toning revelation book

Tone yourwaytoInnerRevelationa vocal self-research manual

by Kiva Simova preface by Don Campbell

Tone your Way to Inner Revelation

Preface

In 1985 I began working with voices in a new way. I had studied voice and taught choral music for decades. I became curious about the inner design of breath and its sounding. I wrote a book about my experiences with Tone and Voice in 1989. The best introduction to this work was published in THE ROAR OF SILENCE by Quest books.

An auditory lecture and demonstration on tone and voice then was developed and published by Sound True called HEALING YOURSELF WITH YOUR OWN VOICE. In the past three years I have re-edited Laurel Keyes' book TONING (DeVorss publisher) that has influenced so many people. It includes some of my lectures and exercises along with original classes of Laurel Keyes. Hay House has recently published CREATING INNER HARMONY which works with beautiful visual images and tone. It includes an album of music to which you can 'think the tone.'

After the opening of The Institute for Music, Health and Education in Boulder, nearly a thousand students followed a disciplined program to safely open their tonal voices with daily exercises and postures. Each student was monitored and mentored each month by telephone, recordings and written guidance. To open the voice too quickly can bring out many physical and psychological challenges. Thus the classes on tone brought students from throughout the world to Boulder to explore their own tonal vocabulary.

Kiva has devoted her life and music to developing vocal skills. What she is publishing here are her notes from each of the daily exercises. It is both a journal and series of reflections on the exercises of our first years course. Each day she recorded her voice and took notes before and after toning.

It seems difficult and slow to start this type of exercise. Think of it as meditation and it will guide you quicker than jumping immediately into the advanced work.

Toning is a constant mirror of the world and ourselves. Do not miss this opportunity to study with Kiva and deepen your vocal life.

Don CampbellFebruary 2011, Boulder, Colorado

My books and CDs are available at MozartEffect.com

Acknowledgements

The breakthrough guidelines outlined in this book were adapted from a course that was available through the Institute of Music, Health and Education. It was based in Boulder, Colorado from 1988 until 1997, at which time it disbanded. The program material was created by Don Campbell, as mentioned in his preface. Specific quotes made by him apart from the exercises are indicated by quotation marks. I studied with the Institute by correspondence while living in Japan. I attended the intensive sessions in Boulder at the end of the course, and received all corresponding certificates in 1993.

The Institute designed the program with follow-up procedures. At the completion of each level, the student would submit journal notes about the exercises, along with cassette tapes of the sessions, although there were no 'marks' given. The mentoring was disciplinary and inspirational, with deadlines to ensure that the student would complete the course in the allotted period.

As you proceed through the exercises, it is upon your sole judgement and self-discipline to continue in a timely and efficient manner. Therefore it is highly recommended you keep to the routine as suggested, as this is how you will obtain the most successful results. Although there is no longer certification for the course, I offer mentoring with the advanced level 2 about the healing properties of color, tone and breath.

I would like to thank Don Campbell for his inspiration and support in allowing this work to continue. Besides in the preface, information about Don Campbell's books may be found in the bibliography.

*Note that the material in this eBook manual is provided on a not-for-profit basis. The course material provided here is Copyright IMHE, Boulder, CO All other material in this eBook is Copyright K Simova, Yemyss Music 2010

Introduction

This collection of guidelines is meant for individual research, using your own self-discipline. It is a method by which one uses vowel sounds to discover the deepest depths of experience in the body and mind. There are no right and wrong answers to what you are finding. You are dealing with a unique anatomy, physiology, a unique set of life experiences, emotions, memories, associations, and background. Nobody else can tell you what you are 'supposed to' feel, imagine, remember, compare or associate. You may experience physical sensations along with each vowel, which may be completely different depending on whether you are standing, sitting, lying down, have your eyes open or closed. You may discover certain subtle energetic changes. The goal here is not like that of meditation or otherwise 'trying' to enter into some relaxed deep brainwave state. Some vowels in certain positions and at certain areas of your range might be downright uncomfortable. This is all important information for you, since you are the only one who will be utilizing it throughout your singing life.

"The only way we can massage, activate and balance the blood within our cranial lobes is through breath, sound and tone. What you will discover through these exercises could not be summarized in linear, cognitive order, but integrated only through personal experience."

In the beginning you will focus on a single vowel for a whole week at a time, going through several different postures and combinations of having open or closed eyes. After each 15 minute session, you will write (preferably by hand) in a journal everything you notice about the experience. As described above, these will be things like bodily sensations, energetic changes, memories, associations, thinking that it sounds like something else, or maybe even that the sound is coming out of a different body.

Subsequent levels require that you add more elements, and change the vowels more frequently. Then you will be adding the elements of color and drawing mandalas to match your experience. This is the 'sensorial' level.

The exercises are given for each week or partial week, followed by my own journal notes from that period (with the exception of Level 1, Part 3). Level 3 notes are given as excerpts at the end.

My journal notes from the course are included with the purpose of showing you how this method impacted me. It is definitely not meant to influence you on how it 'should' impact you. This is MY unique experience, given as example only.

I have not 'censored' anything in relaying these notes for you. This was an early exploration of my voice when I was making many new valuable discoveries. Throughout the convening years, these observations would be relived and expounded upon. Some of the techniques I was finding would ultimately be updated and improved upon, moving me into some unconventional territory. If at any time during the course of these exercises I found problem areas, these were alerts that required my attention and correction, thus I was shown the way by my own intervention, with the superb guidance of Mr. Campbell.

In most cases, the observations are very subjective and subtle. When going back and reading some of the notes I'd written about each exercise, it dawned on me that some of them made little sense, but they made sense at the time. Some of the observations were quite humorous, actually. It was interesting to make such unconventional connections. I was using a mind-body association that never gets used normally. Consequently the language used to explain myself sounds quite strange at times. There was a tendency that as I got further along into the course, especially into the color and mandala sections, my observations became more and more abstract. Sometimes there was a sense of continuity, other times there would be outright contradictions, but I was determined to be true to these contradictions nonetheless. You might find it reads like a sort of pseudo- academic mystery, getting more mysterious as it goes along!

I became much more aware of subtle tonal variations surrounding each vowel, and how my body responds through each gradation. As a singer, a thorough experiential understanding of these subtleties adds a new dimension to my vocal performance. I've become much more monitoring of myself. The approach in toning was generally not 'controlled', but 'allowed', so this left me with an open mind and ear. By using open or closed eyes, I found interesting results in their comparisons. Knowing how to evoke visual imagery or auditory similarities is a boost in the creative process.

My voice has expanded in range and become richer in tone. I have clearer ideas of how to help others find their voices. I feel more at one with myself, more centered, more aware of my body and being connected with it.

On a final note of this introduction, I would like to point out that this self-research was the most valuable vocal study I have ever done. It was so all-encompassing, allowing me insight that never could have been achieved from any traditional institutionalized 'rules'. It was the turning point for my vocal expression.

For you, as a vocal voyageur, I hope my own revelations will serve to inspire you to take actions now that will forever influence your unique ways of expression.

Level 1

Level 1, part 1

You will tone one vowel per week, for 5 out of 7 days, choosing 2 days off whenever you wish, about 15 minutes for each session. Preferably, you will do two sessions per day. Using normal pronunciation (without overtone technique), tone each vowel at a comfortable pitch in your mid- range. At the end of each session, in your journal, write down the date, vowel and posture, followed by your observations. You may also record the sessions if you wish, for later reference. The sequence is as follows:

WEEK 1: Humming

Day 1. Sitting, walking, eyes openDay 2. Lying down, eyes closedDay 3. Standing, sitting up, eyes openDay 4. Lying down, eyes open, fixed gazeDay 5. Sitting, eyes closed

Journal:

Humming, first session:-While sitting I feel most of the vibration from the top of my spine upwards. On a

mid-range pitch I hear an 'inner' harmonic, I think it's a fifth, in the upper back part of my head, almost sounds like the noise a vacuum cleaner makes (the motor, not the suction).

-After about five breaths I feel slightly dizzy, but still somehow energized. -A higher pitch produces less vibration, no noticeable harmonic, feeling calm now. -A lower pitch involves my stomach muscles far more. -While walking, I feel more aware of my body as a whole, as compared to walking

without humming. Especially a tingling in my hands. Somehow more alive (mid-range pitch).

-This entire sensation is more pronounced with a lower pitch and greatly reduced with a higher pitch.

-If I move around too much, it's difficult to focus on the experience, but the session has produced a relaxed feeling.

Second session: -While sitting I felt as if I was sliding down a mountain in slow motion as the breath

drew to an end (all pitches). -My torso felt like a vessel of some kind (all pitches).-While walking and humming, the tingling sensation was more wide spread than last

session- I became aware of my aura, as if my body had extended itself outwards in flesh.-Same energizing yet calming result.

Humming (lying down, eyes closed), first session:-I hear a resonance inside my head which covers an area like a hat. Received image

like a total eclipse of the sun. Thought of my solar plexus as the top half of an egg timer with the sand slowly falling through.

-Experimented with moving my bottom teeth around. Whenever they make slight contact with top teeth, the effect is like a very weak dentist drill, or sounding like electrical surges. Also this sound moves around my head in stereo panning surround sound.

-A low pitch gives me a sort of sad, compassionate emotion (for world suffering). It made me want to 'drag' the tone towards the end, like a person quietly weeping or moaning.

Second session:-Saw an X inside a square-My voice seems to have a 'body' all its own. I notice this as the breath ends and that

body leaves my physical body, as if it just died. -On a high pitch, received impression that I was sending out some communication

encoded in the sound.

Humming (sitting up or standing still- eyes open), first session:-Awareness of area above the roof of my mouth-My shoulders slowly sink and relax-Usually I slide upwards in to the tone, but i if I try to hit it right off, it involves

holding my breath for a moment before starting, and the concentration throughout is centered in upper back part of my mouth and nasal passages.

-While standing, my body weight seems to increase during the tone, there's a certain heaviness in my feet.

-It feels like an exercise for deep inner muscles, from top to bottom, they all go through tension and relaxation.

-No dizziness, but now feel more awake. Fifteen minutes went by slowly.

Second session:-My breath is lasting longer now. The hum sound seems the most natural sound I

can produce, as if I am a machine. Sometimes I feel 'clicks' inside my body, especially around the spine (adjustments). Emotions are neutral.

Humming (lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze), first session:-My body is very relaxed, I don't notice energy around body so much as when I'm

standing. Thoughts seem to wander, can't really focus. Whatever I'm gazing at seems to shimmer slightly along the the vibration. I notice a lot more wavering in the harmonics.

Second session:-I have a floating sensation.-I am very tired and humming seems to take a lot of energy right now. But it takes

less energy to make a sort of 'growling' hum from my throat, like someone who has been suffering for a long time and nearly dead.

Humming (sitting, eyes closed), first session:-Area of awareness is diamond shaped, my head as the top, shoulders as outer

points and abdomen as the bottom point. I also see a diamond shape lit up around the edges.

-It has an uplifting feeling, of course, I'm wide awake anyway. -A lower pitch has a 'thicker' feel to it (the diamond shape is filled in more densely).-A high pitch gave me a memory of sitting in a 747. I became aware of 'undertones'.

Maybe that's the engines. The high hum is the air conditioning.

Second session:-I seem to have a natural phase shifter going. There's that vacuum cleaner again. I'm

cleaning the house.

WEEK 2: AH


Journal:

AH (various positions), first session:-It's a very open feeling, like my mouth is the opening of a big well that goes down to

my stomach (sitting). -While walking, I feel lightweight. Each time my foot goes down, it's like a heartbeat

in the tone. It's difficult to keep from dipping the tone slightly at each step. -While waving my arms around, I felt like I was a glider and the 'AH' sound keeps me

afloat.-I don't feel energy around me so much, in fact it almost eliminates my physical

body.

Second session:-It doesn't take much energy to make this tone, I can make it last a long time, up to

30 seconds. -Moving, I feel like an angel. -It's a shoulder relaxing tone, it seems to let everything hang loose even while

walking. -I notice subtle differences moving from a 'A' sound to an ''AW'. I need to concentrate

in order to not move the the 'AW' sound, because as soon as I do, I feel sympathetic (AW, that's too bad).

AH (lying down, eyes closed), first session:-My rib cage remains in a high position throughout, with stomach sinking. The

power or center of energy is the solar plexus area. It's almost pushing upwards as far as it can go, exaggeratedly, like a volcano. It's an exercise for deep stomach muscles.

-It has almost a religious feeling to it, like singing a hymn. -I feel like I'm floating on water, a buoyant sensation, gently moving down a stream.

Second session:-My face needs to be facing straight up for the fullest sound, if I tilt my head

downwards I can't hear the tone inside my head, the resulting sound is more like gurgling.

-I hear an octave split, the lower tone originating in my throat, and higher tone originating in my mouth.

-A lower pitch involves my chest much more. -I experience the same open feeling as before. -The time passes quickly because it doesn't take so much energy.

AH (sitting up or standing, eyes open), first session:-Tongue position feels like it could cradle an egg tilted slightly upwards. -As I'm toning, my eyes create a horizontal mirage of shadow above, light below,

which disappears at the end of the breath. -While standing, physical awareness is still limited to stomach and upwards. My legs

have a light feeling. -I feel a certain radiation around my ears and back of my neck.

Second session:-Becoming aware of more harmonics in my head, especially a fifth. -My mood is one of calm acceptance, ready for anything. -There are so many subtle variations in this tone, in movement of the mouth. -When standing, the upper part of the body remains 'inflated' and stationary

throughout, the chest forward. Only the stomach muscles retreat.

AH (lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze), first session:-It feels like a sigh of relief (after a hectic day or traumatic events). -Looking straight up, it's like a call to the heavens. -At times it seems like the tone is not coming from me but somewhere outside

myself. -This position seems the easiest to control the tone, it's almost effortless.

Second session:-The undertones are carried along in the undercurrent at the bottom of the stream. -With a low pitch, I am recharging my entire body with incredible power,

consequently increased volume. -A low pitch in this position really opens up my throat like a giant cave. -I'm feeling very awake and energetic. It feels like a simultaneous giving and

receiving of energy.

AH (sitting, eyes closed), first session:-I see light at the periphery of my (non) vision. -I notice much less control of the tone in sitting as opposed to lying down. -Each time I tone, I get an image of a wave coming up on the shore, then each

inhaling breath is the water retreating back. Something in my body resembles this back and forth natural rhythm, as if my lungs are the sand upon which the water moves.

-Image of a breeze gently moving through the petals of a flower.

Second session:-I've discover 'overtone humming'. I'm creating moving overtones, they seem to move

up and down my throat rather than being formed in the mouth (as in chanting) and then escaping from my nose (where else?). This involves my tongue however. The harder I push it into the top palate, the higher the overtones.

WEEK 3: OO


Journal:

OO, first session:-This is the lowest position vowel for overtones, so I know that it comes from way

down in the abdominal area. When concentrating on just this vowel, the body feels like a bottomless pit. It's as if the tone is some long lost echo from the past that's been suppressed. It forces the whole body to get involved, to get into action.

-Moving, it's like I am the electric pulses being sent across the telephone lines, my whole body is a live wire. The occasional 'whoozsh, whoozsh' is the wind blowing over the wires.

-If I don't use my whole body, and try to make it a shallow experience, it becomes

more difficult and resultantly nasal.

Second session:-I find that if I close off my mouth (with my tongue near the back), the OO sound is

not so clear. It becomes trapped in the throat and creates a buzzing overtone. So it is evident that the mouth cavity is very important for this vowel. The 'wind' has to pass through right out of the mouth. This 'wind' originates way down below.

-While walking, when my foot comes down, it has little effect on the tone, i.e. it doesn't dip. Perhaps because the tone uses the whole body and is therefore independent of disturbances. If you're only using half your body, then any little tremor will be noticed.

-While moving, I notice the vibration in my head is a slow one, so slow that it almost rattles. It must be a combination of low frequency and this vowel. There is almost a dulling effect in the head. When my hand passes over my mouth, I feel the force of the breath.

OO (lying down, eyes closed), first session:-It doesn't use as much breath as when walking, I can't feel it when I put my hand in

front of my mouth so much. -The source of power seems to be 'spilled' out over my body. -I can understand why this vowel is used so often in spooky soundtracks, it has a

spooky effect on the body and mind. -It must be a good facial exercise, my face hurts after a while. -If I close my ears, I hear an additional ringing sound in my head, but it doesn't

sound like OO.

Second session:-This is NOT a relaxing experience. It still takes a lot of effort and tension. The

tension feels evenly distributed. A low pitch makes a good warm-up exercise for before singing, because it feels like it opens up the body and strengthens the diaphragm.

-This vowel even puts a strain on the tongue after a while, especially if I 'purify' the vowel. I also got sore neck muscles in front.

OO (sitting up or standing still, eyes open), first session:-Sitting, it almost creates a numbness in my legs.-I'm hearing a great many overtones at the same time, all buzzing or ringing. -A low pitch creates the most intense physical sensations, even brings a little

dizziness. A high pitch is relatively easy.-Standing, the numbness is transferred to my hands. (In other words, numbness

occurs in whatever area of the body which is most relaxed at the time. Perhaps because every other available body part is being uses to create the tone).

Second session:-The radiation effect takes place around my eyes and nose. -This is the most deceptive vowel so far, in that it sounds totally different from each

perspective (listening inside or outside the head). -There is such a slight variation between the tone that has the octave overtone and

the next fifth. Now I am so aware of the ringing.

OO (lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze), first session:-This definitely physical exercise, even while lying down. This way I get the strongest

awareness of the tensing of the stomach muscles. -This seems like the least emotional vowel so far, at the most it invokes a

contemplative state. -All I can think of is owls, and when I think of owls, I think of majestic birds that are

perfectly calm and serene.

Second session:-I feel like a ventriloquist, throwing my voice somewhere outside myself. -If OO was the only sound I could utter, I wouldn't have a very big range. -This vowel makes the distance between my stomach and my mouth seem

considerably shorter than normally, it makes the body more compact.

OO (sitting, eyes closed), one session only:-Like usual, whenever my eyes are closed, while toning, it has the effect of creating

light around the periphery, as if you are pressing on your eyelids. -I feel like a household appliance, and about as emotional. -It's as if the outer casing of my body becomes more dense during the tone- bullet

proof.

WEEK 4- EE


Journal:

EE, one session only:-So far this is the most uncomfortable vowel to remain on for a whole breath. It

forces your upper throat and jaw into such an awkward position, and makes the tongue sore quickly.

-Walking, it feels as if my body doesn't exist from the neck down. My brain sends messages down there to move, but it's not participating in the toning.

-If I make a low pitch, the physical awareness moves down to include my shoulders. -A high pitch seems to take place only in the top half of my head. -The overtones created come from the head. They are the highest I am capable of

making and they are shrill.-Emotionally, this tone is just annoying. It reminds me of things that bug me, like

squeaky bicycle brakes. -Moving, even making tai chi like movements, the body still feels independent of the

toning.

EE (sitting), one session only:-The stomach muscles are involved, although not as directly as in the OO vowel. -The vibration is quite strong in the head. -The outer sides of the mouth and cheeks are used the most in the tone, like a

gopher or squirrel. -The overtones seem to be placed above these sides, in a parallel fashion higher in

the head, around the edges of the eyes. -While walking, putting my foot down has only a slight effect on the tone. Maybe

because the feet are the furthest away from the head, the main source for the tone!-I see in the mirror that the bottom of the mouth, under the chin, is the most

inflated part during the tone. -I notice I have a tendency to keep the shoulders raised during the tone, especially if

I use a high pitch.

EE (lying down, eyes closed), first session:-The purest EE sound is with the tongue touching the bottom teeth.-It is easier to get a deeper richer tone when the whole body is relaxed.

-At times it seems the overtones overpower the fundamental.-Lying down, it is easy to make the breath last a very long time, the breath is used

up slowly this way.

Second session:-When I am very tired, this tone has a hissing quality added to it, coming from the

upper part of my mouth.

EE (sitting up or standing still, eyes open), first session:-So far the most difficult vowel to keep from wandering from pitch, because it is

produced in a shallow way.-I learned from vocal technique to keep the 'Adam's apple' in a low position. With this

vowel, I see that doing so results in a less nasal sound than in a higher position, also a richer sound, less thin.

-Standing still, I feel like I have an electric head. -The shoulders feel tensed until the breath is gone.-I find it easier to tone on a lower pitch.

Second session:-Sitting, it's easier to let the shoulders relax than when standing. -I found it is possible to relax the jaw and mouth and still tone. They don't need to be

all tensed up. -Standing, this time I was able to relax the shoulders more than last time. -Image-wise, this vowel reminds me of being busy and running around, being

efficient.

EE (lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze), first session:-I feel a pressure on my forehead, sort of forces it into a perplexed look, like I can't

remember something. This tone has the effect of making me forget everything. -It does not give me energy, rather, it seems to make me tired. -I get an image of concentric circles, like a dartboard. -While lying down and toning a low pitch, I feel it more deeply than when sitting up,

down through the abdomen.

Second session:-It feels like a good throat exercise, even makes the neck feel longer. It feels good this

time. -The chest and the stomach seem to be falling at the same rate, almost parallel. -A high pitch builds up pressure in my head, a low pitch seems to sooth my stomach

ache.

EE (sitting, eyes closed), one session only:-I get a feeling of expansion in the head, which starts from the top of the spine and

radiates from there. -The real EE sound sort of sits in the middle of all the undertones and overtones and

sounds like a pea whistle. -This time the vibrations tickle my nose. -Raising my head (tilting the face upward) tends to soften the tone and remove the

harsh shrill overtones. Perhaps because it opens the throat and there is less blockage for the pure tone.

WEEK 5- OH

Day 1. Sitting, walking, eyes openDay 2. Lying down, eyes closedDay 3. Standing, sitting up, eyes open

Day 4. Lying down, eyes open, fixed gazeDay 5. Sitting, eyes closed

Journal:

OH (moving, sitting, walking, etc), first session:-Definitely coming from the stomach/ navel area. -While walking, each footstep affects the tone with a slight upwards movement. -It gives the body a sense of being evenly balanced, i.e., the source of power is very

centrally located. -Moving, the whole body is energized, although making the tone requires a lot of

energy. -Especially on a high pitch, this tone has noticeably more volume than any other

vowel, using basically the same expenditure of energy. (At least, it seems louder). -It feels like a masculine tone, perhaps because it generates lower overtones and

undertones more audibly. (Just last night I was listening to Tibetan monks chanting, and this was still fresh in my mind).

-While making tai chi like movements, I realized that since the source of power is the stomach, it is very related to the philosophy of tai chi, in which the stomach must always be in control. They make a good combination.

Second session:-Moving, I can purposefully tone at a low volume (being afraid to annoy the

neighbours!) and it actually has a very gentle feeling about it. -At a low volume, it still has the effect of balance and centring when moving. -Other words that come to mind besides gentle are calm, tranquil. It is a tone of

empathy for others. A tone that indicates interest.

OH (lying down, eyes closed), first session:-I find not much difference between the AH sound and the OH sound in the way they

actually sound to me in this position. The tongue, however, is very far back in the mouth, while lying down feels like it's almost being swallowed. This way it closes off a certain portion of the throat, and becomes a 'smaller' sound coming from a deeper place.

-The smaller an O shape that my lips make, the more pure the vowel and the more compressed, compact the sound.

-It thrusts the lower jaw downwards and makes the face feel square, masculine. -The pureness of the vowel seems muffled by the different sounding overtones.

Second session:-It's like a hole or tunnel is being opened up in slow motion from my throat to my

stomach. The long drain is getting unplugged. -I feel almost no vibration or energy change. I am tired now but it doesn't revive me.

OH (sitting up or standing still, eyes open), first session:-It's easier to get a deeper tone while standing. I also feel a little vibration in my

head. -It feels like it strengthens the diaphragm. -It seems as though the head is somewhat 'closed off' from the rest of the body, like

there is a shut-off valve somewhere in the throat, and below is a big furnace, the OH is the fire.

-Sitting, on a high pitch, the whole breath seems like it is being held for the duration of the tone, and the stomach is not being uses (it stays in one position).

-This is a good warmup exercise before singing, which is what I have to go and do now.

Second session:-I felt particularly strong singing tonight at my gig, with better than usual control. -The breath seems to be used up more quickly than with the AH or EE tones. -While standing, I notice this more so, as it feels like I'm actually 'blowing' the tone

out. It takes a certain amount of force. In fact, a low pitch requires so much force that it causes slight dizziness.

OH (lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze), first session:-It takes less effort than standing or sitting, to tone while the body is relaxed. -However, difficult to remain on a single pitch. -The lower the pitch, the more the breath is being used up, the tone is accompanied

by an H or WH noise coming from the mouth. -The purest OH I can make has considerably more volume and ringing overtones

(mid-pitch). -The sound and effect on the body is much like a yawn, therefore makes me feel

tired.

Second session:-I still notice how quickly the breath is used up, it is not a relaxing experience. -In this position, the tone has an anxious feeling about it. -I notice a certain lack of circulation in my limbs as I tone. -On a low pitch, this is the first tone which creates a noticeable vibration lower than

the throat, across the solar plexus.

OH (sitting, eyes closed), first session:-In this position, especially with eyes closed, it's easy to get lost in the sound. It has

a meditational value (being the first part of the traditional 'OM' chant). It's therefore not as tiring an expenditure of energy.

-I became aware of the outer sides of my body, in the vicinity of the kidney and spleen, a contraction of these areas and at the end of the tone, a feeling of quick internal adjustment.

Second session:-It seems like I'm able to glide over or even skip overtones. At a certain point I hear

more than one distinct overtone, a combination. These things are easier accomplished with the mouth closed.

-I think the overtones are forced further back into the throat for this humming so the throat must be perfectly clear or I cannot continue.

-The overtones become louder when I concentrate on my head. -This is definitely an energizer, it recharges the batteries. Not only that, but it fine

tunes the channels. -My lips vibrate like crazy.

Level 1, part 2

During weeks one and two:Keep the pitch of the tone moving slowly up and down, as if it were a siren. Starting

at the top of your range, allow your voice to slowly slide down to the bottom of it. On the next breath, start at the bottom of your range and slowly slide to the top. Alternate direction with each breath.

You will use the same postures and sounds that you used in Part 1, with the exception of the hum. However, you will work with a different vowel sound each day. The sequence is as follows:

Continue to keep a journal of your observations.

WEEK 1

Day 1. Any posture: AHDay 2. Lying down, eyes closed: OODay 3. Sitting or standing, eyes open: EEDay 4. Lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze: OHDay 5. Sitting, eyes closed: AH

Journal:

AH, first session:-While walking, on the downwards slide it feels as if I am 'winding down'. At the end

of an upwards slide it feels as if I will lift off the ground and fly. There are occasional cracks in the upper register but they tend to occur on the upward slide rather than the downward.

-It takes concentration to make the tone consistent in vowel sound. Also a smooth glide in terms of pitch is difficult to control.

-The downwards glide feels like a happy sigh. -If I make a sideways movement with my arms (starting at my left for the lower pitch,

over to the right), this makes the siren conceptually easier, i.e. all pitches exist on a horizontal plane rather than a vertical one, so the body doesn't have to 'reach' for the high pitch.

Second session:-If I maintain 'full voice' throughout, it is easier to be consistent. The upper register

creates a build-up of pressure in the head, slowly increasing or decreasing. -It still feels like a happy carefree expression, especially on the downwards siren. -Walking doesn't seem to to make a difference from ordinary standing this time.

OO (lying down, eyes closed), first session:-The whole body seems to gradually lift up and build pressure as I ascend.

Descending is like a tremendous release (much more so than remaining on a single pitch), almost physically feels like having a great bowel movement!

-Ascending reminds me of watching a space shuttle lift off, with a similar elated feeling.

-The descending siren seems like something that would be useful to do after finishing an unpleasant task. It releases the body of any tension caused by annoyance or frustration and says "I'm glad THAT'S over".

Second session:-Most of the pressure is felt in the head, at the top end of the siren, both when

ascending and descending. This time I feel the leg muscles rising and tensing on the ascending, somewhat like lifting a weight with your legs on an exercise machine.

-On the whole, the siren seems to take on a single pitch, especially centered in the stomach area.

-I notice that I can reach the lowest part of my range if I do the descending siren and the highest part if I approach it from the other direction, in other words, it is difficult to hit my highest and lowest range right off the start of the breath.

EE (sitting or standing, eyes open), first session:-On this vowel, the lowest pitch I can reach doesn't seem very low. Perhaps because

it is mostly produced in the head. There is a tendency to dip my chin downwards when starting or ending with the low pitch.

-When descending, it feels like having fun on a big roller coaster when it's a bit

scary. There's almost a panic element to it. -There is a lot of vibration moving through my face and jaws as I pass through the

mid-range. -It seems almost unavoidable that the volume is high, it takes so much energy. But

the time I get to the top, my whole body is tensed, and releasing the breath brings a little dizziness. Even an adjustment is felt in the ear drum.

-Descending reminds me of a noisy motor being turned off.

Second session:-I get a tickling in my throat during the lower mid-range section. -It seems as though the blood rushes to my head as I ascend, there is an

accumulation of pressure from the beginning of the breath. -Descending starts pressure and it moves downward through the body, as a release. -Muscles tend to shift around on their own, involuntarily. -It seems there is not a great deal of emotional or mental imaging with the siren,

because it takes more concentration to do the sliding. -The physical effects are more intense and exaggerated when doing the siren, as

opposed to single pitch. If you're not careful, you could give yourself a hernia!

OH (lying down, eyes open), first session:-Almost impossible to start at the top with anything less than excruciating volume,

it's like a scream of fright, like falling out of a 21st floor window to your death. -Going both directions is like an internal massage or a workout for deep inner

muscles. -Now I'm learning to control the volume by making the tone somewhere between full

voice and head voice.

Second session:-Descending, I remind myself of a a wolf howling at the moon. There was a lot of air

escaping and giving it the aggressive feel. One ascending siren is the equivalent of about 20 sit-ups.

-Descending, my voice seems to go through many timbres.

AH (sitting, eyes closed), first session: -A very difficult vowel to maintain throughout the entire range. I tend to tense up

everything until it's done, unless I make an effort not to do so. -It has a wailing feeling to it, like crying uncontrollably, probably a great emotional

release. -Overall, it has a more balanced feeling to it because it is centered in the chest area.,

i.e. the higher and lower ranges are closer to it. They exist on either side equally. -It doesn't make me as dizzy as the other vowels, it rather feels energizing in a subtle

way.

Second session:-Reminds me of trouble, because it sounds so much like a police siren. -It provides good insight into the workings of the throat as it passes through the

range, the 'crossover' places where timbre tends to change. -It's a reflex reaction to scrunch up my face throughout. -Somewhere in the upper mid-range really sounds like shrieking. -Especially when descending, it feels like an exercise for expelling all the bad air in

your lungs, refreshing them.

WEEK 2

Day 1. Any posture: OODay 2. Lying down, eyes closed: EEDay 3. Sitting or standing, eyes open: OHDay 4. Lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze: AHDay 5. Sitting, eyes closed: OO

Journal:

OO (any posture), first session:-This vowel seems to close down the size of the throat opening, and often I end up

choking before I finish the breath. It is necessary to have a clear throat before starting. Since the sound is generated from way down in the abdomen, by the time you reach the top of the range there is dizziness, especially while walking.

-I often experience a wide jump in pitch when ascending (somewhere in the mid-upper region).

-In the mid-ranges it has a very strange quality to it, in terms of timbre and the effect on the vocal apparatus.

Second session:-I notice a great vibration in my head in the lower range. Today I did muscle

stretching before toning and it seems to be easier on my inner deep muscles as it moves through the areas of my body. It feels like a more complete exercise.

-Now I find it easier to start at my highest notes or lowest notes. It must be conditioning. I felt or heard a rumbling in my ear drums, similar to that felt during a wide yawn.

EE (lying down, eyes closed), first session:-It creates a tightness in my jaws because of my mouth position. -Somewhere in the mid-range I need to make an adjustment in timbre in order to

keep moving up the siren. It seems to move from the front of my abdomen and switches to my back in the middle of the range (the line of physical movement).

-The ear rumbling effect takes place in the higher range. -The EE vowel doesn't seem as irritating when done as a siren as opposed to a single

pitch. However, it still feels like a very 'unnatural' sound to produce.

Second session:-Sliding down feels much easier than sliding up. -It reminds me of sliding down a bannister. -The siren builds up muscle tension and relaxes it completely at the end, especially

at the bottom. -I imagined my rib cage to be all like-magnets that repel each other and compact,

compress all in between them. -This tone as a siren produces timbres I'm not used to hear coming from myself.

OH (sitting or standing, eyes open), one session only:-While sitting, ascending felt like blowing up a balloon in one breath, and the balloon

was my upper body. -Descending felt like letting the air out of the balloon, and even getting the hiss of air

from my mouth. -This vowel as a siren manipulates the Adam's apple very noticeably, puts a strain

on it, moves it from its lowest possible position to its highest. Probably useful for getting people to extend their ranges. If they feel the Adam's apple lower they're accustomed to, then while normal singing, they could reproduce the effect.

-Standing, I feel the rumbling in my eardrums at the higher range. Ascending, it felt like gravity was gradually disappearing.

-Descending, I feel the muscular adjustments in my lower sides as I reach the bottom.

-It makes me feel bug-eyed and my head possibly explode if I didn't conceptualize my head as a pressure cooker with an escape valve on top.

AH (lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze), one session only:-Descending, it feels like pushing out all the negative stuff and refreshing the spirit. -AH is a very comfortable, centre placed sound to siren while lying down. It keeps my

body weight evenly distributed (gravity-wise) on the bed. It also goes through many changes in timbre, with accompanying physical sensations of the vocal cords.

-If I have a voice break on this vowel, it happens somewhere in the mid-range (further proof of its centeredness).

-It's easy to stray from the pure AH and get something like a YEAH sound. A difficult vowel to maintain.

-In the upper reaches it feels like a sound made in panic, in the lower mid-area it turns into more of a yell.

-When ascending, it's difficult to begin on a really low note. Lying down is maybe too relaxing, it requires more 'oomph' to get it going. So the resulting low AH sounds very growly and gurgly.

-The more I do it the easier it gets. I'm sure it's doing wonders for conditioning my singing voice.

-I get an idea of the 'angle' of the descent or ascent. Of course, while lying down, I imagine an angle which is close to being horizontal. It doesn't seem so steep as when standing. A good analogy is cross-country skiing down a bunny hill, and while standing would be like the giant slalom.

-If I don't use full voice on the descent, the timbre remains pretty much the same, and the result feels more like a peaceful sigh.

OO (sitting, eyes closed), first session:-Again, the OO vowel tends to make the throat almost close off and skipping or

breaking is more difficult to avoid. This time I break both in the high and low register. -If I give it more breath, it becomes more smooth. -Ascending, it feels like my body is expanding in all directions like a hot air balloon.

However, the descent does not let out the air, it just makes my body feel more solid (filling up with concrete).

-Descending, I get a rough tickling in my throat in the lower register caused by little space and forcing of the breath. The whole breath does not come out easily, it always feels forced.

-This vowel seems to go through more changes in timbre and bodily sensations than any other vowel.

Second session:-My lowest note with this vowel doesn't seem very low, however. -I can definitely feel the source of the sound being the abdomen region. -There is a big difference between the falsetto and full voice. With the full voice I use

much more breath and the result has a continuous H in it. -I even felt a tensing in my lower back this time as I reached the lower register

(usually the physical sensations are towards the front).

WEEK 3

During weeks three and four:Keep your pitch on one tone throughout each session. Find the place where it feels

good in your body and stay there. You many, however, decide to make a high pitch one

day and a low one the next depending on how you feel each day.

Day 1. Any posture: EEDay 2. Lying down, eyes closed: OHDay 3. Sitting or standing, eyes open: AHDay 4. Lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze: OODay 5: Sitting, eyes closed: EE

Journal:

EE (various positions on one tone only), one session only:-A very detached feeling, as if my head could be three feet away from the rest of my

body, even while walking. -Note: I've decided to take note of which pitch I find most comfortable for each vowel.

Today the EE vowel sits on a B. (Generally, but there are waverings above and below. I notice the effect on my body of speeding up and slowing down frequencies. I can feel the 'phasing' and can visualize the waveforms).

-There is a faint glowing sensation in my chest.

OH (lying down, eyes closed), one session only:-My insides feel like a big hollowed out cave. -There is something very comforting about staying on your own note after 2 weeks of

doing the siren. It feels like home now, more than during part 1. -There is a buzzing overtone which sounds nothing like the OH. It keeps moving

around, shifting frequency in the fashion of a yodel. I notice this because yesterday I was practicing yodelling overtones specifically.

-If I growl the tone I get very masculine sounding undertones, and it feels good to stay there awhile, especially since my body is relaxed.

-My breath lasts much longer on one tone than it does for the siren. -Now I can experiment with altering the timbre on a single tone, whereas with the

siren, I had little control overt the timbre over certain areas of my range. -The tone is on an A today.

AH (sitting or standing, eyes open), one session only:-It brings a 'stabilizing' feeling to my insides, a sort of equal treatment of all organs. -Standing, I can sense the aura around my entire body, pulsating with the tone. -Coincidentally, it sounds like the word 'awe', and also instills a sense of awe while

toning it and looking out at the trees and sky. -I got the idea that this can train one to breathe more deeply, until it becomes a sub-

conscious habit. (I don't think there is any such thing as an UN-conscious habit). The AH vowel seems to be the perfect vowel for this training because the breath leaves the body at a very natural rate. There is no H to it, which would tend to use up breath too quickly.

-My heart seems somehow 'engaged' throughout the tone- 'locked in', in cooperation with the vocal apparatus. This seems apparent because the left side of my body feels different from the right side while toning (first time I've noticed that).

-Sitting, it felt like a meditation process, it aids in letting the mind go blank. -The tone today was Bb, right smack in-between my EE and OH pitch.

OO (lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze), one session only:-It creates tension in the jaw, however, everything else is very relaxed. -There is a warm vibration in my chest. With my body stretched out, I feel like a

calm sea with gentle waves coming in to shore. -At the end of the breath I get a sensation in my head of something opening up

around my ear drums. -This is almost like a lullaby, I could probably put myself and a baby to sleep.

-I found a much more relaxing way to hold my mouth which doesn't create tension. The upper lip doesn't contract, remains stationary. The bottom lip drops slightly. The resulting OO has an occasional V along with it because the bottom lip gently rests on the top teeth.

-This tone has a soft 'roundness' about it, like a soft rubber hose. -It feels easy to tone on this vowel at a very low volume, therefore even more relaxing. -It was on Bb again today.

EE (sitting, eyes closed), one session only:-I hear the overtones sitting up there in the background, they remind me of listening

to an electric shaver and the pulsations occur whenever a hair is being shaved off (that abrasive sound).

-Today I notice all the surrounding noises of the house as being extremely dominating, although nothing has changed from the usual (refrigerator, heating, etc.). Maybe I've picked a harmonious pitch for my toning.

-I imagine a sharp pointy object, or water flowing through a sharp V shaped ditch. -It seems only the upper half of my body is involved, so it doesn't matter that my legs

are folded up. They are not participating anyway. -Apart from the tension in my mouth and tongue, it's not as irritating as it was

before the siren experience. My volume is low also. -I have a strong awareness of my neck. Sometimes I get a click in my jaw at the end

of the breath, when I allow it to relax. This sensation travels up to my ear drums.-I became aware of stomach muscles 'pushing' the EE out of my mouth as a sort of

back-up system. -Today the pitch was between Bb and B.

WEEK 4

Day 1. Any posture: OHDay 2. Lying down, eyes closed: AHDay 3. Sitting or standing, eyes open: OODay 4. Lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze: EEDay 5. Sitting, eyes closed: OH

Journal:

OH (various positions), one session only:-This vowel seems rich to me now (in harmonic content). -I had an image of a subway, the OH was the train and the tunnel was the extra

sounds around the outside of the OH. -I got a feeling the sound is coming from the back of my throat through to the top of

my head. -I'm learning that my posture affects the sound of the tone, especially the position of

the head. If my head tilts a bit too far backward, the result is that the undertones are less audible. (This goes for external sounds as well).

-In proper posture, the tone resonates all around me with overtones placed spatially in certain areas. The higher harmonics seem to be in my middle head in the nasal area.

-This vowel seem to be one of the best for training one's speaking voice to be richer, fuller.

-While walking, it is obvious that the tone uses the whole body as its instrument, each step affects the frequency of the fundamental.

-It's actually a challenge to keep from wavering the pitch even while sitting with proper posture.

-Moving the head from side to side doesn't seem to affect the way it sounds, it is still spatially balanced.

-Today's pitch is close to A (slightly under).

AH (lying down, eyes closed), first session:-Since the mouth is open wider, the breath disappears more quickly (also more so

than while standing). -When my body is completely horizontal (without my head propped up) I become

more aware of my heartbeat. At first it was too fast, but the toning seemed to slow it down.

-My body, especially the chest area, felt braced or 'receptive' for energy to come in. It is a warm, open feeling. I can imagine light pouring in from above.

-I imagine my whole body being stretched lengthwise, as if being put on a rack, but achieving this effect without pain. I recommend it to short people!

-Started on B then settled to somewhere between A and Bb.

Second session:-A very centring exercise to calm me down in the middle of a hectic day. -I really notice the importance of having a free passageway for the breath to come

(posture and position of head) if the throat is cut off in any way, the result is gurgling. -This is even more relaxing than usual, because my legs are off to one side, I'm lying

on my side (which is how I usually sleep). -It emphasizes the pulsing of my eyes along with my heartbeat. With my eyes closed,

I can see a rhythmic pulsing around my eyes as I tone, more easily than without toning. -The notes are between A and Bb/ and Bb and B.

OO (sitting or standing, eyes open), one session only:-A very deep tone, in that I can feel it way down in the pelvic region. It feels like my

body is a furnace (sitting). -If I really listen closely I can hear the high harmonics, but they are not so obvious.-I keep yawning, it doesn't really energize me. -I am reminded of a winter wind, the sound that it makes with blowing snow.-Standing, as I experiment with my tongue, opening and closing off my throat, it

seems that closing it off makes the sound seem to come from somewhere else. There is an accompanying NG continuously going on in the upper part of my head (a nasal sound).

-There is a melancholy feeling about it. -It makes my throat feel as if it is big and expansive like a frog's. -If my mind wanders, I'm almost unaware of doing the toning, it could just be taking

a deep breath. -The tone again is Bb.

EE (lying down, eyes open, fixed gaze), one session only: -My head is buzzing. -The harmonics seem to be in a distant place. -There is a constant H. -This time it feels like I am restraining something, holding back energy. -It's kind of an impersonal feeling, like talking on the phone rather than in person.

OH (sitting, eyes closed), one session only:-The breath goes very quickly compared to the other vowels. At the end of the breath

the sound seems to cut off abruptly rather than fade out. -Everything feels so open. It takes a lot of 'heat' or fuel' to keep the tone going. The

feeling actually reminds me of a fire. The more you fan a fire (with wind or breath) the bigger it gets, the same is true with making this tone.

-I think I am accomplishing the bone conduction chant.-I know I am making the OH sound, but at times it sounds like OO. -Now I am aware of an incredible richness in this vowel. Closed eyes helps to focus

attention on this aspect of the sound. It contains so many harmonics. -Just now I've hit upon a combination of posturing and breath that requires less

force, and the resulting tone wavers less, and almost has momentum of its own. (The way an object would travel in zero gravity).

-At times, the ringing overtones are louder than the fundamental. They overpower it.

Journal Summary Level 1, parts 1 and 2:

I have noticed that generally, with closed eyes I tend to visualize more, and with open eyes to compare sounds with others. When the eyes are open, they are already subjected to a stationary image, so imagining another image is not as natural an effect. Focusing outside a window frees the mind and emotions somewhat while toning.

Although I was already aware of it, doing the siren is much easier when conceptualizing all pitches on a horizontal plane. However, it still takes much more concentrated effort than the single pitch. Physical effects are greatly exaggerated, pressure builds in certain areas to the maximum on the ascent and the descent is a great release. I discovered my voice goes through many timbres in one siren, some of which seemed very unnatural. A lot is dependent upon low I approach the breath, with full voice, head voice or somewhere between. Volume is difficult to control sometimes.

The single pitch, on the other hand, now seems very natural. After 2 weeks of the siren, I took note of more subtleties in the timbre of the vowels. I paid more attention to my 'comfort zone' in terms of pitch. Interestingly, the highest pitch I used was a B for the EE (centered in the head) and A for the OH (originating in the abdomen). All others were around a Bb. (OO comes from a lower place than OH but it seems more feminine than OH).

This time I was ware of how posture affected the tones, both the siren and the single pitch. Straight back with head slightly forward seemed to produce the most rich tones. Tilting the head back cut off the throat passage and limited the higher harmonics.

Level 1, part 3

In this third part of the program, set aside one 30 minute time period for 5 consecutive days during the next two weeks (only 4 days during the third week).

First 15 minutes: Lying downSecond 15 minutes: Sitting up

Explore each of the following parts of your body with sound. See which sound, which pitch and vowel combination most resonate the designated part of your body. Try both deep and high pitched sounds...any variation to bring vibration, resonance and awareness to the body. Do not be discouraged if this is difficult for certain parts of the body.

Place both hands on the part of the body to be vibrated. Let the palms of your hands be the 'ears' to sense vibrations. Allow your hands to put pressure on the part of the body that you are sensing. Explore with pitch and vowel until you are vibrating that part of the body.

Continue to keep a journal of your observations.

Below are listed the sequence for the next 5 sessions:

1. Top of the head2. Back of the skull

3. Mandibular joint (jaw)4. Throat5. Shoulders6. Arms and hands7. Upper chest8. Heart9. Mid and upper back10. Upper abdomen11. Lower abdomen12. Base of spine13. Thighs and legs14. Whole body 'scan'*

*When doing the whole body scan, use a siren-like sound. Begin at the high end of your register and slowly move to the low end. Then move from low to high. Notice how (and where) your body resonates as you do the scan.

Level 2

The Healing Properties of Color, Tone and Breath

Level 2, part 1

Spend 20 minutes per day, once a day, working with vowel sounds and the colors black and gold/ white. You will need a fairly sturdy card (approximately of postcard weight and size) that is plain black, and another card which is shiny gold on one side and white on the other. You will be flipping the gold/ white card during the corresponding exercises. (You may improvise such cards if you cannot find anything to match these specifications. For example, use sturdy construction paper for the black card, and stick shiny gold wrapping paper together with plain white paper, using cardboard in the middle if it is not sturdy enough.)

There will be a total of 3 days in the introduction. Each day you will move between the two colors, using the procedure shown below:

**You may change vowel sounds as you wish, but it is important that you remain on a single pitch throughout the session. Do not move from a high to a low note, etc. You will be experimenting to find the vowel sound that best supports the color you are focusing on.

**If you are recording yourself for these sessions, record 4 tones per session, one at the end of each 5 minute segment.

**In your written journal, note whether one of the colors was easier to work with. Also note any physiological, emotional or energetic changes that occur as you move between black and gold/ white.

Day 1. POSTURE: lying down, eyes closed while imagining color during the last 10 minutes.

5 minutes: toning while looking at black card5 minutes: toning while looking at gold/ white card (flip card over and work with

both sides)5 minutes: toning while imagining black5 minutes: toning while imagining gold/ white

Day 2. POSTURE: sitting or standing, eyes closed while imagining color5 minutes: toning while looking at gold/ white card5 minutes: toning while looking at black card5 minutes: toning while imagining gold/ white5 minutes: toning while imagining black

Day 3. POSTURE: lying down, eyes open, staring at point on white ceiling while imagining color

5 minutes: toning while looking at black card5 minutes: toning while looking at gold/ white card5 minutes: toning while imagining black5 minutes: toning while imagining gold/ white

Journal:

OO, AH, OH, AY (lying down, eyes closed while imagining):-Gold/ white is easier to work with when looking at the card. It had an 'opening up'

sensation to it. With eyes closed, black is easier because darkness is all that I can really see anyway. In order to image gold/ white, I had to imagine something that color, as if in a dream- a gold castle in brilliant sunshine.

-With eyes close, it seems the vowels were taken one step further for each color, from OO to OH, from AH to AY, as if the auditory sense had to become more intense for lack of visual stimulation.

AY, OH, AH, OH (sitting or standing, eyes closed while imagining):-The vowel AH while looking at black made it an illusion of being lighter (gray). It's as

if more light is being taken in or created by my eyes with the AH vowel. -It is extremely difficult to imagine color with my eyes closed. I can't even imagine

black if there's a bright light in the room, and I have to cover my eyes with my hands. In choosing the 'right' vowel for the color, I must be using intuition because I really don't get the connection.

OH, AH, OO, AY (lying down, eyes open staring at point on white ceiling while imagining):

-While imagining black, I thought of feeling my way through a dark tunnel. The OO vowel felt like it had caution in it, holding back, not making too much noise inside the body.

-Imagining gold/ white, I had more success at just imagining color as opposed to what it could represent. The AY vowel seemed to help me absorb or soak up the beneficial rays of these colors into my body. They have a healing effect.

Level 2, part 2

For this level, you will need 6 color cards, with the same weight and size as the previous cards. The colors should be the closest to the ones in the boxes next to the color name.

Spend 20 minutes, once a day, 5 days per week working with vowel sounds and color. The 20 minutes will be divided as follows:

10 minutes toning while looking at the color card10 minutes toning while imagining the color

-While looking, AY at mid-pitch.-Today red seems like such a bold and forthright color that it deserves a vowel- pitch

combination with an edge to it. -Maybe what I'm saying doesn't make any sense to an outsider, but it's because

these observations are very subjective and subtle. It depends on what a color might mean to me at any given time. Today red reminds me of a person very outspoken who speaks loud and clearly in a natural voice.

-While imagining, AY at mid-pitch. -When lying down, my lower body is too relaxed to produce a low pitch comfortably.

Consequently, a mid-pitch seems appropriate. I remember as a child, red was my favorite color because it 'said it all'. AY as a vowel is not a pure vowel, but incorporates the vowels EH and EE. This is the most I can say while making one vowel.

RED (sitting or standing, eyes closed):-While looking, AY at a high pitch.-Today while standing I feel the 'ready for action' aspect of the color, like it prepares

me for a race. The vowel is still AY for reasons cited before, but the pitch is high like the siren on a fire engine red fire truck.

-While imagining, AY at a low pitch. -Standing, the reason for the switch to low pitch is, because my eyes are closed, my

attention is turned inwards and I am reminded of blood rushing through my body. A low pitch intensifies the feeling of blood pressure. Of course I associate the red with blood in this case. I considered EE, but it localized the pressure in m head, whereas AY distributed the pressure more through the body, and red is an 'ALL OUT' no holds barred color.

RED ((lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, AY at a low pitch.-I picked low pitch because it allows me to feel and hear buzzing overtones which

remind me of electricity- heat- flames- red. -While imagining, AY at a low pitch.-This time the same combinations allowed me to picture a deep crimson red, no

particular object or concept, just a rich color. Higher pitches tended to 'wash it out'.

WEEK 2: Orange

Journal:

ORANGE (lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, OH at mid-pitch.-I felt a mid-pitch matched orange because of it being a step up in hue from red, in

any case it vibrated the best. OH is a warm vowel like this color. -While imagining, OH at mid-pitch.-Orange is like a straight line, a bridge.-A low pitch creates an indentation at my chest (more easily pictured with closed

eyes) so does not resemble the straight bridge. The mid-pitch does, and the OH creates sufficient 'glow' for the bridge to be orange.

ORANGE (sitting or standing, eyes closed):-While looking, AH at a low pitch.-I find that AH at a low pitch is like the inverse of OH/ mid-pitch of yesterday, but

has equal validity for the color orange. OH is almost opposite to AH in the body, but switching pitches gives these combinations a similarity.

-While imagining, AH at mid-pitch. -Standing with eyes closed, my attention turned inside, I noticed how a mid-pitch

this time evened out the sensations in my body. It gave ma a smoother image of orange,

a gentle sunny feeling.

ORANGE (lying down, eyes open): -While looking, AH at mid-pitch.-This feels uniform to me across my chest and the color impresses me as not too

light, not too dark. -While imagining, OH at mid-pitch.-With eyes open, imagining the color is more of an intellectual experience. I imagined

that if you dropped orange in water it would sink leaving a lot hidden in the depths. OH gives orange the hidden depths (I've always felt that orange is a misunderstood color, many people mistake it for red or yellow).

ORANGE (sitting or standing, eyes closed): -While looking, OO at mid-pitch. -The light are dimmed somewhat today so the orange is more subdued, more quiet

and the OO vowel is quiet also, with only a breeze of overtones reminding me of the hidden brightness of the color.

-While imagining, AH at mid-pitch.-With eyes closed, I can imagine a brighter orange than the one I was just looking at,

so the process in my mind/ body connection is different.

ORANGE (lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, OH at a low pitch.-This combination creates a vibration which equals the glow of orange like fire. -While imagining, AH at a low pitch. -I am imagining what orange looks like in heaven, therefore the AH, alas, I am still

earthbound, hence the low pitch.

WEEK 3: Yellow

Journal:

YELLOW (lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, AH at a high pitch.-Yellow allows for a lot of breathiness which AH has, and the lightness of the color

suits it to a high pitch. -While imagining, OO at a high pitch. -With eyes closed, it felt like my head was a light bulb with this combination, a

glowing yellow. The vibration was felt mainly here with the electric cord extending below to my abdomen.

YELLOW (sitting or standing, eyes closed):-While looking, OO at mid-pitch. -This vowel makes a subdued sound at a mid-pitch which seems to suit yellow,

because it's not as bold a color as orange or red. It's an easy color. -While imagining, OO at mid-pitch. -Sitting, this vowel did not vibrate in my head as it did when I was lying down, but I

chose it because of its smooth sensation in the body. It resonated equally, like flowing light waves.

YELLOW (lying down, eyes open):-While looking, AH at mid-pitch. -This combination is the most sunny. -While imagining, AH at mid-pitch.-AH is a shallow vowel when lying down. I consider yellow shallow because it is next

to white in intensity. I visualize a nice lemon yellow with this, as opposed to an orangey

yellow produced with the AY.

YELLOW (sitting or standing, eyes closed):-While looking, AH at mid-pitch. -For no particular reason. -While imagining, AH at a high pitch. -Standing, I used a soft, breathy falsetto in this combination. It allowed me to

visualize everything with a soft yellow glow like a filter on a camera lens. The frequency was correct to tune it in.

YELLOW (lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, AH at mid-pitch. -While imagining, OO at mid-pitch.-This time while imaging I went for sensory deprivation, blind-folded and ear plugged

and noticed that AH is the quietest vowel inside the body. It took the color too far away from my attention. OO was the loudest and brought yellow closer to my 'vision'.

WEEK 4: Green

Journal:

GREEN (lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, EE at high pitch. -It seems no coincidence that the word green has two E's in it. EE captures the color

in a specific band of frequencies. The high pitch reminds me of an alert- the danger signal for the green of the environment.

-While imagining, EE at low pitch. -This combination makes my body feel heavier, more affected by gravity, perhaps

more earth bound (lying on green grass). If one could hear grass growing, I bet it sounds like this. (Have you ever heard "The hissing of summer lawns" by Joni Mitchell?)

GREEN (sitting, eyes closed):-While looking, EE at mid-pitch.-This produces an even sensation with respect to visual stimulation with green. -While imagining, EE at mid-pitch. -With eyes closed, I can describe this even sensation as being more equally

distributed in the body.

GREEN (lying down, eyes open):-While looking, AY at a low pitch. -The room is very dimly lit, so this time it requires AY to 'wake up' the color green. -While imagining, EE at a low pitch. -The fact that the light is low no longer matters since I am imaging the color rather

than looking at it. So the vowel goes back to being EE. Perhaps the low pitch is related to the low lighting somehow.

GREEN (sitting or standing, eyes closed):-While looking, EE at mid-pitch. -Green is a dark color, and EE seems to 'hold back' certain amounts of light from

escaping the body. -While imagining, EE at a high pitch. -In a falsetto voice, a high pitch, and the purest EE I can get, closes down the sound

(the smallest it can be) which all comes closer to the green I am visualizing.

GREEN (lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, AY at mid-pitch.

This time I held the card quite close to my eyes and allowed my eyes to go slightly out of focus. I found the AY at mid-pitch to let me get lost in the color green this way.

-While imagining, AY at mid-pitch. -With eyes close, AY kept my rib cage high while the rest of me sank, allowing for

green to fill up the gap created. (With EE, both ribs and the rest of me sink at the same rate so green has no place to develop).

WEEK 5: Blue

Journal:

BLUE (lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, OO at a high pitch. -This combination has a very cool feeling about it, as the color blue. Sort of matches

the temperature outside today (-32 degrees).-While imagining, OO at a high pitch. -The high pitch gives it 'substance' and actually deepens the blue. This card is quite

deep, almost purple, so with eyes closed I am trying to vision the same hue. A lower pitch lightens the blue.

BLUE (sitting, eyes closed):-While looking, OO at a low pitch. -The 'WH' which accompanies this combination is like a breeze which reflects the

coolness of the blue. -While imagining, OO at mid-pitch. -The only thing that comes to mind is a feeling of compactness,

compartmentalization in the body which solidifies the color blue.

BLUE (lying down, eyes open):-While looking, OH at a low pitch. -The blue seems deeper now, and this combination reminds me of the depths of the

ocean. -While imagining, OH at a low pitch. -Now I can concentrate more on the feeling in the body. Another aspect of the ocean

and also the sky is the vast emptiness, and this combination produces this sensation in the body.

BLUE (standing, eyes closed):-While looking, OO at a low pitch. -While holding the card, the vibration reached from hands to my feet and connected

me to the color with this combination. -While imagining, OO at a low pitch. -With eyes close, this combination also serves to make my whole body glow. The blue

color in my mind is like the connecting circuit to create this electricity.

BLUE (lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, OH at a mid-pitch. -Today it is physically more comfortable on a mid-pitch than on a low pitch. -While imagining, OO at a mid-pitch.-This combination with eyes closed brings the color blue closer to me (distance-wise)

than OH, and becomes more vivid, royal blue like the card. Perhaps because OO has more resonating effect in the head.

WEEK 6: Purple

Journal:

PURPLE (lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, EE at a high pitch. -This is the highest combination in pitch and harmonics. It seems purple is a

'jumping off' color at the end of the spectrum. I mentally associate it with the crown chakra.

-The fact that this card has a dull finish (unlike most of the others) it allows me to 'latch on' to it with sound more easily. (Sound will stick to it rather than slide off?)

-While imagining, AY at a low pitch. -With eyes closed, EE at a high pitch did not produce enough buzzing to hold the

color down. I remembered the texture of the card as having little pockets and this combination allowed my body to sit in a purple pocket.

PURPLE (sitting, eyes closed):-While looking, AY at mid-pitch. -This vowel seems to work, the pitch seems important in that a high pitch pulls the

color towards blue and a low pitch pulls it to red. The mid-pitch gave my vision the 'true' color of the card.

-While imagining, AY at a mid-pitch. -In remembering the color, the pitches had the same effect as above. The mid-pitch

also has more breathiness, pulling it down from blue 'above' it.

PURPLE (lying down, eyes open):-While looking, AY at a mid-pitch. -I find I need to keep my eyes moving around the card or my eyes will play tricks on

me and change it to blue. -While imagining, AY at a low pitch. -This combination provides the roughness of the finish on the card as I remember it.

It has a 'red buzz' around the edges, whereas equal sensations throughout the body mean that the color can 'hold its own'.

PURPLE (standing, eyes closed):-While looking, AY at a low pitch. -While imagining, AY at a low pitch. -This time I became attuned once more to the 'highness' of the color. This

combination makes my body feel the lightest. I felt the almost spiritual aspect of the color purple.

PURPLE (lying down, eyes closed):-While looking, AY at a low pitch. -While imagining, AY at a low pitch. -I felt a richness, thickness, royalty kind of purple in my body with this combination.

Level 3

The Healing Properties of Color, Tone and Breath

Level 3, part 1

"In this advanced level, you will bring the images of color into form. This program lends your intuitive images and energies of color into physical, circular forms known as mandalas."

For this portion, you will need:

1. Drawing paper, 11" by 14" suggested. No larger. In the middle of each piece of paper you use, take a kitchen size, round plate to make a lightly pencilled circle that is centred on the paper. The edges of the circle do not touch the edges.

2. Oil pastels... a minimum set of 36, but a larger set if you wish. Pentel is a suggested brand name. Magic markers, water colors, colored pencils or crayons are NOT recommended.

3. On the back of each sheet, write mandala #1-8, in sequence (5 mandalas in the first part, 3 in the second part). Each mandala is to be drawn spontaneously, intuitively as an expression of the toning exercise of each day.

Spend 21 minutes, once a day, working with specific postures and vowel sound. In each 21 minute session, change pitch register as follows:

7 minutes: a low pitch7 minutes; a high pitch (relaxed)7 minutes: a natural, mid-range pitch

*The actual note on which you tone is not important in this exercise. The focus is on the exploration of different, relaxed frequency, or pitch regions within your voice. Use a long straight tone (no sliding).

**In your journal, for both parts, take note of what color was most predominant for you in each session. The choices:

Don't knowNo colorMuch color changeRedPinkOrangeYellowGreenTurquoiseBlueIndigoVioletBrownBlackGreyWhite

Spend 3 days (once a day) on each of the following vowel sounds:

EE: as in 'we'AY: as in 'day'AH: as in 'aha'OH: as in 'so'OO: as in 'who'

As you work with these vowel sounds, imagine a circle or sphere in the center of your visual field. Allow the rainbow to appear...re, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple...As you continue to tone for each of these 7 minute sequences, notice the most natural color that 'feels' right to take over circle or sphere. Is one color more predominant than others? Is the color different (i.e. do different colors predominate? Is the shade, intensity or texture different?) in the different pitch registers? Is the color different with different postures? Is the color different with different vowel sounds? Also notice the color of the background. Is it black, white or grey?

If you don't see a color, just allow your intuition to choose a color. After each 7 minutes, note your impressions in your journal. During the third 7 minute segment, you will be seated with the paper and oil pastels and tone at the mid range with your eyes open. After a minute or two, begin to draw intuitively with the focus on the colors that appeared and use the (their tints and shades- i.e. mostly reds, mostly blues, mostly yellows) on the mandala.

There are no specific rules about the mandala. You can draw intuitively anywhere on the page, leave open spaces, color in areas or create images. Allow the tone you are making to guide the drawings.

On the back of each sheet, along with the mandala number, put the vowel that you used for the session.

The postures are as follows:

Day 1. EE: Lying down, eyes closedDay 2. EE: Sitting, eyes closedDay 3. EE: Sitting comfortably drawing the mandala

Day 4. AY: Lying down, eyes closedDay 5. AY: Sitting, eyes closedDay 6. AY: Sitting comfortably drawing the mandala

Day 7. AH: Lying down, eyes closedDay 8. AH: Sitting, eyes closedDay 9. AH: Sitting comfortably drawing the mandala

Day 10. OH: Lying down, eyes closedDay 11. OH: Sitting, eyes closedDay 12: OH: Sitting comfortably drawing the mandala

Day 13. OO: Lying down, eyes closedDay 14. OO: Sitting, eyes closedDay 15. OO: Sitting comfortably drawing the mandala

**You may take a break of one day between each 3 day segment. Keep your journal fairly detailed, using the guidelines from the introduction as a basis for your observations, but don't limit yourself to these guidelines.

Level 3, part 2

"These exercises are quite advanced and are of extreme importance. They are an inner initiation."

Spend 20 minutes per day, once a day, working with vowel sounds and the colors black and gold/ white (the cards you used in Level 2, part 1). There will be a total of 3 days in the introduction. Each day you will move between the two cards, using the procedure below:

**You may change the vowel sounds, but it is important that you remain on generally the same pitch throughout the session.

**If you are recording, record 5 tones per session (one at the end of each 5 minute segment and then after the mandala). These should be the vowel/ pitch combinations that best support the color card you're focusing on.

**In your written journal, note whether one of the cards was easier to work with. Also note any physiological, emotional or energetic changes that occur as you move between gold/ white and black.

Day 1. POSTURE: Lying down, eyes closed while imagining color during last 10 minutes

5 minutes: toning while looking at black card5 minutes: toning while looking at gold/ white card (flip card over and work with

both sides)5 minutes: toning while imagining black5 minutes: toning while imagining gold/ white10 minutes: silence while you draw the mandala using any colors you wish

Day 2. POSTURE: Sitting or standing, eyes closed while imagining color5 minutes: toning while looking at gold/ white card5 minutes: toning while looking at black card5 minutes: toning while imagining gold/ white5 minutes: toning while imagining black10 minutes: silence while you draw the mandala using any colors you wish

Day 3. POSTURE: Lying down, eyes open, staring at point on white ceiling while imagining color

5 minutes: toning while looking at black card5 minutes: toning while looking at gold/ white card5 minutes: toning while imagining black5 minutes: toning while imagining gold/ white10 minutes: silence while you draw the mandala using any colors you wish

Journal Exerpts from LEVEL 3: (regarding mandalas)

-I found when concentrating on the mandala, that very specific shapes emerged, out of variations on shapes I had previously imaged.

-The mid range pitch gave me a feeling of fear, though it did not seem to be coming

out of me, but someone else.

-On the high pitch, there was a yellow center with pale blue radiations on outer edge of circle, small bands of green alternating with larger blue bands.

-On the low pitch, the shape is more prominent than the color. A wide rectangle lies horizontally across the circle, sticking out past the edges. The inner rectangle appears light blue, glowing yellow around the edges. Remaining spaces in circle are black.

-On the mid pitch, a big pink flower with a bit of green, yellow outlined extensions on outside of circle.

-On the mid pitch, I see a big fancy blue kite with yellow cross rods which extend to the edges of the circle, outside remaining areas are bright green.

-OO has produced the most thematic images to date, rather than just geometrical or symmetrical figures. Today I am obviously fixated on the idea of a tropical getaway, and OO seems to be the catalyst.

-Looking at the black card with OH, there was a split second of recognition that the card was in sync with me and the tone. The card woke up.

-Looking at the gold/ white card with OH, this tone contains a shimmering mirror effect which relates to the reflective quality of the gold and openness of the white- it was the first time I noticed my thumbs reflected back from the gold. There is a real depth there, like the many layers of the vowel AY.

-While imagining black with EE, I noticed the secretive nature of this tone, about moving slowly in the darkness because you don't know what lies ahead.

-After the mandala, AH was the most prominent. The general feeling I have from this session is the progression through life, moving from initial joyful abandon and naivete, through confusion and conflict, then hope and peacefulness, hopefully towards a reward of knowledge and comfort.

-I notice something I've never noticed before. In flipping the card while toning, I hear the tone differently depending on the angle of the card. If the card is directly parallel to my mouth, I hear more overtones, and if is is 90 degrees from my mouth, the sound is 'flat'.

-In looking at the black with OH, this seemed like a secret password that would let me in and reveal the secrets of the darkness.

-While imagining gold/ white with AY, this produces the 'loudest' tone, even though I attempt all the vowels at the same volume. It makes me think of the deafening welcome I'll get when I die, along with the blinding white light, but I'm sure ears and eyes won't matter then.

-While imagining black with OO, this reminded me of the darkness just before the curtain goes up and the play begins. It signifies hushed excitement in the crowd. The place is full of people, with nothing to be afraid of.

-While looking at black, OO admits the power that something has over me.

-While looking at the gold/ white with OH, the colors are the light at the end of the tunnel- I will be patient, however, until I reach it.

-While imagining black with AY, I want to announce my presence to the blackness, to let it know I am here and I have much to offer it, so that it might 'lighten up' one day.

-While imagining gold/ white with EE, it says that I am ready for the light whenever it is ready for me. EE says that the connection will be orderly and practical, not too slow, not too fast. It also means that I will be a touch nervous about the union.

-After the mandala, OH was the most dominant, with the overwhelming mood being one of the whole journey being difficult. OH asks the question' "Am I prepared for this?"

-The entire last section became philosophical for me.

Conclusion

I hope these excerpts of my journal have been inspirational for you. They may help you to get an idea of the type of results you might achieve with your own research. Let me point out once again that my experience by no means should influence your own process. We are all individuals with unique qualities.

If the guidelines seem overwhelming, I cannot emphasize enough the power and value they hold for your entire lifetime ahead. It all depends on your passion, determination and purpose. The tone shakes the very foundations of the soul. Enjoy the journey!

Bibliography

Suggested Reading:

Campbell, Don- Creating Inner Harmony: Using your Voice and Music to Heal, (book and CD) 2007

Campbell, Don- The Roar of Silence, 1990

Campbell, Don- Music: Physician for Times to Come, 1995

Campbell, Don- Healing Yourself with your own Voice (audio cassette) 1994

Keyes, Laurel E. & Campbell, Don- Toning, The Healing Power of the Voice, 2008

Goldman, Jonathon- Healing Sounds, The Power of Harmonics, 2002

Newham, Paul- Healing Voice, How to use the power of your voice to bring harmony into your life, 1999

D'Anglo, James- The Healing Power of the Human Voice

Godwin, Joscelyn- The Mystery of the Seven Vowels, in Theory and Practice, 1991

Goodchild, Chloe- Your Naked Voice (audiobook) 2006

toning revelation book

Documents

sitting comfortably drawing

making tai chi

gold white card

imagining gold white

lower pitch involves

fixed gaze sitting

low pitch creates

upper back part