Singing for Wellness
When was the last time your team were happy and energised? What if I could show you a way to unlock super human levels of focus and enthusiasm in just a few minutes?
How about if I told you I could connect your teams so deeply that I could literally make their heart’s beat in unison, improve their memory recall and even improve their language skills? Would you like to invigorate your workplace and bond your teams in a more meaningful way?
It couldn’t be as simple as just singing, could it? The answer is yes.
Group singing positively impacts wellbeing and personal development, building social connection; which contributes to a sense of belonging and joy. Studies have proven the link between group singing and mental wellness.
The benefits of group singing have led to an explosion of employee choirs being established across the US - companies such as Google and Boeing have been doing this for nearly a decade. The city of Cincinnati, Ohio, holds a yearly choir competition called CincySings. Below are some of the best from 2017.
In a book titled This is Your Brain on Music: The science of human obsession, the author Daniel Levetin - an American-Canadian cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, writer, musician and record producer studied brain activity when listening to and performing music. Brain scans revealed that experiencing music fires both sides of the brain simultaneously. By boosting brain function in both hemispheres, music improves language skills, memory recall, emotional intelligence and neural plasticity.
In this TED talk Kailee Amburgy talks about the benefits of group singing, she provides evidence that students singing in school choirs actually performed better academically in both Maths and English.
In a paper first published on the 27th of May 2022 titled Singing for Wellbeing: Formulating a Model for Community Group Singing Interventions
Extensive physical and psychological benefits were reported in not only healthy individuals, but also those with cognitive conditions such as Parkinson’s, Dementia, Alzheimer’s and also mental health conditions such as depression. It found that for those who were part of a singing activity, there was a 63% reduction in depression relapse over a two year period. Individuals with impaired cognitive function, that had lost the power of speech, were still able to recall songs and music. Studies found that they were able to regain language through the therapeutic use of music and singing.
The British Voice Association published a paper in 2012 titled Singing is Good for you, further illustrating the extensive range of benefits associated with singing.
There are serious benefits to fun
Some of us love to sing. That’s a fact. Some of us, however have our reservations. That negative feeling is an acquired feeling. You didn’t always feel this way about singing.
I have been running choirs for two decades and I often hear people talk about their relationship to singing and why they feel negatively. It nearly always stems back to a very specific memory that affects how they feel about singing today. The experiences vary but the memory remains. This feeling can be carried into adulthood and when a singing opportunity is presented today, the natural response is to recoil. I see this reaction frequently. I completely understand why they feel this way.
When I take a singing activity with children, this response is not there. Children will, more often than not, happily join in when it comes to singing. There is not an ounce of self-consciousness or self-criticism. The judgement of their own ability to sing is not present. They sing with joy, exuberance and a complete absence of fear. My aim is to return that joy back to its rightful owner - you.
The workshops begin with a short presentation that talks about singing, group singing and the scientific research supporting the wellbeing benefits on offer. We discuss why people may have a negative association with singing and how this workshop will gently question these preconceptions. Following a series of relaxation exercises and fun team activities, the group are gradually led through a series of confidence building exercises around singing and producing sound. The aim is to build towards a full singing activity.
We use modern music, so the songs are familiar and the singing is fun.
The Singing for Wellbeing workshop usually takes place over half a day. Bespoke options are available that can be tailored to your needs.