Emily: Thank you for joining us today, Maryn. Let’s start with the broad question: Why do you think it is so important for people to awaken the power of their own voice?
Maryn: Most people don't realize how crucial the frequency of our voice is to the quality of our lives. We think of our voices as what we speak or sing, and we use our voices performatively. But the ancients knew something we have forgotten: The resonance of our voice has many healing benefits, and that sound is the bedrock of all creation.
The way we create and share our vibrational sound literally impacts our lived reality. Sound healing, using implements like singing bowls, gongs, and tuning forks, is experiencing an uptick in popularity, and many are beginning to understand the power of sound as a tool for healing. But you don’t need those tools — we have our very own instrument of sound. Our voice contains the same healing abilities as any of those tools. We just have to tune the instrument.
Emily: This is so incredibly interesting. Can you share how someone can learn to use their voice for healing and eliminating stress?
Maryn: The vocal chords sit right below the brainstem and are the first attachment of the vagus nerve, which connects the brain to the body. This nerve communicates with 80 percent of our vital organs and is in charge of our fight-or-flight response. It determines the state and resilience of our nervous system.
A simple vibration at the vocal chords can relax your entire system. The key is which muscles you support the sound with. This is what we will cover in this course. It's all about grounding and embodiment. Yes, the world can be very stressful, but how we respond to that stress is determined by how grounded we can be. Your voice is a primary tool to aid in your embodiment and grounding.
Emily: So I’m quite shy about my voice, and there might be others like me. How do you help people overcome this?
Maryn: Anyone and everyone can benefit from this course. If you are shy about your voice, I would invite you not to think of your voice as a representation of who you are, but instead, learn to work with your voice as the instrument it is. The main issue with insecurity around the voice comes from fear of not having a “good enough” voice or being rejected from the outside. This course goes beyond all of that story or conversation.
We are going to learn or actually remember that the body itself knows how to make sound. There is no “good” or “bad” sound. Each sound shows us where the body is or is not expressed. Everyone has a beautiful voice — it’s just a matter of practice.
Emily: Through the course, what kinds of humming and chanting do you teach?
Maryn: I teach a neutral full-bodied hum — supporting sound from the lower body and sending the vibration from the vocal cord through all of the body's resonators. This will align your entire system and bring you back to homeostasis. Once this form is achieved, it is simple to create balanced sound through a chanting practice.
Professionally, I teach all kinds of chanting and singing. In this course, I focus on a simple seed sound, called a bija mantra. Bija means seed in Sanskrit, and I focus on the seed to relax the throat, which will ease tension in the body, reduce anxiety, and create a clear, calm, and focused mind.
Emily: You talk about how our voice also can support our physical wellness, like our breathing. Can you tell us more about these benefits?
Maryn: A properly supported voice requires a diaphragmatic breath and the support of three muscle groups at the base of the body. With a daily vocal practice, like the one I teach in this course, we retrain the body how to breathe. Most of us have a breath that feeds the head, only encouraging states of stress both mentally and physically.
These voice practices align our breath to our body, which feeds prana or life force energy to the entire body. The health benefits of this breath are unending. I have seen people heal every area of their life by reclaiming their voice in this way.
Emily: I know you’re the teacher, but you also are a practitioner. How has using your voice changed your own life?
Maryn: I have used my own voice to heal a broken neck, to release past traumas that were creating other health issues, and to keep my heart open in all circumstances. If you asked me to list all of the ways that this work and using my voice as a tool for healing has changed and improved my life, I don't think I could count them all. I went from being a professional singer, riddled with insecurity and doubt to becoming a vocal alchemist and connecting to the vibrational power of my voice. It has transformed my life on every level.
My body, my relationships, my creativity, my focus and clarity, my vitality, and my life vision have all come into alignment and balance. It's hard to believe that something as simple as our voice can create such a dramatic and lasting shift in our consciousness and lived reality. I did not become a teacher of this to make money. I teach this because I live this, and it works.
