日本語版はこちら
Below is a summary of insights gained from a personal voice training provided by Ayako Tsuru.
Ayako Tsuru is the voice trainer I met back in 2001 when I determined to overcome fear in public speaking.
Below are notes from today's lesson. Lots of spiritial realization!
Disclaimer: Although I tried my best, these notes may not sound perfectly organized.
1. As a premise, there is no good or bad in emotions. Every emotion is merely a response, and it's crucial not to be bound by judgments made by humans.
According to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, whom Tsuru introduced (I've read her book), the emotion of anger dissipates from the bloodstream within 90 seconds. If anger persists beyond that, it's merely because one chooses to continue experiencing it.
2. Effective methods to bring oneself back to the stable psychological state from the onset of emotional fluctuations:
- Start with diaphragmatic breathing 10 times. Breathing can control heart rate. Diaphragmatic breathing, deceptively simple, has considerable immediacy. Even patients with depression find that 90% of their obsessions subside when they practice it.
3. Daily breathing training:
① Exhale deeply until you feel like you're going to die. This should be done once a day because it is painful...lol. After exhaling completely, the body involuntarily tries to inhale. Through this, one will physiologically experience accepting something is merely as a part of circulation. Culturally, Japanese people are good at giving/offering, but tend to refuse to receive something. This practice is to teaching our bodies to accomodate accepting without mental resistence.
② Practice diaphragmatic breathing for at least 5 minutes a day:
- Imagine the exhaled breath returning to you and inhale it back, visualizing the cycle.
- Simultaneously, imagine the movement of the hara (the second chakra), expanding and contracting.
- Let resonate the sound corresponding to each chakra, imagining each chakra start spinning.
- While there's no established system or expert consensus, it's likely that the chakra in the lower abdomen responds to low tones/vibration, so adding low tones to meditation and practicing breathing could be beneficial.
③ Practice diaphragmatic breathing when you notice it:
After focusing on a task, do diaphragmatic breathing a few times.
Incorporating diaphragmatic breathing consistently into daily life helps:
- Stay stable and calm.
- Quickly return to a calm state of mind even if you were shaken emotionally
4. The true meaning of communication
[My definition lol]
Ideal communication involves one's breath circulation reaching the other person, and this circulation becoming inclusive. This state is like playing catch with energy.
Ignoring the speed and amount of information that other people can take does not lead to any good results because they just cannot take it! (obviously). Communication should start with assessing the other person's communication style and speed (rather, analyzing their energy) and having the flexibility to adapt it accordingly. Communication should not be simply about providing information; it's an exchange of love (how grand).
Moreover, by imagining the range of this circulation and waveform and identifying the target of the partner's mind, one can talk in a manner more or even most appropriate to the occasion and purpose.
Visualizing thoughts and emotions:
By verbalizing daily realizations, thoughts, and feelings, one can initially 'solidify' emotions. Through verbalization, one can separate these emotions from other 60,000 thoughts that come and go in our daily life, view them from a bird's eye view, acknowledge them, accept them, and ultimately allow them to pass. Trying to suppress any vague uncomfortable feeling as a negative emotion leads to futile and meaningless repression, preventing it from being let go.
By allowing oneself to freely express the irritation of the "bad girl or boy" within, one can view them with meta-cognition, promote self-acceptance, and choose not to be obsessed by them. This way, they will be safely pushed out of the "here and now" realm and flows away (theoretically, lol). (Disclaimer 2: Practice is required for implementation!!)
And finally, regard them as just one of the many events of the day, and remember all the good things that happened, all the kindness you showed, and all the things that went well. Give equal attention and energy to successes, for real balance.