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     Bodymapping and Asthma

4 October, 2011

Probably one in ten singers coming into the studio say that they have some kind of asthma.  I looked up the word asthma, which is defined as a spasm in the bronchii, with many possible causes; the most common cause being an allergic reaction to something airborne.  There's also an activity-induced asthma, a stress-induced asthma and a chronic asthma, at least from what I've seen as a voice teacher.

It's probably pretty straightforward to say that teaching an asthmatic to breathe better is going to be helpful to them; whether the ineffective breathing process came first or the bronchial spasming came first doesn't really matter.   Asthmatics are already seeking ways to overcome their breathing difficulties, so they are already manipulating or interfering with the natural process in an effort to help themselves.  They create a set of compensatory muscle movements for breathing that may or may not be anatomically based, and therefore may or may not be truly effective.

Here are some things to watch for in an asthmatic student:

 Weak diaphragmatic movement:  The diaphragm muscle has lost tone and strength because it has not been able to move through it's full range of motion in a long time.
 Rigid chest and upper back muscles:  A severe asthmatic looks somewhat barrel-chested if they've been manipulating their ribs with their outer muscle structure in order to get enough air.  Sometimes there's a psychological component to this, also - a hoarding of air related to a fear of not being able to breathe.  After a while, the ribs cease to move at all during inhalation or exhalation, remaining rigidly open as far as possible.
Use of throat muscles to "draw in" air:  The throat muscles are ideally passive during inhalation and exhalation (this includes the tongue) but if nothing else is working, then that's what you've got left to draw the air into your lungs.  This is characterized by "air noise" during inhalation.

Bodymapping
 The factual Bodymapping approach, coupled with gentle explorations of breathing movement, can be very helpful in retraining the breathing of an asthmatic.  Bodymapping seeks to clarify, through anatomical information, a person's mental picture of their own structure (ie: their mental Bodymap).  The information of what the diaphragm looks like, it's shape, size and how it moves, how the ribs move at their joints and how lung tissue actually works can literally be enough to effect change.  I have anatomy books, a couple of skeleton models, a spine model and a larynx in my studio (perfect for Halloween :).  My first lesson with any student, not just asthma sufferers, is to go through the structures of breathing with books and models. 

Training through movement
An asthmatic in particular will tend to over-do attempted breathing exploration.  The use of a parallel movement that the core musculature of the body can naturally follow can be a really helpful training tool.  I've had student make a model of their ribs with their hands and move their hand model in the same way that the ribs naturally move.  I've also had them make a diaphragm model with their two hands together in front of them, cupped in a dome shape, that they then move downward on the inhale and upward on the exhale.  Within a few minutes of exploration, the actual structures (ie: diaphragm, ribs) start to move in sync with the hand model.

Unravelling the compensatory breathing process and encouraging the natural process to return can take a while and can be quite revelational.   I encourage students to keep a journal.  One student recently found true diaphragmatic movement in her lesson and immediately had a flashback to a near-drowning experience.  Another student, a pastor in his late 50's with spasmodic dysphonia and anxiety-related asthma, worked with me for over two years on his breathing and speech and realized at the end that he was unhappy at his current position and needed to retire and return to his hometown.

More information on Bodymapping can be found at the Andover Educators website: www.bodymap.org 

[click here to download pdf]

Questions or comments?  Email Marieke at marieke@cantarevoicestudio.com

     Just think it!

22 September, 2011

There’s a marvelous Alexander Technique book, called How You Stand, How You Move, How You Live (Da Capo Press, 2007), by Missy Vineyard.  It describes clearly the mind-body relationship as it relates to learning and is especially applicable in the study of the relationship between breath and voice. 

She describes a human as functioning like a black box, in which a command is entered at one end and a result comes out at the other end.  The command is generated by the mind and the result is an action of or a change in the body.  If the result is what you want, then you move on.  If the result is not what you want, then you could re-phrase or change your command to bring about the desired result.  For instance, I can “think” a pitch, inhale and sing the pitch.  If the pitch is not accurate, then I need to re-think the pitch and try again.  Or, I can “think” a breath that moves downward as I inhale and then notice how my body responds to my thought.  If the response is what I and/or my teacher is looking for (a little guidance is usually needed in this process), then I move on.  If not, then then I try “thinking” my breathing thought differently.

The part of the mind that is the command center and generates the initial command is located in the frontal lobes of the brain, and sometimes referred to as “consciousness.”  The part of the mind that interacts with the body to execute the command is closer to the brain core.  Thus, the command goes from one part of the brain to another part of the brain, which then guides the process to create the result.  Because the command does not go directly from the frontal lobes to the body, there can be a curious sense of detachment to the process. 

Without understanding this process, we sometimes try to directly manipulate the body to achieve the desired result by kinesthetically trying to “feel” what we want to accomplish.  While an approximate result can be accomplished, usually it is much more effortful and involves activating muscle systems for the task that aren’t normally involved.  This is especially common in breathing, because the natural breathing structures are internal to our bodies and not easily “felt”.  If we try to manipulate the body without understanding the body structures involved, chances are we will make a mess of things, like trying to fix a piece of equipment without the manual.   This is where the role of a good teacher comes in; someone who can be a more objective set of trained eyes and ears and and give helpful feedback during the learning moment.  By design, we can only be subjective about ourselves.

Let’s go back to our pitch analogy.  Let’s say I want pitch accuracy and I don’t have an understanding of how the vocal folds work – I only know their general location in my throat.  Even with no knowledge of how the vocal folds work, I can still “think” my pitch, start my air and sing.  If the pitch is not accurate, I can think my pitch higher or lower and/or think my sound a different color and, with a little trial and error and a sense of easy-ness as a guiding factor, I can accomplish my goal.  If I try to “make” my pitch accurate directly, I will likely “do” something in my throat to help, either tightening or pulling to “control” the pitch.  Since this is not how the vocal folds change pitch, it only makes the pitch more off-key or adds tension to the vocal sound. 

The black box concept of Missy Vineyard’s book also implies a beautiful and necessary respect for our bodies and how they work.  Our bodies like to function with ease.  Often, all that is needed to effect a change toward an easier coordination is an “aha!” moment of the mind.  That moment of comprehension becomes the command for the new coordination.  The action follows the thought.  The new coordination becomes integrated into the natural movement of the body through gentle, playful, respectful movement exploration. 

[click here to download pdf]

Questions or comments?  email Marieke at: marieke@cantarevoicestudio.com

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10/4/11 - Bodymapping and Asthma

9/22/11 - Just think it!

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Marieke Schuurs

Master Voice Teacher and Bio-mechanics Expert

Marieke is a NATS certified Voice Teacher with a sub-specialty in Bodymapping.  She has been teaching since 1984.

She has coached classical singers, musical theater singers and actors, classical and folk instrumentalists, songwriters, jazz singers, recording artists and public speakers.

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