This week, I'm talking about hurdles that come up when we're trying to start a trans voice practice. I said in my last blog post that some people resist starting a trans voice practice because they're averse to silliness. It's too silly of a practice and it makes them feel shame or embarrassment. But today, I want to talk a little bit about the internal judgement that comes up when we first start a trans voice practice.

This is something I hear all the time. People start practicing and right away their practice is connected to these feelings of self-worth. Like, "I'm not good enough, my voice isn't feminine enough or masculine enough or neutral enough" or whatever. There's this feeling of not being enough. What I usually advise to students in this position is to just start with judgment-free warming up.

These are exercises that have nothing to do with altering the perceived gender of your voice. They're just meant to give you a sense of control over your voice and give your voice a little more freedom and flexibility. So this can help to separate the judgment from the practice. You're not trying to be anything.

All you're doing is showing up, doing a little stretch, a little yawn, a few glisses, and that's it. And if you can manage to do that every day or, you know, a couple of times a week, this can help to tell your brain. "I am a voice practitioner. I work on my voice. It's safe to practice voice.”

And then when you transition into more trans voice alteration exercises, it's not quite so jarring for your brain because you're already used to being a voice practitioner. I hope this helps.