Laryngeal Massage

I’ve been thinking about sharing the content in today’s How To Warm Up video for quite awhile, and I’m very excited the time has come! See, today I am teaching you how massage the muscles on the front of your throat.

Your larynx (pictured to your right – image courtesy of Blue Tree Publishing, www.bluetreepublishing.com) is your voice box: the thing made of cartilage that sits in your throat and houses the vocal folds (aka the vocal cords). It’s suspended in your throat by some small but strong muscles. When these muscles are tight, the vibration of your voice becomes dampened and it can become effortful to produce sound. But good news: You can massage these muscles!

Now if you go to a normal masseuse they’re not going to work on the front of your neck, and there’s good reason for that… the front of our neck is a vulnerable place, namely because of the carotid artery. Working on this area for another person requires very specific training, and the people who have this training are speech therapists. A speech therapist (or pathologist) can administer or teach you a more complex version of what I’m sharing today, and that’s called “circum-laryngeal massage,” (massaging around the larynx).

I am NOT a clinician, but I do have some training in speech therapy methods. So, over the years I have taught a simplified version of laryngeal massage to many clients so they can do it themselves. Over and over, I have seen the benefits of this technique for those suffering from vocal fatigue. Now it’s time to share this knowledge! So in today’s video, I’m sharing the most fool-proof aspects of this very beneficial technique. Please simply remember the most important part: You must practice this technique on YOURSELF, and stop anytime you’re experiencing discomfort.

Explanation and disclaimer aside, I can’t wait to share. So let’s dive in, shall we?

Check out the “Laryngeal Massage” (Sound) Exercise here:

Enjoy! And please comment below because I imagine you’ll have questions!

xo,