I just found this new YouTube channel and Kimberly just shared one of the videos I found yesterday. It’s so interesting how I was just talking about this Saturday in the first class and all of a sudden this video channel comes into my feed and explains in physics why we should sing and hum!

✨Biggest Takeaways / Insights: This week has truly been an interesting and expansive experience for me — I don’t think I’ve ever had so many different and unexpected sounds come out of my mouth before! I continued integrating last week’s practices with this week’s focus, especially humming, vocal toning, and the physical warm-ups, including facial, neck, and throat massage. Through this combination, I began to notice my voice opening up more. While toning, there was a slight scratchiness — almost like listening to an old record — but I trust that with continued use, my voice will smooth out over time. 🌿One of my biggest realizations this week is simple but powerful: You have to use your voice. If you don’t use it, you begin to lose access to it. I’ve always identified more as a listener than someone who expresses vocally, and I can see now how that has limited my range and comfort. This practice is gently shifting that for me. 🌿What I Noticed in My Body / Experience: This week really reinforced how much the voice is connected to the entire body. I especially noticed this during the “bubble” practice — I finally figured out how to do it! It required engaging my abdominal muscles, which made me realize how essential proper body engagement is for breath, sound, and vocal expression. I also experienced how releasing tension — particularly in the jaw, neck, and facial muscles — created more space and ease in my voice. The self-massage and stretching exercises made a noticeable difference in how freely sound could move. 💛Practices I Enjoyed Most: I really enjoyed the heart-centered toning practice, especially the hugging component. It felt deeply nurturing — one of those experiences you don’t want to end. I also explored toning with the vowel sounds (AH, OH, OO, EH, EE), but instead of isolating them, I intuitively blended them together into one continuous tone within a single breath. The sound became more monotone, but I found it incredibly meditative and grounding.