20/07/2023
Losing my voice & taking a break from teaching yoga 😶
It’s very heavy heart I have to admit to myself, my students, studios and clubs that I work with that my journey of sharing a practice of yoga is on a slightly interrupted path.
It’s been 6 days since I have completely lost my voice due to the inflammation in the vocal box (likely cause by dry cough from infection or hay fever I had while I was away in Europe). Luckily, I’ve managed to see a fabulous ENT specialist this Monday who’s managing my treatment plan and who concluded that there’s no long term damage to my vocal cords. The muscles of ‘vocal box’ (I prefer ‘music box’) are tight, tired and irritated.
The sound that comes out is very low, quiet and often triggers heavy cough, which prolongs the cycle. Whispering pattern apparently applies more pressure on those muscles so gradual recovery is key.
We’re working with speech pathologist, Madlyn, (who also acted as psychologist in the first session - dealing with tears of deep frustration) to retrain and relax the muscles, and bring out the light sounds that can last.
What a huge learning experience this has been so far. The one that Universe send me for reasons I’m staring to uncover.
Interesting learnings from the days of my silent retreat:
📲 the speed of my texting has increased x 100 time as a main source of communication
👂🏽 I was reminded of a true power of LISTENING
🤯 had a series of meltdowns followed by tears, followed by reminder to myself that it’s ok, followed by laughter
💓 Realised we are just HUMANS
😌 Had to deal with self inflated sense of shame and guilt
😂 Came to the conclusion that this can be a great game of charades and it’s fun
I’m extremely grateful to my students, the studios and clubs I work with for being truly patient while they’re continuously covering my regular classes 🙏🏽 I know what a logistical nightmare it can be.
Taking in day by day at this stage. Not particularly missing the sound of my own voice, Mad and I agreed we’ll create a new and a better one 😂💪🏽 perhaps finally add some flavour and Australian accent.
Chat to you (hopefully) soon 🔜
