Whether solo, in the shower or together in a choir: Singing lifts the mood and can even have a healing effect

Silent Night Holy Night. Christmas is one of the few occasions today when we still sing. Whether before giving presents under the Christmas tree or when visiting church – with Christmas carols young and old express the festive mood and the joyful feelings that they feel on these days.

For people of earlier generations, the sounds made with their own body came much more frequently and accordingly more easily over the lips. When there was no radio or television, singing was a welcome pastime. Many always had a song on their lips everywhere: when doing fieldwork, housework, hiking or when putting the children to bed.

The more people sing, the better

You don’t need any special musical talent to play a lively song – at most, you need a little courage to confidently raise your voice. The ability is in each of us and, in the opinion of experts, should also be actively used: and as early as possible. Gunter Kreutz, professor of systematic musicology, appeals to parents and grandparents to sing a song with their children and grandchildren as often as possible.

Singing together not only strengthens family ties. Evening lullabies rituals would calm the little ones down and help them get a good night’s sleep. Singing also supports language development and voice training. Kreutz is certain: “The more people sing in kindergartens and schools, the better.”

But singing not only strengthens the sense of community and promotes learning processes. “The body and mind also benefit,” says music therapist Christoph Salje. The tone regulates breathing and trains both the vocal cords and the diaphragm. Singing for 20 minutes also affects the release of the feel-good hormone oxytocin and the stress hormone cortisol, as a study by the University of Regensburg shows.

Singing as a stress killer

Thus it has been scientifically proven what many have already experienced personally: Singing is a stress killer – especially when you do it in a community. The researchers suspect that the experience in the choir creates stabilizing feelings of connectedness and security.

Singing has a long tradition in many cultures and makes it possible to express oneself without words. Music therapist Salje: “You can hum or string together tones, and the other person gets a very good impression of whether you are sad or want to hug the world.”

Communicating with one’s environment vocally can have a cleansing and relieving effect. That is why making music with one’s own voice is also used medicinally. In the case of trauma, for example, patients singing together is a component of successful treatment in some clinics. “Singing alone cannot cure the patient. But it can change them and make them need less medication,” says Kreutz.

Solo is hip

Do you feel like singing a little melody right away? Singing is trendy. This is illustrated not least by the large number of participants in popular casting shows as well as the number of viewers for the corresponding television programs. According to therapist Salje, singing as a soloist is currently enjoying enormous popularity: “Individualization is a phenomenon in our society. It is also clearly reflected in singing.”
If you want to hone your singing and breathing techniques, you will receive valuable tips in a few hours of one-to-one lessons.

Not enough sing in the choir

Singing in a choir is not as popular in Australia where only about one thousand members belong to a choir association, as compared to Germany where more than two million amateurs belong to choir associations.

We welcome customers singing on our colonic table – if that is what you want to do 🙂
Not that colonics will help with your vocal cords, but cleaning the colon will certainly put you in a good mood and might just make you hum a happy tune.