by Johanna Fredericks
I had an amazing and very empowering experience a couple of weeks ago. I experienced something that I hadn’t done in my life, until now. I sang while driving in my car, with my mum next to me, without any inhibitions. I felt free to sing.
It was so amazing for me to feel this freedom in singing as I had basically lived my life since childhood avoiding any singing, especially in front of people, at school and in groups. The sad thing was – I love to sing.
Growing up, from a young age I was told by those that I held dear to me that I had a terrible voice. I very quickly identified myself as a bad singer, which greatly suppressed my expression. I was being judged from what they thought a good singer consisted of and because I held them dear I thought that what they said must be true. I was told that I couldn’t sing and I felt my voice become harder as I grew up. I felt that I sang in a hard way (maybe to fit into the label that had been placed on me) and even the way I spoke took on a harsh nature. I was told that I had a terrible voice like my dad and that my mum and brother had good voices. The fact is that my voice and my Dad’s voice were just different; lower and deeper, but not bad.
Recently I participated in a group workshop with Victoria Carter. I felt very safe and supported by all the people at the workshop because I could feel that it was a place to be honest, open and where I would not be judged. It was also very playful and I felt held in love. At this workshop we felt our bodies and our voices. We compared how these changed when we were present with ourselves versus when we weren’t. Basically we felt how our choice to connect with ourselves magnified throughout our body, which then became our expression, when we spoke and sang. After a little bit of sharing, some observations, a few ‘ooo’s and aaahh’s’, we then worked as a group, making sound. Now the amazing thing is, it wasn’t about the sound or achieving a note or being the loudest or most perfect – it was about our connection and how the sound felt. I felt free to sing… and it felt GOLDEN!
I discovered that when I am connected to myself, without letting the beliefs and ideals of ‘how singing should be’, my voice is then free and sweet and strong. When I was younger, part of me played the game of being identified as the one who couldn’t sing. I was told to be quiet and even that I would get paid if I stopped singing. Soon I learned to use this as a manipulation tool where I would say “If you don’t do that, or give me that, I will sing”. So sad, and horrible….. I know. I could even say that I further hardened my voice as I grew up to make sure I fitted this label.
But with my experiences with Chris James’ Sounds Wonderful workshops and Victoria Carter‘s True Expression Workshops, over the years I have learned to slowly let go of theses filters, beliefs and ideals. For me, trust and feeling safe was a big thing. Their gentle and loving approach really supported me to claim my voice as an amazing tool of expression: a tool that expresses from what is already lived in the body. Singing for me now has a playful memory attached to it.
So as you can see, for me to freely sing in the car next to my mum was huge, and the beautiful thing was that because I didn’t allow all the other stuff to be there – it wasn’t even in my thoughts, then there was no room for it – my mum and my daughter (who loves my voice and we love singing together) both sang with me.
Inspired by the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
The Truth about Universal Medicine 
Any judgement is a terrible exercise in brutally reducing another (or oneself) one to a point we make it as light-less. That made to a being that is all about light is a terrible offence.
“I felt that I sang in a hard way (maybe to fit into the label that had been placed on me)” – this is a great nomination. Some ‘casual’ statements come laced with judgment that seems to trap and freeze the subject and can be like a life-long curse. It is very beautiful to feel you being freed from that.
The power of observation reveals everything. Nothing can he hidden in feeling energy including family or not.
Thank you Johanna for sharing your experience, we shouldn’t have to have a so called perfect voice to be allowed to sing, because singing can be such a joyful experience. I noted too in the workshop that you experimented with singing from the body and also when not connected to it, a good reminder for me to experiment with this also.
I love all you share in this wonderful blog Johanna, as I very much relate and my feeling is so will many others. I took on the belief I could not sing, when someone asked me to stop singing as a child, but the snowball effect was that I suppressed my expression and withdrew into myself as a result. I have also attended workshops with Chris James over the years, and had a one on one session, and slowly and surely I have allowed myself to sing and have enjoyed this so much as I felt how much I was letting go of those old voices.
It is so true that when we are free to sing, it is a joy, and it is also so much fun to share with others. In-truth for me singing is sacred, in that it is an opportunity to express our connection to our divinity, as such a celebration of who we are through sound. The beautiful thing about singing is that we all have a naturally beautiful voice that expresses that quality of who we innately are and the joy it is to live in connection to our essence. Discovering our natural voice and feeling how gorgeous it as it moves through our body is where the fun begins, which magnifies the more we sing with this quality as does the joy, be it with ourselves or with others.
It is utterly gorgeous to feel that under the muck of lies and protection we have accepted our expression to be, there is always something deeply gorgeous and Divinely beautiful bursting to come out.
It’s great to read how you can now enjoy singing again, without trying to force your voice to meet a certain picture or ideal but instead singing from a connection with your body, with how it feels.
When we let go of the identity, beliefs and or images, we allow our natural selves to simply play and explore what it means to simply be. This is not only super empowering but also gives us the opportunity to connect to the very essence of our true expression and enjoy the moment just as it is and that really is golden. Thank you Johanna.
I too was told from young age that I couldn’t sing, with the result that I could never sing on my own in front of anyone, when I sang in choirs I had to always tune into the person next to me and keep my voice soft so to not be heard, sounds a strange way to sing but the fact was that I loved to sing I would often sing in the car on my own when no one could hear me. Today I am learning how it feels to sing from a connection to my body and how different my voice sounds when I am trying to get it right.
Its quite amazing Johanna how you have turned it around from been an manipulative young girl
” Soon I learned to use this as a manipulation tool where I would say “If you don’t do that, or give me that, I will sing”. to now inspiring your daughter to expressing freely. As you did in front of your mother.
How we think and feel about our voices is either self-abuse or self-love. It’s that simple. Allowing ourselves to feel the beauty of our voice in our bodies, without the judgements of others piling in trying to tell us what we should think, is so deeply healing. We become free to express without reservation and the whole universe benefits.
I loved reading this blog. I loved to sing but also grew up being told I could’t sing. I had the opportunity to see Victoria only once and I felt no judgment whilst I was saying some of the words and I could feel my voice shy and shaky. I was nervous at first but that connections was more important than I realised. I would love to be given the opportunity to have more singing sessions and in some respect I could call it voice sessions and I know when I have the pull to sing again, the right presenter will be there.
“my mum and my daughter (who loves my voice and we love singing together) both sang with me.” The freedom of expression when we feel the freedom to sing from our heart.
Yes, and also an example of how singing from our hearts unites, it’s about our connection with ourselves and at the same time with everybody, there is such a joy in singing together.
True sound is the expression of the Soul – the love we are infused in our every move.
I found this article interesting this morning because who decides who owns singing? I mean was there a person that created singing and so through their lineage they now own the rights to singing and the ultimate decision on who can sing and who can’t? I know these aren’t real questions but how can anyone say that someone can’t sing or their voice is not up to scratch. I see the music world littered with drugs, suicide and some very unhappy people to put it mildly and so I don’t trust the music world with what they define as singing or singing voices because it’s very obviously not it despite the money and so called fame. What if we have it wrong, what if there’s more to singing and music then we are currently seeing? For me who cares what it sounds like in our opinion, everyone should sing and we all should stand back and learn to feel what the music does rather then get hooked by a tune or a look. I’ve watched people around me, me included redevelop their voice through singing. It’s not singing to be heard but singing to how it feels and that is an amazing experience.
Johanna, what I feel is how when we let go those ideals and beliefs we’ve taken on and just express in our own flavour, it’s magic and then others get to see they can do the same and join in too. I can see the 3 of you singing together in your car and it has me smiling.
It is such a beautiful experience when we can stand in our power and sing without any holding back, it is such a gift to ourselves and reflects to others the joy and expansion felt when we express in this way.
Often contraction can be a reaction to being judged. We feel well before that if we say something we are going to be judged but we have to be prepared to look at our behaviours of when we can go into judging and learn from the reflections that are on offer.
“Singing for me now has a playful memory attached to it.” Absolutely wonderful. If feel so much joy when I sing from my body (as opposed to my head) that it’s even more joyful when I hear of another who has reconnected to this joy too.
“Basically we felt how our choice to connect with ourselves magnified throughout our body, which then became our expression, when we spoke and sang.” How important is it to connect? If we do not we are open to dis-ease being magnified in the body.
So true Rik and yet sadly so little known, understood or accepted. However the only way this will change is if those who do know and accept this as the absolute truth it is, live it to the best of their ability and in doing so offer a glorious reflection to those yet to catch on.
Inhibitions are not things that just happen to us. They are clear signs of lack of self-worth we buy into. And then we move in that which confirms our reason to be inhibited. Until we cease to play this game.
I love what you shared Johanna, “I discovered that when I am connected to myself, without letting the beliefs and ideals of ‘how singing should be’, my voice is then free and sweet and strong.” I love singing to myself in the car or shower but not in front of anybody on my own, recently I attended a group session where we chose a song and prepared it to sing in front of the group, this was quite daunting at the start , but as I came to realise that it was not about getting it right but about being in my body and expressing the song from there, so when the time came to sing in front of the group I was amazed at how easy and joyful it was and can be to sing with all of me no holding back.
It is horrible what we do to ourselves, how we cement comments that are made to us, how we insist on being tough enough to put ourselves down and act like we think its funny but deep down it hurts. It is such a blessing for your daughter that you were able to turn this around, as it means she will will grow up with a freedom around her voice. It was also very touching that you have healed any past hurt with your mother. The last line brought a tear to my eye, it was just so sweet.
This just shows how damaging ideals and beliefs can be on our natural ability to express who we are. We are all completely unique, so having an image of what a picture perfect look is, or sound is, can not be true to everyone. Our uniqueness is an asset and something that should never be restrained or held back out of fear of not fitting into the current trend or what people think is it.
“a tool that expresses from what is already lived in the body.” I love this description of true expression. It sounds and feels awesome. I would love to experience this workshop. What a revelation.
“At this workshop we felt our bodies and our voices. We compared how these changed when we were present with ourselves versus when we weren’t.” Wow, I’ve never thought to do that before. That would be a great experiment. How many singers are truly present in their voice?
It feels awesome when we can let go and bust through something that we have held back on. I had the same experience with dancing- always feeling awkward and totally uncomfortable in my body. It has taken time but now I feel more free to let go and have fun in my movements. I can still feel constrictions but am more able to observe them and not give myself a hard time.
Beautiful to feel the freedom in which you were able to express yourself through singing without holding back, when we express from our own connection our expression has a beautiful flow, and sound.
When we filter down what we share and express around others they get a watered-down version of us – they may get to see a hint of our potential, but never the full and amazing us.
It is so much more fulfilling to risk to be the full and amazing us!
Crazy how we take on certain comments and let them completely change how we feel about ourselves for the rest of our lives. I remember being told several times how inarticulate I was. I interpreted this to mean that I wasn’t good at expressing myself through words and so have forever made excuses as to why I’m not a good writer, or why my storytelling or my explanations are so bad. Truth is, when I do express and it’s coming from my own lived experience, I’m very clear and make a lot of relatable sense. It’s just a habit to bring myself down so I don’t have to be responsible for me, the vehicle of expression that I am.
How gorgeous Johanna that you now feel free to sing and express freely. How inspiring that you feel the power and wisdom of your true voice; thank you.
And how beautiful in your freeing yourself from these beliefs your child is able to grow up singing freely with you and her grandmother. This will support her should she receive criticism at any time.
Such a joy to hear you have rid yourself of the curses placed upon you as a child. If we were as widely aware of the consequences of our words on others as we are say of a physical attack, we would be much more careful and loving in our supposed ‘jokey quips’ which are fact cut deep and can cap another’s evolution for lifetimes. Heavy karma indeed.
As Chris James says…”everyone has a beautiful voice” and why wouldn’t we for that is who we are. Listening to a child sing, it is just total sweetness, in it’s naturalness. But as we listen to music we try and sound like someone other than ourselves, so of course we don’t sing what is natural for us. I have cried at the sweetness of adult voices singing in their true voice, especially when signing in harmony without effort and training.
It is amazing how much we can deny parts of us because of the reactions of others. I was always told I was too big and then I became this and moulded my body to fit this- it is now a process of letting this go and coming back to my truth.
How many people out there detest and even hate their voice…..how many avoid speaking in public at all costs, how many people think they cannot sing and therefore don’t. Your blog is supper supportive for all those who read it and have a issue with their voice.
Singing is really precious to us. I remember as a child those conversations about who had a good voice and who didn’t and registering how hurt people felt if they said or were told their voice was no good. It feels like singing is something we all innately would like to do, joyously and without inhibitions, and not based on our voice needing to be a certain way. It just feels like a natural expression to sing.
How many do not feel free to sing, or even to open our mouths and express how we feel. I was that person along with most of humanity. Your blog Johanna is truly inspiring and offers much support for all who read it.
It seems there are a lot of us who were told that we could not sing or sing well enough for those listening. I remember as a child we had a a series of young women who worked in our home and in pre school years I would spend a good deal of time with one particular woman. She allowed me total freedom in my expression and shared her appreciation of this in ways that made it feel totally natural for me to be this free. With my mum and dad though I was meant to “behave” and singing was not part of “behaving”. At least this is how I remember it. Like this I grew up feeling I could express freely with some people and not others. I explored expression and communication in various workshops and training programmes and even became a facilitator and workshop leader myself. Now, thanks to Universal Medicine, I am learning and discovering for myself the Science of Expression and in Chris James workshops I am allowing a freedom of expression in my singing that is awesome and connects me with the joy I had as a child and allows me to find harmonies that are out of this world.
Thank you Johanna for a great sharing, I too was told when I was young I could not sing. Doing the workshops you talked about has changed my view a little, but I still find at times I am judging my voice as I still do not feel comfortable singing out around my husband. I love that you have been able to trust yourself and let your voice out and sing with your Mum and daughter.
It is horrible if we get told our voice is not beautiful as it is something so innate that cannot be changed and therefore it stifles our expression – a very insidious attempt to shut us up, which mostly the people delivering it are not even aware of.
The thing is, like comparing ourselves with how we look, singing is seen as either a talent or not… and we then live with a belief that we can or can’t sing. Our body misses out on expressing itself in full.
YES Johanna – awesome back claiming of your sweet natural voice, LOVE IT!
I can relate to what you are sharing as I had a similar experience when I was young and I too identified myself as a bad singer, which definitely suppressed my expression. I too ” was being judged from what they thought a good singer consisted of “. How I gave my power away to others when I was young. Now I have began to find my own expression and my voice, thanks to Universal Medicine.
I know this feeling of inhibition around singing but it’s amazing how this can melt when in a workshop with Chris James, for example, where the focus is on returning to our connection with ourselves and our expression. I have also felt a true support from the other participants. I come away feeling taller and more confident and lighter too having enjoyed myself in the process.
Johanna your story brings with it a strong message of the huge and damaging impact that one negative comment can bring to a child’s life. Another very powerful reminder that everything we say and do has a cause and effect.
Thank you Johanna for your article I can relate to being told that I couldn’t sing as a child, and this carried through with me most of my life even though I do love to sing when alone, I understand how huge it was to sing in front of your mum. I too have gained so much from the workshops that have been presented so lovingly,
It is clear anyone can sing, and it does not matter whether we have a voice that is judged by society to be of good quality, we still can sing, just the same as we can walk…
Thank you Johanna for this reminder that when we let go of what we think or believe or want/need something to be we are free to express. And it makes me question because from experience these thoughts, beliefs and needs are so tiny compared to that freedom I ask myself – am I willing to let go of focusing the small stuff I have held onto and feel that freedom that is readily available? Why is there this sentimental attachment to something so small when letting go of it is so freeing?
Re Victoria Carter and Chris James – “Their gentle and loving approach really supported me to claim my voice as an amazing tool of expression: a tool that expresses from what is already lived in the body.” I too have learned so much about expression and my voice since attending Chris James’ workshops. He will be in the UK again in 10 days time. Whoo hoo!
I love how your choice to drop all inhibitions and allow yourself to sing in the car with your Mum, actually brought you, your Mum and your Daughter together in song. The pure joy of this moment is what life truly has the potential to be.
Connecting to the quality within ourselves and not holding it back is the best medicine we can offer the world. For when we express from this place it is not something that is laced with ideals and beliefs on how it should sound but it is directly in touch with the purity of the soul.
Holding the world at ransom from our expression of love creates a burden in our bodies that we have to live with and it is only through the letting go of ideals and beliefs that define who we are that we can let out our true expression to inspire those around us.
It is amazing the harm that the ideals and beliefs of others can cause when projected and taken on as a truth… and how gorgeous to be able to get to a place where you can see them for what they are and no longer allow them to affect you.
The fact is that beauty is defined by a quality and not an appearance.
Learning to feel the fullness of our bodies when we sing is a wonderful thing. I have done a lot of singing but was never taught to do this until I met Chris James. What a revelation this is. Singers get taught to breathe correctly, stand this or that way, shape their mouths, smile, emote, move in a particular way, enunciate this or that way….but when we connect with our bodies and feel what it is like to just sing with all that we are – it is a joy and so simple too. It is something I am very grateful to have learned in this life.
This is an interesting one for me because from very young I was always told I can sing and sing well too. You might think this would encourage me to sing more but in fact I felt very self-conscious because of it and held back my voice. I didn’t like the attention being on me and preferred it when I was just one of the crowd. Letting my voice out and being heard has been a key evolution in my life – and still is. But today I agree with Chris James in that ‘we are all born with a beautiful voice’ and there is great joy in allowing ourselves to use it fully and express ourselves. We are not here to keep quiet but to speak up and share our deepest wisdom with humanity. As Serge Benhayon has said many many times ‘Expression is everything’.
This is pretty cool! It feels amazing when we let down all the guards and protection and show someone all of us.
The freedom to express ourselves whether singing or speaking when it comes from the body can be very empowering and reconnects us to who we truly are.
Claiming our voices- “an amazing tool of our expression”. Such joy Johanna to feel the vibrations of our incredible voices coming from within – no holding back this gift from heaven that truly serve in many ways.
Singing is a way we express joy and to avoid using this form of expression is limiting our scope of expression. Interesting how judgement from others especially people who we hold dear can affect our choices but ultimately we make our own choices. What you’ve shared Johanna is so relatable and the realizations you’ve had are very healing. So, awesome that you are now choosing to express yourself through singing, sharing it with your family and sharing it with us too.
My voice sounds so different when I am singing with judgement of how my voice sounds, it is hard out of tune pushed. When I am connected and just sing from my heart with no judgment, my voice sounds so beautiful and flowing and joy is felt throughout my body. Chris James had brought to us , that we all have a beautiful voice, dispelling the judgment that had been placed on us when young.
There seems to be always something that someone has said to us, that we allow to stand as a truth about ourselves without question. Families are especially good at this. Under the guise of truth telling they go where no one else will go, but this should not hold us back. I know that it is a hard thing to get past sometimes but so worth doing as you have experienced Johanna. Someone dear to me was told that they couldn’t sing and so although they are always in tune, sing so softly it is hard to hear and it is such a shame, we could be having so much more fun.
I have heard of many people being too shy to sing because of another judging their singing voice. Imagine going through your while life never singing because of someone suppressing your natural voice when you were young, and how this must impact on their everyday confidence with their expression. Having attended workshops with Victoria Carter and Chris James it has been deeply inspiring and very empowering to sing without any holding back and to be supported in this process has been very beautiful and healing indeed.
We all have beautiful voices this is a fact. However the beauty of our voice isn’t qualified by the sound or tone but by the quality it is used. When anyone speaks from their heart and really speaks on the behalf of the many. The voice is beautiful because it encapsulates everyone.
So true Luke, any sound we make from our inner heart is a sound that is full of beauty, divine and has the ability to heal. Our voices are a gift from heaven when we use them for expressing absolute truth.
Yes, it is felixschumacher8 and it has long terms effects and can be very damaging to put someone down in that way.
Brilliant Deborahmckay very well said, it is so, so true. We definitely have a choice indeed, it is always up to us to choose.
This is beautiful Johanna, singing from your heart and your body, amazing. I feel a lot of people may be choosing not to sing because many have been told from a very young age that they can’t sing and they believe that their voice is not good enough yet singing is so joyful, fun and a celebration. It’s interesting how much we tend to hold ourselves back because we feel we are not good enough. You certainly inspired us to let that go Johanna and allow ourselves to express through singing. Thank You.
I have always felt awkward with singing and so rarely attempted to do so. I can remember my mother and father singing at times as they went about their chores and I don’t recall ever getting put down for singing but it has nonetheless always felt unnatural to me. When I did try and sing my voice felt scratchy and harsh so I soon stopped. So I decided to attend a Chris James workshop to see if I could discover a bit more about why I struggle with this form of expression. Since then I have been experimenting with singing more when I am driving along in the car. If I don’t feel like singing, I hum and just enjoy the vibration I can feel in my throat and the way the energy travels through my body. I am slowly learning to trust that I do have a voice and that it’s OK to let it out.
It has been astonishing to feel the quality that can be expressed through singing, alone and in a group. I have found when I leave the ‘self’ out of the equation and connect to what lies within, I sing from my heart with all, for all and it feels out of this world.
When you tell someone that they are terrible and put anyone down for anything this effectively feeds all their insecurities (which is the ultimate intention of a put down) and infuses into all that they do. This creates a shadow of doubt and lays the foundation for even more feelings of insecurity to be bred. Its a vicious circle that can only be broken by committing to rebuilding our self worth and an appreciation of our own qualities unique to ourselves.
True Suse, there are so many ‘names’ we can call ourselves that when we stop to really look at why, we realise that they are nothing to do with us, it’s just something we have accepted as true.
Throw out the judgement and just sing. Why would we tell someone not to sing? It seems so cruel to prevent someone from experiencing the joy of expressing this way. What does it matter if we do not sound like recording room material? When we contract and make singing about performing and being perfect, we might spread the doubt to someone else that it may never have occurred to, to consider that they may not be good enough, and so on. That we can sing together and join in and support each other is beautiful.
Yes its a shame we have made singing about being “good enough”
as this has traumatised many to see or be vocal in any way shape or form – something like we have created with religion. But the true meaning of both and impuls to come from is still there – it requires absolute dedication to want to explore the realness of the meanings and let go of the false onces. It is up to us. I love singing, I love religion – simply because I have re-invented mine:) by mine I mean the original meaning it is.
Singing feels so joyful, I have noticed we certainly don’t express in this way often as adults. I hear children sing a lot without reservations, this is something we seem to stop doing as we get older because we become afraid of being judged, compared and ridiculed. We tend to do the same with expressing truth and singing is an expressions of joy when sung from our hearts.
I love the title of this blog and the beauty of connecting to my body and singing from there. Attending a Chris James workshop was a revelation to me having been told from a young age that I couldn’t sing and the release and joy that I have re-connected to is awesome and keeps expanding. Thank you for sharing your experience of freely expressing with your family.
That is so beautiful how you expressed that you love to sing, and that actually all was in you to sing. But that you discovered that you were holding back this joy of singing because of ideals and expectations outside of you. How beautiful that you have claimed yourself out of that mess, and let the truth of who you are fully come to explore. I trust you have a beautiful voice, and I would love to listen. It also takes down the ideal that certain people have bad voices, no one has, and it is a absolute curse to say that to some one, and it deeply effects people, like you have shared Johanna. Always integrity first and always claim back your truth if lies are trown at you.
So true Danna. Not a single soul in this world can ever sing badly. To hear another sing from their essence is pure gold no matter how they sing, cause it simply feels great to listen and feel in the body.
Yes well said – the body speaks when it comes down to music etc. I had a interesting experience today where I heard the radio play and the weather and news: it was interesting to feel what sound I was receiving – I could feel a sort of tension in my head the longer the music was playing. I start to understand that music is more than words and a rhythm – that energy comes with it and so are we at the receiving end. Thank you Johanna.
A great reminder Johanna, that life plays out according to the choices we make – and specifically here that our choice to connect with ourselves magnifies throughout our body, which then becomes our expression – whether that be speaking, singing, eating, working, writing. So, any ‘-ing’ is effectively impacted and influenced directly by what we choose to magnify in our expression.
I also love that feeling of singing freely Johanna, I actually sound a lot better when I do as when I am self-conscious the notes tend to come out wrong. The key to singing beautifully is to just be you in all your amazingness and others naturally feel this joy and want to join in.
For me singing is nourishing, healing and a natural extension of who I am, it’s an expression of my joy. It confirms and magnifies the love and beauty I feel within and can’t contain. Joy and love call out to be shared. Through the simple joy and sharing of singing we can open our hearts to others in harmony and unity and connect more deeply to ourselves, allowing much natural healing to take place.
That what is imposed upon us at a young age can have such a huge effect on the way we are for the rest of our lives, I am very glad to be able to feel that that happened. And as you so beautifully share, this can be changed, and we can have fun again in that what was denied for such a long time.
It is so beautiful that you have found a deep appreciation for yourself and let go of the beliefs that you have allowed to restrict your expression… and now find yourself freely able to choose to share with the world the sweetness of your voice and all that you live inside. Gorgeous.
The messages we receive when young from those around us block and override the voice within that is always there calling us to stay connected. This is a beautiful and joyful sharing of true healing of self, relationships and re-imprinting the past. Thank you Johanna for this honest expression.
What a lovely sharing Johanna. I have always imagined that I don’t have a beautiful voice, but when I did a group with Victoria Carter a few years ago I realised it didn’t matter what I thought, it was about connection that we can have with our voices. The beautiful sounds that each of us emitted were so beautiful and heart warming to hear!
Healing your voice is healing the world. Thank you for going there.
It is so interesting to observe what happens when we are told from young that we cannot sing. Even though it seems an innocent thing to say and the jokes being made about it make it seem funny, it has a huge impact on your life! Like you said it is always a choice to conform to it, but as a child being imposed on with such a thing is quite huge. The beautiful thing is that you can always make the choice to see the truth and change the way you are with singing. Thank you for sharing Johanna.
It’s beautiful to feel your joy in reclaiming your own voice through singing. It’s really amazing so many of us, including myself, have shied away from singing even though we enjoyed singing as a kid, and sometimes even as a grownup, only privately in the shower. Your blog has reminded me how amazing it actually feels to feel my voice in my body. And seeing singing simply as a form of expression, not a performing art, it feels less scary.
‘And seeing singing simply as a form of expression, not a performing art, it feels less scary.’ Thank you Fumiyo I can still sometimes get caught up in ‘performing’ and trying too hard when singing rather than just connecting and expressing in a different way with my voice.
Loved to re-read your blog Johanna, it always fills me with such joy when I sing and have become aware I don’t sing enough…. as life and work take up the week, so more time for singing please I hear my body shouting….
And I just love hearing when other people start to sing around me. There is something so freeing about hearing someone sing and hearing the beautiful sounds that can be expressed.
This is beautiful Johanna, such a lovely way to re-imprint those old beliefs by claiming the beauty of your true voice and expression. Thank you it was very healing for me to read.
I have been inspired to sing more by this dear friend of mine and some time ago, we actually sang together, sitting opposite each other. I have to admit, I felt like running and quite some shyness came up. But I stayed…The intimacy of singing together while looking into each others eyes is something I have never experienced with another man, Now I have, and it has been a huge blessing.
This is so gorgeous Johanna – 3 generations of your family singing with joy and harmony together.
Gorgeous Johanna and so beautiful to feel your joy as you share your experience in feeling free to sing. Singing is such a powerful expression and everyone has a beauty-full voice. When we are connected to ourselves, our bodies and our essence within, the vibration of sound that comes though us does indeed feel divine. And the quality of this expression is felt as such, as we are voicing our own beautiful uniqueness through singing. A glorious celebration and confirmation of who we are and our Livingness.
Thank you Johanna, Carola, Victoria, Chris and Serge Benhayon, I agree, when there is a deep connection to ourself as presented as a way of Livingness, then there is a unique divine quality!
How beautiful and empowering is it when we reclaim our singing voice, after having shut it down from deep childhood hurts and ideals and beliefs that we have allowed to be our truth. What an inspiring story Johanna, letting others know that it is never too late to reclaim our natural voice. We are all born with a beautiful voice.
What a beautiful affirming story of how its possible to heal our deep childhood hurts, thank you Johanna, so many people have had their voices shut down at an early age. Singing is such a natural expression of our joy and who we are.
Awesome Johanna – I can relate to this sharing very much. I too always thought that my voice was not a nice singing voice, and would laugh about how bad is was saying that people would pay me to shut up or we would get tomato soup for dinner (because if I saw myself singing on stage, I also saw everyone throwing tomatoes at me!). Little did I realise that that was just a way to keep me down to not show all of me. These days, I will often sing in the car and sing to music too, and though I would not call my voice recording quality due to the tones and tunes that come out, I feel the joy in letting myself express and have fun and like you I am finding that the more I do this, the more a strength, warmth and absoluteness comes into my vocal expression – and this could be worth recording!!!
Thank you Johanna, I relate so much to your story as I grew up feeling embarrassed of my voice and always wanting to sing. It was only until a few years ago when I decided to book a session with Chris James that I discovered that I did have a lovely voice and was so surprised to hear myself sing that it brought tears to my eyes. I now enjoy singing at home or in the car and it is a pleasure to be able to express and feel this in my body.
I am starting to truly enjoy singing and I even take the time to play a song by glorious music and sing along. I sing more and more, on the street but also sharing my voice with others and it feels very freeing. I never did this, as I was always ashamed of my voice or thought I could not sing. I know better now……I have a beautiful, delicate and sweet voice and I just LOVE to sing.
I love this Johanna and can feel the freedom that you must of felt from the words you write. I too have been amazed in the transformation in claiming my singing voice having attended workshops with Chris James. I didn’t think I could sing before doing the workshop, but what I have realised is that we can all sing and have truly beautiful voices when we connect with ourselves and let go of ideals of how we should sound. Such freedom!
I love this blog feeling free to sing. How beautiful after all the years of suppressing your voice to feel the freedom to openly express by singing with your mother. I can truly appreciate how huge this would have been for you Johanna. I can imagine what enjoyable times you share singing with your daughter and how delightful that would be for her.
Johanna, so true when you connect with yourself, everything that is expressed from you will be unimposing and people listen. When we are hard and harsh it is grating to all including ourselves. I too have had this wonderful experience with Chris James.
Reading this beautiful blog brought up for me much sadness as I too have felt that my voice was not good enough. It has given me an opportunity to feel more deeply the hurt and also that trusting and feeling safe is key in finding my true voice. Thank you.
It feels so good to read about your unlocked freedom to sing. I love that your child AND your mother joined in with you. Just goes to show, that once you claim something for yourself, it makes accepting so much easier, for everyone and leaves little room for judgement.
It’s amazing how strongly these childhood experiences affect us and can stop us from expressing and enjoying the sound of our voice. That is until we discover singing from our body which I have done with Chris James and Victoria Carter. This is a whole different experience. When you feel the sound resonating through your body, especially your heart there is no concern with how it sounds or trying to make be a certain way. The feeling of sound through the body is exquisite and allows you to feel without a doubt the connection with others in the room through that vibration.
Fiona you describe how you feel the connection with others in the room through the vibration of your voice. For me this is a very important part of singing – this connection felt when a group sing and vibrate together. My voice is part of this beautiful sound not louder or not special just equal with all the others – wunderbar.
I am aware of so many people having been hurt as children around their voices, and that hurt, unless it was able to be expressed, stays with them as adults, having such a deep impact on the way they communicate. I know from personal experience that it is possible to release these hurts and to re-connect to the beautiful voice that we all have.
Young children have such glorious voices and this should be celebrated and enjoyed, but unfortunately it isn’t always, and it doesn’t take too long before these delightful voices are compromised or, in the worst case scenario, silenced. As adults, the reclaiming of that innocent voice is the most amazing healing experience, as it appears to have been for you Johanna. Thank you for sharing the love you have for singing.
Brilliant Ingrid, so well said. It certainly is a very healing experience to let go of these hurts we’ve accumulated since childhood, they may be difficult to dig up and expose at first but the joy in letting them go is well worth it.
“So as you can see, for me to freely sing in the car next to my mum was huge, and the beautiful thing was that because I didn’t allow all the other stuff to be there – it wasn’t even in my thoughts, then there was no room for it” – I have also started singing in front of people recently.
Beautiful Johanna. How capping that would have been to grow up believing you don’t have a beautiful voice… I’m glad you’ve got the feeling like you can sing back again
So awesome Johanna, to feel how you’re letting your true expression out for the world feel and hear. We need more of this. So many beautiful voices are shut down so early because they don’t fit into a particular mold. It’s such a natural joy to express ourselves through singing and every child does this naturally without concern. Then comes an age when we are judged and so many of us who love to sing stop singing. So, beautiful to hear you claiming this back again. Personally I can’t imagine a life without singing. When I have the impulse, I sing almost everywhere now. It’s so freeing to let it out and people love it, not because of my voice, but because it gives them permission to sing also.
Absolutely gorgeous Rachel. I love your comment. It is always so amazing to read, see and hear someone claiming their natural expression back.
Johanna, this is such a beautiful post. That by connecting to yourself and not holding any of the past criticisms, you sang in the car with your mother and daughter and they sang along with you makes my heart melt.
It really surprises me how many people are told that they can’t sing at a young age. Singing from our own expression is such a joy for us all and should be cherished not held back . Thank you Johanna for sharing your story and you are so right, singing is a wonderful tool of expression for all.
We sometimes hide behind a voice that is not actually our fullness all because there is a lot of power in our true voice.. so much it may startle! But thats the conditioning of society and all the things we get told as we grow up.
Wow Joshua that is so true. We are ultimately the ones responsible for choosing to hide our true voice simply due to fear of the power it delivers.
Thank you Johanna for sharing your story.I too was told not to sing at school as my voice interfered with those that could sing, so I was told just move my mouth to the words. Thanks to Chris and Jenny James I now know I have a lovely voice when I stand up and be myself and not sing from trying to be something I am not.
It is so true Johanna that we loose our playfullness if we are stopped in our natural expression of which singing is one of them. How debilitating the switching of our true expression is,as you share with us, that you even have hardened your voice to fit into the label that has been put on you. Thank you that you have recovered your true voice and playfullness and I would love to sing together with you.
I loved your blog Johanna, I’m looking forward to the day I take part in a singing workshop. I have so many negative beliefs about my singing that stop me expressing in that way. While reading your blog I’ve realised I love to sing. Thanks you have inspired me.
The joy in expression! Yes I agree, singing without holding back is so awesome indeed! I had an experience when I was taking my sister to work once and I decided to start singing along to one of Chris James’ songs. And I just felt this powerful and full voice emerge. It was so wonderful.
Wow. What a lovely story of reconnecting to your true expression. It is amazing how we take on the things that we are told rather than feel what is actually true for us.
Singing is so natural, it’s really a part of us to just spontaneously sing, so I can fully appreciate this joyful moment! I remember being a kid and hearing things said about my voice and the hurt I felt. It’s better to just celebrate a child’s expression without expectation of how they should sound. Singing is so personal and we hold it so dear, everyone really should be encouraged to sing!
Thank you Johanne. When I speak from being connected to myself my voice comes from my chest with a depth and fullness where as with my filters it comes from my throat and feels restricted, this allows me to look at why and change it.
Awesome blog Johanna, I notice how my voice changes when I am in a certain mood. The level of hardness in my voice is a reflection of how hard I am feeling in my body. By becoming more aware of how I am living, I can choose to adjust and change what is not supporting me. Our voice, our movement and our body is a reflection of our everyday choices to live in love or not.
Thanks Johanna. I can relate to how much more full my voice sounds when I am feeling connected as compared to when I am not.
Connection is a essential ingredient to expression.
singing from this connection without filters, as you say, is oh so fun 🙂
This is so wonderful Johanna and I can relate to your story very much as being similar to my own and the stunting of expression. Our voice carries the connection we have to ourselves. Beautiful, and inspiring.
How many people have been hurt by a judgement from others around their voices, particularly as children and gone on to shut down that aspect of themselves. Such a travesty. It feels like it should be natural and celebrated as you did with your Mum and daughter, how wonderful to have claimed it back Johanna. Vey inspiring.
As a young child in class I was shamed for being unable to hold a note. I was tone deaf. I have carried this ‘dis-ability’ with me ever since. I understand now that my voice is part of my expression. I have to create short screen captures for students. Many of my colleagues superimpose the mellifluous voice of a singing teacher. I have decided to use my own voice when I next design one of those little clip. A small step but significant for me.
Lovely Patricia!
Perhaps not such a small step, but rather, a big one!
So true Jeanette. We should all feel free to sing our truth regardless of what others think.
Thanks for your blog Johanna. I worked in the Caribbean with a Haitian gardener. He had a beautiful voice and would often sing as he worked. I believe the Music Industry is responsible for making us believe that our singing wasn’t good enough. They didn’t give us music as they like to think, they took away our ability sing. I am pleased for you that you found your voice.
It is an absolute joy to let ourselves sing and express ourselves freely…I totally relate to your experience Johanna and now feel the freedom to let my voice be heard because I appreciate myself more, I love who I am and I know that there is so much I bring…all of this is way to amazing to hold it back:))
Returning to something we love, but have not done for reasons related to past hurts, is always beautiful. It is re-embracing a part of you that you have left behind; becoming more complete again. The feeling complete again (or more complete) is amazing since it reveals instantly to what extent we have deprived ourselves of something very dear to us. I can´t wait to hear you singing Johanna!
It’s great to feel your openness in letting your voice be heard Johanna through singing and then sharing this in the written word here. I feel inspired and refreshed just reading your blog. Thank you.