Having posture utilizing tan tien is challenging. The body’s prior habitual tension deter this. Downcast head and sunken shoulders encourage hips to move backside. The taut myofascia and chronic muscular tension means that deliberate efforts to place tan tien are usually challenging.
Achieving good tan tien should be seen as a continual postural alignment process and removing the bad postural built-up tensions.
When sitting, make sure not to put pressure on the lower back. Pull it in.
As people age, they seem to lose some of their singing tonal qualities and pitch range. Why?
Athletes need muscles, which is prime in the mid 20s, so we can understand why athletes tend to be in their prime in the 20s. But is this true for singers? The amount of athleticism involved in singing is miniscule.
Singing is more akin to acting–very little athleticism to accomplish a goal. The youthful muscles might not be key; emotional maturity makes a big difference in acting, as well as in singing.
Drinking, smoking, acid reflux–yes, these will all degrade the voice, possibly permanently. But, suppose someone didn’t do any of these, why can’t he or she sustain a lifelong great voice, as good as younger and possibly better?
VocalPosture.com speculates that this is somewhat possible. All that a voice is is a vocal tract in action. As long as the tonicity of the muscles in the vocal tract is intact, there is no reason why an older vocal tract can’t produce sounds as well as an younger one.
VocalPosture.com speculates that it is primarily due to a process called shortening of the muscles due to aging and injury that the vocal tract muscle tone is thus degraded.
Thus, to reverse much of the effects of aging, as it relates to the voice, the objectives are: to keep posture aligned so that shortening is reduced; to then stretch what has shortened
It is well known that the body can suppress pain and sorrow. These are retained primarily in the muscles. We also know, from Eugene Gindlin’s (sp?) “Focusing” the idea of microexpressions. And from Travell, trigger points and taut muscles. These are inconsistent with the idea that vocal structure is correct to begin with.
It is these suppressed body pains that cause interference and can cause sublimation.
Singing and posture--see Categories, About, Launch 4-2014 