation,” said Nathan Morgan, lead instructor for the Seattle Voice Lab, which provides vocal therapy and training. “This process allows students to step out of their own way, enhancing their creativity and overall freedom in vocal expression. I’ve watched countless students find this freedom for the first time. It is a joy to watch many years of hard-fought angst and fear just drip away,” Morgan said.

Chanting is also effective. Many people are familiar with chanting “om” at the end of a yoga class, but they might not know that its positive effects are backed by research. A survey distributed to more than 400 people across 32 countries who regularly practice chanting showed an increased quality of life and higher access to mindfulness and “flow states.”

Start with a relaxed singing vowel, and end with a hum: Be sure your throat and mouth are relaxed, take a slow breath in, and sing the open vowel “ahhh” or “oohh” and finish with a long “mmmm.”

Helen Lavretsky, a psychiatry professor and the director of the late-life mood, stress and wellness research program at UCLA, has studied the physiological benefits of chanting. Chanting regulates breathing, she said, calming the nervous system and “improving sleep, reducing inflammation, and it can have anti-aging effects.”

Helping others relax

When someone you love is feeling tense, you can usually hear it in their voice. When they’re angry or sad, you can see it in their facial expression. Actors and musicians often refer to their bodies as their “instrument,” and they’re right. We feel emotions in response to their performances. This isn’t magic: It’s called coregulation, a process in which one person’s sense of calm helps the people around them relax.

“We quite literally speak from the heart,” said Shisko, noting that the vagus nerve is connected to voice, breath and heartbeat.

Think of a parent using a soothing voice to calm their newborn baby. Imagine a TV show where the detective uses a smooth voice and neutral expression to make a suspect feel safe enough to confess. These are examples of influencing each other’s nervous systems.

My colleague, Rebecca Tourino Collinsworth, a theater artist and the creative director of a Seattle dramatic arts company, has been teaching and practicing voicework for more than 20 years. “I tell my students, again and again, that the sounds we’re releasing should not contain any particular vocal quality — we’re not trying to sound “beautiful” or even “interesting — we’re not trying at all.”

When practicing breathwork, pay close attention to the sensations in your mouth, throat and chest, she advised. The feeling matters more than the quality of the sound.

“The body naturally creates armoring in the torso, tensing, to protect against trauma. That tension keeps us from breathing fully,” said Tourino Collinsworth. “Our predictable urge to “get it right” may be counterproductive here, introducing unnecessary tension that can inhibit the voice. Simple vocal releases like this are preverbal, and we tend to associate preverbal sounds with moments of intense vulnerability: the coo of an infant, say, or the wail of a mourner.”

Studies show that using our voices together also creates coregulation. “Learning to do this work among others without performing for them can be a revolutionary experience,” Tourino Collinsworth said.

The most important thing is to give speech work and breath work a try.

“Any attention we give — any curiosity we bring — to our breath and voice is time well spent,” Tourino Collinsworth added.