The power of positive practice triggers

In this post I want to introduce you to the concept of positive practice triggers. This is really important because a lot of times when we start practicing, the sound of the voice or any engagement with the voice at all can be connected to dysphoria, judgment, fear, and other negative things. When this is the case, your brain actually creates a connection between your voice practice and these negative feelings. This can really impede your practice because obviously you're not going to want to practice if it's connected to negative emotions!

Something that can help you overcome this is to create positive practice triggers. This is something I actually learned from one of my students: she decided to practice her voice every time she did her makeup in the morning. For her, applying makeup was something that gave her deep gender euphoria; it was something she loved to do. By combining these two activities, every time she sat down to do her makeup, she was also connecting this euphoria to her voice practice. In her case, applying makeup became the positive practice trigger for working on her voice, and she found this discovery really helpful to developing a consistent practice.

This can be a really powerful way to think positively about your voice practice. Think about what you could connect your voice practice to that would give you gender euphoria. Let that thing be your positive practice trigger!