Singing is not all imagery-based vocal exercises. Body awareness is equally important if the student is going to be able to progress at a reasonable rate. To teach singing without first having the student understand their body as an instrument is to promote bad habits.

Imagery and standard vocal pedagogy techniques alone do not solve body issues with students. Most if not all need more specific techniques for body release apart from the techniques required for the act of singing.

The whole body is an instrument and the instrument has be properly tuned. When students can’t produce vibrato, have tongue tension that limits their progress, have body tension that sacrifices sound quality, etc. their teachers will tell me they are frustrated.

With the limited amount of time available in a lesson teachers must focus on the whole instrument as it applies to the music. Given good body release techniques your students’ singing will improve quickly, your reputation and results will be evident and your career will flourish.

Diaphragm training is one body awareness and development technique that works.

Diaphragm Target Training, or DTT, includes instruction and knowledge about tension release in areas of the body. Using these techniques we have been able to accelerate the singing success of thousands of students.

When the singer learns the proper release of the body and diaphragm training, apart from the act of singing, your application of good vocal instruction speeds up their progress geometrically. So, consider in your next lesson spending the first 15 minutes teaching your students body awareness.

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Steven Flam has perfected the training of your diaphragm for vocal power.
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   Dear Keeper of the Breath for Singers,
I am the proud mother of three children.  Sammy is 10 and he thinks he will be singing on Broadway by next year, Abigail is 7 going on 15, and dear little Joey wants to be like his older brother and sister, but he is just 4 and a half years old.  I want them all to learn how to breathe with intention.  Gawd knows, they have great lungs when they want something!  How old must a child be to learn the Diaphragm Techniques?
                                                                                           Signed:  Proud Mom
 
Dear Proud Mom,
Good for you mom, you want to teach your children proper techniques at a young age.  This opportunity will set them up for life!  The breathing muscle memory that we develop at a young age, translates into increased singing capabilities as we grow.  So, one would think that even little 4 and a half year old Joey can benefit from learning diaphragm breathing techniques.
 
However, unless the instruction is structured correctly, it is unlikely that Joey will get it.  A good structure for teaching children is to set up games that can be played in 10-15 minute increments.  That way, no one gets overwhelmed or loses focus.

AS SINGERS, WE CAN ASPIRE TO BECOME TODDLERS WITH OUR BREATH.  QUICKLY RELEASING TENSION, FREEING UP YOUR BODY AND RELAXING YOUR MIND, YAWNING AND LAUGHING WITH INTENTION, AND ULTIMATELY ENJOYING A GREATER RESONANCE IN VOICE THAT CAN CREATE CALM FOR OTHERS.

STEVEN FLAM HAS PERFECTED THE TRAINING OF YOUR DIAPHRAGM FOR VOCAL POWER.
GET YOUR FREE ‘FROM THE PRESCRIPTION PAD OF BREATHINGRX’ EBOOK NOW

I love the women in my life.  My mom, my sister, my girlfriend.... and they all love me back.  However, sometimes love does not bring out the best in ourselves and when those times happen, I find myself tensing up.

Once again - I have to take a prescription from the BreathingRx methodology and practice my passive diaphragm training.  The stress I feel is both physical and emotional.  Yet, I find, that if I release the physical stress, it plays well in releasing the emotional stress too.

Ideally I will find a place where I can lie down for 5 minutes and do my Connect your Vocal Cords:  Diaphragm Target Training exercise.  Don't confuse this with a yoga or meditation breathing exercise.  It is completely different because in yoga and meditation training you are trying to be conscious and control your breath.  In Diaphragm Target Training your breath and body are passive.

Once I have spent the 5 minutes lying down, my body is calm, oxygenated, and more positive thoughts can enter my mind - and viola, I am over it!  What do you do to calm down when loved ones trigger your lizard-brained behavior?