Naked Voice Facilitators Association

This was generally agreed to be an inspiring and engaging conference call, and a topic that merits an ongoing conversation.

Some ideas and discussion points that emerged are in point form, below.

-One thing that emerged clearly is the richness and diversity that is happening in these sessions, as facilitators intertwine practices from body work, counselling, coaching, shamanic work, and musicianship (to name a few) with the essential NV practices of deep listening and sounding from source (or “free singing”), and other NV practices. For some, the voice became a tool for awareness (rather than words or speaking) which then opened the way for application of other therapeutic tools.

-We discovered how important it is to share this diversity with each other, as it deepens and nourishes the pool of resources from which we all draw.

-A major point of discussion was: how do we create safety, grounding, or a safe “container” for a one-to-one NV voice work session? The “Free Singing” or “Sounding from Source” in particular can be a very powerful practice, AND for this practice to “take off” and reach its potential, the space needs to be held in a grounded way.

Ideas shared around grounding/creating a safe container/supporting transformation through the medium of the voice:

-of course, and always, we are reminded to begin the session from SA; ensure that as facilitators we are going into the session with our own energy nourished and grounded—supported by ongoing (regular) practice of our NV or other self-nourishing practice

-as session opens, build trust with the “client”; spend some time getting to know them and developing rapport verbally; create clarity, share expectations for the session, help the client set their intention/agenda for the session and then hold that space with/for them; if verbal discovery is challenging, a client might express their relationship with their voice in another way,
e.g. by drawing or coloring it on paper, or through movement

-check in with the client beforehand about what they are comfortable with: if it is possible that you as facilitator might sing or play harmonium or drum with them, if you might touch them, or interrupt them for any reason. Let them tell you what is OK, and respect those safety boundaries for them.

-use inspired physical contact to support the client, for example touching on the shoulder or other area that may be “asking” for energy, or sitting back-to-back with them while they free sing; of course checking in first to make sure that is OK with them

-teach NV practices/vocal maps such as the LAM VAM RAM or SA-RE-GA etc BEFORE moving into free singing, so that both the facilitator and the client have a safe reference point to return to, as needed e.g. client can come back to “SA” or “GA” to ground if there has been some strong emotional processing
AND -ground client and facilitator both at the end of the session by sounding in particular the three sounds of love SA-RE-GA repeatedly

-simply sound the AUM together to ground and/or take the session to the next place

-if your musicality is developed in this way, follow the client musically on an instrument such as the harmonium, or find and hold their “SA”; if this is not how your musicality is developed, DON’T get caught up in that story, there are many ways to hold the space—see this entire section of notes!

-trusting our intuition/gut from that grounded space of SA; follow an idea—even if it doesn’t turn out “perfect” it is likely still OK. There is always GRACE in this work! If we are not sure about following an idea, we can check in with the client, i.e. “This (fill in the blank) is coming up for me as a possibility. Would you like to try it?”

-entrain/tune in to the “other” in front of us, and then whatever our own unique gifts are, start there, and work with sensitivity
-Listen, listen, listen, listen . . .

Thoughts on deepening into the session—ask the client relevant and open-ended questions, when you hear that there is passion and aliveness in their voice about a particular something. Examples of questions:
“How does that feel?”
“What does that mean to you?”
“How important is that to you?”
“Tell me more about . . . “
Clients might speak about these questions or sing about them. And again, we listen, and witness.

-We also discussed the power of the voice to express & transform many varied emotions through free singing. The Angry ,Fearful, Helpless Self, etc emerge, and yet at the same when we listen deeply as facilitators and clients, these become a container for other sounds (another Self) to emerge, that may be untouched by all those old stories. Deep Listening, sounding the AUM, and calling forth the many voices of the Self can integrate the unconscious and the conscious pieces so that something different can emerge in the space. Wow!