Working with the sounds of our voice is fascinating, amazing, and astonishing. We are often taught from an early age to be quiet – we are told not to cry, that there is no reason to cry, or that it would be embarrassing to express our emotions, our feelings, be they sad or happy. We might have been told we would make ourselves the centre of attention, take up too much space. And that it is unpleasant for others. But what happens to these held back, never fully embraced and expressed emotions and feelings in our bodies? Just thinking about it makes my body rigid and stiff, and my breathing becomes shallow.

I’ve always loved singing. I dreamed of becoming a singer and being able to express all my feelings I had held back for so long, feelings of sadness, anger and frustration for everyone to be seen and noticed. As a teenager, I started playing the guitar and singing along. I had a particular fondness for emotional and melancholic songs and found solace in their melodies and words. Although they enjoyed listening, family and friends sometimes asked, “Can’t you sing happy songs?” But for me, these soulful, melancholy melodies and lyrics helped soothe some emotions that needed to be heard and expressed.

Over time, I realised that there were so many overwhelming emotions and feelings inside me that singing a song, however soulful, was not enough to release and transform them. The song, the words gave them a general and understandable form of expression, but they were also a kind of limitation. It often felt as if a huge reservoir of held-back emotions were being squeezed through a tiny keyhole or a narrow window.

In my thirties, I participated in a training course called “Soul Voice®”, which intrigued me very much. Here vocal sounds were used as tools for expression and healing. At first, I was ashamed to participate in this type of sounding. I thought to myself, these people are all crazy. But now I am happily one of them.  Little by little I learnt to trust my original vocal sounds and to use them to express what is. It led me to emotions, feelings that had been suppressed for so long and allowed me to express them, to give them space. It rarely sounds nice. But once the emotions have found their way out and have space to unfold, to be heard, harmony emerges. It’s a bit like in having an argument with a partner. Bottled-up emotions are let out and it is stressful, disharmonious. When everyone’s opinion has been heard and felt seen, a new, much deeper harmony is created. The emotions are not stuck anymore but vibrate freely and also release the tension in the body.

And the greatest thing is, we always have our voice with us. It is free. It is always available. No formal training, no singing degree needed, no need to be able to hold a note.

Today, I used my vocal sounds to tackle my fear of writing, and to dismantle the internal expectations that restrict my creativity. And voilà…

For my clients, there is often a longing to be able to express themselves, to take up their space combined with the fear of vulnerability to do so. Yet, when they discover a safe space in our sessions where we together explore and release their long-held emotions, a new world opens up. The resonance of their voices becomes a bridge to healing, a path toward authenticity.

So, let us sound, moan, or even growl our truths.

For within those sounds lies liberation—the sweet release of emotions held captive for far too long