Creating a Mindset for Healthy Singers

So much of vocal and physical health is all about habits and actions, but where do these all stem from? What if we don’t have to make as many changes as we think we do? What if there was one powerful thing that makes a lot of difference?

That thing is mindset.

Mindset is sometimes called “the story we tell ourselves.” It’s our attitude toward things in our life. And we have control over our mindset.

For singers mindset is a powerful tool to help free your voice for more vibrant, confident singing. And yet, it's mindset that can hold back so many singers  from complete artistic freedom.

And research is showing that mindset may be far more powerful than we thought.

Very interesting health mindset study

​Here’s a quick story about a fascinating study.

Researchers at Stanford University looked at a bunch of people's health and wellness lifestyle habits, as well as health markers.

What they found was that the people who thought they were a lot less active had a higher risk of death than the general public. And, they also had up to 71% higher risk of death than people who thought they were more active. Even if they actually weren't less active!

How is this even possible that people who simply thought they were less active had higher risks, even if it wasn’t true?

There are a couple of ideas why. One is that maybe if we feel like we're less active, it may make us feel more stressed. And stress isn't good for our mental or physical health. Second, there may be a bit of a mind-body connection where the body embodies what the mind visualizes.

Researchers don't know why, but what matters is that there is a good mindset. So, let me give you a couple of strategies to boost your mindset for healthier, more confident singing.
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​Health mindset strategy 1 - Recognize your inner voice.

​No one is perfect. That's just a fact.

No one sings perfectly and almost no one is perfect with their self-care  seven days a week. It's inevitable that obsessing over the quality of our sound, how and what we eat or hydrating enough isn't necessarily a great mindset to have.

Yet, too many singers feel they are not good enough, always assume what others think of them and their voice, and they discount the positive to focus on the negative, especially in performance situations.

It can bring on shame, and guilt - none of these are great ways to get be healthy in voice, body or mind. We want to get healthier by making better choices and building better habits. And these are usually best done incrementally - one step at a time.

So, learn to recognize that "voice" that's taking a black and white approach where everything is good or bad. Then you will be able to see the triggers and anticipate it. 
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​Health mindset strategy 2 - Make a choice

When you're striving to make healthy lifestyle changes to support your instrument it's easy to fall into the trap of  judging yourself.
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For example you may be eating clean during the week, but then have a gluttonous weekend.

And that's not awesome because the mindset starts to lay in with the judgement that you've failed or that you aren't good enough.

The thing is you have a choice. You can listen to the “voice” either judgmentally or as a challenge to step up your skills or effort.

​Just live as though you're trying to do well and self-nurture yourself every single day. Like you care about your voice and wellness. 

This will empower you to make better choices, instead of perfect choices.
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​Health mindset strategy 3 - Talk back to your inner critic

When you find yourself stuck in negative self-talk, it's not always a matter of  aiming for good enough because that inner voice keeps screaming at you. 

And when you’re constantly bombarded with this kind of talk, it just adds to the emotional stress and you end up in a vicious cycle of stress and tension that’s not helping you free your voice. 

So it's time to talk back.

If your negative Nelly voice is saying, “What if you fail—you’ll be a failure”.

Then you talk back to it and say, “Most successful people had failures along the way.”

Re-framing your thoughts in this way to a more positive context will allow for growth.
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Conclusion

​Mindset for health can be a powerful tool that can be applied to singing. There’s a proven mind-body connection that research can measure.

Thinking positively, and dropping the black/white and good/bad labels, can help you reach your goals for performance and vocal health.

How is your mindset for singing? Which of these tips resonate with you the most? How are you going to implement them in your life? Let me know in the comments below.

References:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mind-over-matter-how-fit-you-think-you-are-versus-actual-fitness-2017081412282

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/making-health-decisions-mindsets-numbers-and-stories-201112123946