Did you know that singing regularly can have a positive effect on your life? Singing can improve your mental health, reduce your stress level, and strengthen your immune system, lung capacity and function.
Singing builds self-confidence, creates connection, and community, increases one’s self-awareness, and helps express feelings in a healthy and productive way. I am so thrilled to share with you all the joy that singing can bring to your life!
About me
I’m an independent singer-songwriter and teaching artist. Singing is a way of life for me. It’s how I take care of myself emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
Singing also happens to be how I make my living. I have been singing professionally for 15 years and am Berklee College of Music graduate, where I studied Vocal Performance.
I absolutely love teaching and have worked with music lovers ages 4 to 94. I pride myself in helping my students get to the joy of singing immediately!
The joy singing can bring
My brother loves to sing. I love to sing too, but it is different. Singing is my passion and way of life and it is also my vocation. I sing at least five days a week and generally do not utter a melody unless I have done my vocal warm-up exercises at my piano.
My brother’s idea of a perfect evening is going to the karaoke bar with friends and singing his heart out. He has not studied music or singing and it proves difficult for him to match pitch.
Of all the gifted singers of our time, my brother is my favorite. I love being around him when he sings because of the pure and utter joy it brings him and those in his sphere. Watching him be so incredibly happy makes me feel happy. It’s not about him being good at it; it’s about the fun he has doing it.
Singing regularly can have an incredibly positive effect on your life. If you love singing in the car on the way to pick up the kids from school or find yourself belting out tunes in the shower – this article is for you! Together we will explore how incorporating regular singing into your life can improve your overall health and well-being.
Here’s a list of the top 8 reasons why everyday singing is good for you:
- Singing reduces stress levels
- Singing strengthens your immune system
- Singing improves your mental health
- Singing strengthens lung capacity/function
- Singing increases self-awareness
- Singing helps express feelings in a healthy way
- Singing builds self-confidence
- Singing creates connection and community
1. Singing reduces stress levels
The primary stress hormone in the human body is also known as cortisol. This hormone is produced in the two adrenal glands that sit on top of each kidney. When the hormone is released it creates an increase in your heart rate and blood pressure.
This is the body’s natural response to stress – cortisol wants to protect us from harm and has been doing this for humans since the beginning of time.
Too much cortisol, however, can wreak havoc on our systems and is extremely dangerous as it dulls the immune system’s ability to function making us more susceptible to disease and infection.
Singing in a relaxed atmosphere will reduce the production of cortisol, thus decreasing stress and strengthening your immune system!
2. Singing strengthens your immune system
The immune system is a team of cells, organs, and proteins that work together to protect the body from infection and disease-causing microorganisms.
Our immune system is strong when we eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight, get adequate sleep, and minimize stress.
It’s hard to sing and fully enjoy it when we are tired and haven’t had enough rest. In fact, some of the best vocal practice sessions I have had, have been after a challenging workout at the gym, followed by a healthy meal.
Not only does singing reduce your stress level but the joyful activity also encourages you to incorporate healthy habits into your life so you can fully enjoy your singing routine!
3. Singing improves your mental health
Multiple studies have shown that singing releases dopamine and endorphins. Dopamine is also known as the “feel-good neurotransmitter.” A neurotransmitter is another word for chemical messenger.
Endorphins are hormones known to strengthen our ability to tolerate pain. Heightened dopamine and endorphine production helps lower feelings of anxiety and depression.
4. Singing strengthens lung capacity/function
Have you ever had this contest with a friend – who can hold their breath the longest? If you start to sing every day you will blow your friends away and win every time.
The breath generates the power of the voice, it is like the on/off switch of the instrument. To sing long phrases, one needs to take a deep inhale and slowly exhale to complete the phrase.
Much attention is placed on the pace of the exhalation as it affects the quality of the tone that singers produce. This process strengthens your lungs, and the muscles around your ribcage.
5. Singing increases self-awareness
Incorporating a regular singing routine into your life is like having a fun daily check-in of your physical, mental, and emotional health.
The breathwork involved in singing keeps you in check with your physical health. The exercise of utilizing different parts of the body at the same time and visualizing the diaphragm, larynx, vocal cords, bronchial tubes, etc., so you can use them efficiently stimulates and strengthens brain function.
Singing emotional lyrics helps you check in with your mental health and well-being.
6. Singing helps express feelings in a healthy way
There is always a song for every season, depending on your current chapter of life. Belting out “Let It Go” on a long car trip will help with heartbreak, singing “All I Want for Christmas Is You” while trimming the tree helps get in the holiday spirit, and waking up to “Lovely Day” creates a hopeful and positive tone for your morning.
Singing helps express feelings, fully experience them, and let them go. A study by the SHRM concludes that the average person has more than 400 emotional experiences every day. That’s a lot. As humans, we can experience joy, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, hostility, fear, shame, shyness, guilt, and beyond. That is so much!
Channeling these emotional experiences through song provides a healthy sense of understanding, validation, and release. Singing to express one’s feelings is a more peaceful option than taking your feelings out on someone else or practicing self-harm like taking drugs, or gambling, as a way to cope and avoid experiencing difficult emotions.
7. Singing builds self-confidence
I see this in my students year after year after year and it brings me to tears every time. The better they get at singing, the more confident they become.
Practicing singing distracts the mind from negative thinking. It is a way to practice self-care and self-love. Singing helps with focus and concentration. It can be a very meditative practice.
When one is mindful and in the present moment, this brings feelings of inner peace, which fosters the best kind of self-confidence there is!
8. Singing creates connection and community
Scientific studies have shown that singing with others is like giving/receiving a hug. The longing to belong is a profound human desire. Oxytocin contributes to the sense of feeling socially bonded with others.
This love drug or “love hormone” is secreted when people sing together. Oxytocin is often associated with warm, fuzzy feelings and some research has shown that oxytocin lowers stress and anxiety levels.
Oxytocin helps regulate emotional reactions and pro-social behaviors. Oxytocin gives humans the courage to experience trust, empathy, gazing, positive memories, and positive communication.
Oxytocin creates a warm and tranquil feeling when we sing with others. And the more we sing together, the more oxytocin we get – you might even call it addictive!
In summary
There are so many benefits to singing from building connection and community to further developing self-confidence, self-awareness, and expression.
Singing strengthens our lungs, mind, heart, and immune systems. Singing supports our mental health and reduces our overall stress level. This is just the beginning of the millions of benefits that regular relaxed singing will bring to your life.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and that it inspires you to go and sing your heart out!
Love seeing all of these wonderful benefits from singing together. I know my special needs brother’s life is enriched by his weekly Chorale group sessions with 15 other special needs adults! Let’s make more music!! 🙂