Voicing with awareness

This chapter posits how the Feldenkrais Method® (FM) can develop technical and expressive skills that result in greater possibilities for self-expression in speaking and singing. In brief, the FM, created by Moshe Feldenkrais (1904–1984), is a learning process through which participants develop awareness of themselves by observing how they move as they explore various movement sequences. In keeping with the experiential nature of this approach, the chapter offers a self-directed movement and voice exploration. Its purpose is to provide an experience of the somatic voice and to demonstrate how awareness of oneself is the foundation to learning how to learn. Firsthand experience of the FM will give context to the subsequent discussion of its key principles and strategies in relation to the exploration. The chapter then concludes with suggestions for exploring an embodied approach to singing through practice and research.