Short Courses & Events / Archive

Mindfulness and Voice: Exploring the Intersection through Peer-Reviewed Literature

Tuesday 6th May 2025, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM (London Time)

There is a natural synergy between mindfulness and voice work. Both require and cultivate sustained attention, self-knowledge, somatic (bodily) awareness, and breath work. Mindfulness research has exploded in recent years, and interest in mindfulness and voice is growing, as evidenced by the amount of mindfulness-related content at conferences of the International Congress of Voice Teachers, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Voice Foundation, and the Pan-American Vocology Association, among others. 

Despite strong interest, only a handful of peer-reviewed studies have examined the relationship between mindfulness and voice. Emerging research indicates that mindfulness can help voice users learn to respond to stress more effectively and may help them manage performance anxiety. It can increase attentional and somatic awareness, which may lead to faster vocal change. It may even help reduce the symptoms of some voice disorders, particularly muscle tension dysphonia. Finally, mindfulness can help voice users gain perspective on internal and external criticism and maintain a sense of agency in the face of setbacks and change.

In this course, we will examine several types of peer-reviewed literature. First, we will look at mindfulness studies that indirectly relate to voice work. This will include studies on the psychological and physical benefits of mindfulness. Second, we will review research that examines mindfulness as it relates to voice-adjacent fields (e.g., music performance anxiety and stammering/stuttering). Third, we will look at the few published studies that have directly investigated the relationship between mindfulness and voice, including work with healthy singing populations and research in people with voice disorders. Lastly, we will examine directions for future qualitative and quantitative research.

🏷️ Price £30 (UK VAT inclusive)
🎥 Recording automatically sent to all who book (even if you cannot attend live)
▶️ Rewatch as many times as you like
📜 Certificate of attendance available

Catherine Brown

Catherine Kay Brown is an adjunct voice instructor at Immaculata University and a private voice teacher in Downingtown, Pennsylvania (USA). Ms. Brown runs ongoing mindfulness courses for people with voice disorders and is currently collaborating with the University of Miami on several research projects related to voice and mindfulness.

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Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.

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Sorry, this is an archived short course...

We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.

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Do you find your students lean towards a particular accent when they sing? Is there a discrepancy between their spoken and sung accent, or have they have been instructed to change their accent when they sing? Changing an accent can change the way a song is sung, and may unearth unforeseen technical vocal challenges. Join Jennifer Rhodes as she unpicks the latest research on this topic!

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(London Time)

Voice Study Centre Online Symposium 2025

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2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)

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