Inspirations by Emily J. Weitz

Lift Up Your Voices

There is nothing quite so powerful as the uplifting quality of music. I was in an a cappella group in college and as a result, I sang constantly. Four nights of practice a week and I quickly came to take singing for granted. But unfortunately, a cappella is in about as much demand in a post-graduate world as beer pong tables. Some things are just best left in the sticky basements of fraternity houses. But a cappella? I'm not sure why we had to leave it behind. The time away from it made me realize all the more how beneficial a good singing session can be.

Fourteen of us from the 2003 contingent of the Trinity Pipes showed up at the reunion, and as we gathered around each other in a circle, the harmonies came back to us (more or less). And as I looked from face to face, myself on the syllable "din" and my neighbor in the syllable "dum," I noticed we were all beaming. Our knees were bending with the beat. Our eyes were smiling. Because we were making music together.

And there is no stipulation that you have to have a good voice to reap the benefits of singing. The fact is that singing is one of the healthiest things you can do for your body. So whether you've been blessed with a network of other singing enthusiasts or whether it's going to be just you and your loofah rockin out in the shower, you should not hesitate to fill those lungs and let your voice shine through.

Many studies have been conducted in recent years exploring the health benefits of singing. The National Institute of Health and Human Services conducted a study that showed members of choral groups reporting improved lung function and breathing, improved mood and stress reduction in contrast with control groups. Patricia Preston Roberts, a board-certified music therapist, has said that singing has been correlated with lower heart rate, decreased blood pressure, and reduced stress.

"Some people who have been traumatized often want to leave the physical body, and using the voice helps ground them to their bodies," Preston-Roberts says. "Singing also seems to block a lot of the neural pathways that pain travels through."

Suzanne Hanser, chair of the music therapy department at Berklee College of Music, says that singing gives us a "broader vocabulary with which to express ourselves." By utilizing intonation, melody, and crescendo, we are able to go far beyond the limiting confines of the spoken word. This means of expression can be a great release for many.

Also, singing gets the oxygen into our lungs and flowing through our bodies. To project our voices, we need to suck in larger quantities of oxygen. To carry a tune, we need to exercise breath control. These breathing techniques in and of themselves can reduce stress. But in this case, they are just another way of getting to the stress-reducing act of singing. In addition, when we sing, we have to stand up straighter to produce a higher quality of sound, so our posture is improved. The diaphragm, which is the place from which the sound comes, can't be crushed by a hunched back if it's going to sound clear.

Singing has been proven to be particularly beneficial to elderly people and people suffering from dementia. The part of the brain that processes music is different from the part of the brain that remembers. Therefore, people suffering from Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia may be able to keep their memory for song better than for other things. At best, this slows down the deterioration of the memory. At least, it increases confidence levels and personal enjoyment.

But all of these physical benefits pale in comparison to the sheer joy experienced when you express yourself uninhibitedly through the medium of song. Just like painting a picture, song is a form of creative expression that comes straight from the heart. A Cappella is a team activity where each individual plays an important role in building something together. My group came together last weekend from all over the East Coast, and we rekindled something beautiful that we all once shared: our love of singing. I was exhilarated to hear each unique voice as it joined a greater whole, as they all blended together to form one unified song.

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