Sing, MAMA, Sing! A Healthy Body-Mind Tip

Dear  Singers,  

Sunday, Mother's day, had me reflecting upon my singer Mom.

My mom, Beth - or Elizabeth Hart - is an accomplished classical singer and voice teacher— actually “Mother Says: A Momplicated Relationship” is our duo cabaret, performed at several mother’s days’ past and past due for a remount. On this Mother’s Day 2014, I reflect that need to stop letting life get in the way and do our show again….and also, wishing I could be sitting next to her, singing anything, side by side today.

A dear friend of mine lost his mother last week, and though she was 94, there’s nothing the same as losing your mother. He describes her as a dynamic woman, glamorous, giving and a speech teacher/actress, and I imagine she sang many, many a song with my friend, her talented musician and Broadway composer son, Barry Keating  (www.starmites.com).

My mother is alive, kicking and singing! And will be singing like a goddess for several more decades by the sound of her. She just did a concert last week, and her voice is better than ever. She is of course only “39” years old and I am “29” (her explanation? “I was a child bride!”) - and she looks it and sounds it. Gorgeous, healthy, full of life…. today I’m wondering, how much of it has to do with a life built through singing??

The Barbershop Harmony Society, an adorable looking, beneficent organization, has collected this page full of links to research on how singing creates well being and health, including boosting the immune system, mood and promoting relaxation. Well, any singer could tell you that. I know that the surest sign that I’m in a good mood is that I can’t stop singing. I also love to see my worn out/end of day students exit their lessons smiling and refreshed. http://barbershop.org/news-a-events-main/291-health-benefits-of-singing.html 

Most humans, though, would rather do anything than sing in front of people; the fear of singing or speaking publicly can cause the kind of intense anxiety one would think would be reserved for rappelling in the Rocky Mountains. So why is singing so powerful, one way or the other? 

The physical mechanism of the voice is wound up with our life saving bodily functions - really, the heart of us: our throat and windpipes, our belly, or breath - all the way down to the sex organs up through the vibrations and sensations we feel in our skulls, or brains, right behind our eyes. I mean, if there is something you don’t want to feel hidden in your body, singing will probably un-lodge it at some point. At some point I decided to stop running from those feelings and Dive Into It! I head into the Feelings, I head straight for the sounds, and I hope to get all of you to do the same. 

Mom, let’s sing old songs; let’s sing new songs; let’s laugh, let’s cry. Let’s teach our singers! Let’s get it together and do a concert… let’s go get ‘em.