Kgosi Kibwe

Yo!

What it is, what it do, what it does?!

Do you use your voice to make a living?

If you’re a singer...

Or a teacher...

Or a speaker...

Or a preacher...

Or a customer service associate...

Or ANY other professional that uses your voice frequently...

YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE YOUR VOICE!!!

I remember it like it was yesterday...

I caught laryngitis for the first and LAST time.

As a middle school/high school CHORUS teacher, no less.

Imagine your job being to teach (HEAVY voice use)...

AND sing (HEAVY voice use)...

... for 6 hours per day, 5 days per week. I had to practice PREVENTATIVE maintenance (so I don’t lose my voice daily).

(I’ll be explaining my preventative maintenance practices in this article.)

But ONE day... I overdid it.

I sang WAY more than my voice could handle that day.

PLUS, I was already slightly sick...

(and I admittedly did some things that night which weren’t good for my voice)

The next day, my voice went on strike.

I was voiceless.

My throat was so swollen that breathing was ALL I could manage to do!

So I had to do CORRECTIVE maintenance.

(I’ll be sharing a corrective maintenance remedy or two later.)

So... how do I take care of my voice?

And HOW did I beat laryngitis in mere hours?

Here’s what I learned! Hopefully it’ll help you as well.

Preventative Maintenance #1:

The BEST thing you can do to keep from ENTIRELY losing your voice, is...

STRENGTHEN it!

Your VOICE is a NOT the sound that comes out of your mouth!

Again... your voice is NOT the sound!

It’s the SYSTEM OF MUSCLES that make the sound!

It’s common knowledge that regular fitness/exercise is one of the BEST methods of preventing injuries...

Well, your since your VOICE is a muscular system...

The BEST thing you can do with those muscles, is TRAIN them like any others!

A TRAINED voice is less likely to be entirely lost than a WEAK voice.

Vocaleses also have a way of clearing up any mucus that’s built up in your throat.

So how do you “train” your voice?

Simple vocaleses (vocal exercises), every day.

You don’t have to exercise for long.

I’d actually rather you keep it short, that way you make it a habit.

You’ll gain more from 15 minutes per day than you will from 2 hours, once per week.

... but even 5 minutes every morning will make your voice more clear, more resonant, and less prone to injury.

As with any exercise, you’ll want to consult a professional/coach at the beginning so you have proper form and don’t hurt yourself when you exercise...

BUT, if you want a free option, phone a friend... literally.

(a classically trained singer friend)

Introverted or just not a people person? Use Google or Youtube.

I personally offer vocal coaching at a reasonable rate.

Preventative Maintenance #2:

Micronutrients!

Take your multi-vitamins, and LOAD UP on Vitamin C!

Your voice is organic.

Consider your whole body as a part of your voice.

That means, your whole body needs to be as healthy as possible!

If you get sick... your VOICE will show it!

So stay healthy.

Preventative Maintenance 3:

HOT Tea!

Not like gossip tea. The original kind.

3 in particular stay in my rotation. With each, I recommend adding lemon juice (or raw lemon slices) and honey:

1) Throat Coat Tea (from Traditional Medicinals)

- The one I’ve used the longest... it tastes great, and with honey? Makes your voice feel AMAZING. It’s like Epsom Salt for the throat.

2) Licorice Root Tea

- One of the reasons throat coat tea is so effective is because it contains licorice root, which is said to numb the throat.

- While straight licorice root tea is nowhere near as soothing as throat coat, it DOES make the pain go away when my throat is sore from some good vocaleses and singing.

3) Peppermint Tea

- Peppermint Tea is said to cut and prevent mucus build-up. I personally feel like my nasal passages open just from the smell.

- This is good for the folks who have allergies and a stuffy nose/clogged throat 367 days of the year.

... It’s me. I’m the folks.

Preventative Maintenance 4:

Preemptive medicine.

During cold/flu season, I take Dayquil Cold/Flu Severe on a weekly basis if I’m feeling healthy.

If... and that’s IF... I start feeling symptoms... I’ll start taking it (and Nyquil) more frequently.

The time to start taking meds is NOT when you’re already so congested your head feels like a cinder block.

DO NOT wait until you’re sick to take medicine OR micronutrients!

By then the damage is done.

You ain’t gotta GET healthy if you STAY healthy.

Welp... that’s it for now! Feel free to ASK if you have any questions, OR ADD suggestions of your own! LOVE, COMMENT, and SHARE if you got anything outta this! Next time I write will be about CORRECTIVE maintenance of a lost voice (a.k.a. how I BEAT laryngitis).

A year ago I was so shaken from stress that my body would twitch randomly... but I stayed.

I couldn’t sleep properly... but I stayed.

My health was on the decline even with a decent diet and regular exercise... but I stayed.

My hairline started fading away like Kobe in ‘06... but I stayed.

I was so tired and unalert, it almost cost me my life in an avoidable auto accident. They hit me so hard I spun out until I hit another car...

... but I STILL stayed.

I got a debilitating migraine from the stress and couldn’t see out of my right eye...

... but I STILL stayed

I finally decided I would leave when the stress started triggering my heart condition...

... and even then, I was STILL hesitant.

I consulted my parents.

I went to counselling.

Most of all... I PRAYED.

I turned in my resignation letter on my 28th birthday.

Now I’m almost 29... and honestly? I think I’m STILL recovering from all that mess...

I still somewhat hesitate on easy left turns.

I just got done with the legal implications of the crash.

I’m still working on getting a comparable paying career (that stresses me less!)

I’m still tying loose ends on my life.

... and that job replaced me like it was no big deal.

But today I realized... I don’t twitch anymore.

And my God is an awesome God.

.

I say this to say... don't let stress kill you.

Too many people love you too much for you to kill yourself over an institution that will replace you tomorrow if you died today.

For me, writing is a hate/love thing.

For me, writing is the proverbial snatching off of the band-aid.

Writing burns me like peeling a band-aid off slowly.

One at a time, hairs are violently abducted from their homes.

One by one, feelings I probably prefer to keep buried resurface.

Rotting skeletons become haunting ghosts.

Apparitions of my past who may very well have been better left dead must now be exorcised.

Fears and insecurities about my worth, my value, and my capabilities change from unknown ankle weights to aggressive adversaries.

They shout in my mind at the onset of every line.

Yet and still, with each and every line the noise dies a little.

My fears fall and my insecurities don’t seem so tall.

I remember that I am who God says I am.

The ghosts I disturbed find peace in my penmanship.

Haunted messages become handwritten masterpieces.

One by one, unresolved emotions unravel.

One bit at a time, the pain from the pulled hairs subsides.

Slowly, the burning sensation becomes relief.