This past Saturday, we gathered on Zoom for our first Singing As Medicine training. Rather than beginning with songs or melodies, we began with something much simpler—and, in many ways, much more profound: a single sustained tone.

For many people, voice training means learning scales, improving technique, or developing confidence in singing. In the Yoga of Sound tradition, however, the voice is also a doorway into awareness. Before we concern ourselves with expression, we learn to listen. Before we seek beauty, we seek presence.

This is why the practice begins with one note.

Returning to the Foundations

One of the interesting discoveries I've made over more than three decades of teaching is that even advanced students often benefit from returning to the fundamentals. As we learn more sophisticated methods, it becomes easy to lose touch with the simple practices that quietly support everything else.

Working with a single tone develops much more than vocal ability. It invites us to ...