Inhale-Exhale
Voice Coach & Singing Teacher
Helping you find your strongest voice
– Speech and Music –
Nerves, poor health, stress, fatigue, and poor vocal technique are just some of the many reasons our voices may not be what we want them to be, either all of the time or some of the time.
Through exercises using anatomy and imagery, I will teach you a set of skills to improve your public speaking, find your healthy voice for day-to-day life, or a singing voice that is unique to you.
I will show you how to work with your breath and body so you can:
- Speak with confidence, comfort, and presence
- Lessen or eradicate nerves when speaking or singing
- Ease or eradicate strain
- Challenge the feeling that your voice shouldn't "take up space" in the world
- Speak without a tremor
- Improve projection/volume
- Remove the airy sound from the voice
- Have enough air to finish the sentence
- Speak for longer periods without fatigue
- Eradicate vocal fry
- Speak with a more full and natural timbre
- Find your natural singing voice
Lessons are available online and in person.
Play Sample
Breathe: Centre Your Mind & Body
This audio is for you if:
- You want to soothe your mind and body.
- You’re curious about the introductory steps in voice coaching.
- You want to be guided through the body awareness and floor work activities from coaching sessions.
Includes downloadable MP3 file + cover art
Testimonials
I had the opportunity to present an oral statement at the 35th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Right before giving my statement I realized, looking out over the concentric circles of seats, that I was actually at the UN and I was actually doing this and I suddenly felt overwhelmed with nervousness and my voice started to tremble. I recalled the breath management techniques that Amy teaches and stopped and focused on breathing slowly and deeply into my belly through my nose, to calm myself and calm my voice. I focused on only reading the first words of my statement: “Mr. President.” The technique worked! My voice was clear and strong and calm for my whole statement! Thank you Amy for this amazing gift! It supported me through a critical moment in my career!
Renée M.
Lawyer
Before I started singing lessons with Amy two years ago, I would mouth the words to “Happy Birthday” for fear of singing out of tune. Amy has provided me with a very safe, positive environment to learn how to sing. She is always patient and encouraging, with an arsenal of techniques to help me through any challenges. I have enjoyed our journey together and am more than happy to now, quite literally, sing her praises. She is a natural teacher and gifted singer. I highly recommend her!
Valerie W.
Retired, but never too old to learn…..
I worked with other voice experts before Amy hoping to improve my clarity and projection. She was the only person who had a systemized approach that worked!
Phillip L.
Contractor
Working with Amy was and is one of the best decisions I’ve made for myself both on a personal level as well as a professional level. Not only did I learn the mechanics of posture and breath to strengthen my voice, I also gained confidence and had many aha moments through connecting with the power of finding and using my voice. Amy is warm and funny and SO talented. She makes finding your voice (which sometimes can feel awkward) fun and rewarding and the container she creates always feels safe. If you have a desire to find your true voice, Amy is the one. Thank you, Amy!
Margo F.
Life Coach
I’m feeling happy and complete about my vocal training. I really loved working with Amy – she brings such effervescence, play, compassion, and wisdom to the space, and that created a real impact on my learning.
Colin S.
Life Coach
Amy helped me build the foundation that I needed in order to get the results I wanted with my voice. Before meeting her, I thought voice work was centred around one thing only. It hadn’t occurred to me that, before I could improve my voice, I would need to move past several behaviours that held me back, and welcome better practices into my daily life.
Because posture and breath played such a large role in the learning process, I’ve found that improving those things has cut down on the number of headaches I have, and enhanced my over-all well being and self confidence. The lessons would have been worth it for those improvements alone! But, of course, the development of my voice was the most significant gain.
As for the lessons themselves, if I didn’t understand a concept or had trouble relating to the terminology in a lesson, Amy quickly changed the examples or the wording she used until everything fell into place for me. She modified the exercises we worked on to play to my strengths so I could gain confidence quickly and then pick up the more challenging concepts with greater ease. She kept my needs in mind when it came to structuring the lessons and explained exactly how the exercises we worked on would help me realize my goals. Doing so helped me maintain the focus I needed to carry those lessons into my day-to-day life which, in turn, helped me see steady vocal improvements between lessons.
From what I’m saying, it may seem that there’s a lot of work involved to develop a better connection to your voice, and there is, but Amy’s humour and positive attitude made it fun – the lesson time would fly by. Even though I ended up with so much more knowledge and homework activities to consider, I always left those lessons feeling lighter and happier than when I arrived, and more confident. And, at the heart of my quest to improve my voice, ‘confidence’ was what I was reaching for and what I achieved.
As a side note, I had gotten used to avoiding social gatherings in large part because of how wispy and indistinct my voice used to be. I went to a party yesterday and, for the first time ever, no one asked me to repeat what I had said so that they could understand me. An entire evening of good conversations! I was smiling so much by the time I left.
Thank you Amy!
Treena W.
B.C. Government Employee
I recently took part in a short introductory workshop with Amy, and walked away armed with a few great tips on body awareness and some insight into the science and art of breathing. I’ve had difficulty with my voice for some time, but even after this short class, I feel I have a better understanding of how I can work towards having a stronger voice. Amy possesses a wealth of knowledge on the subject, and is a delightful teacher.
Donna K.
Senior Legislative Coordinator
Inhale-Exhale
Breathing through Song for People with Long-Haul Covid
Inhale-Exhale is an online course designed for people with Long-Haul Covid who are living with breathlessness and/or anxiety as a result of COVID-19.
The course teaches healthy breathing through breath and body awareness exercises, improved posture, and singing. Participants (re)discover their breath, find improved well-being, and connect with other people living with Long-Haul Covid.
Why does singing help? Life events, such as illness, can leave the body’s autonomic nervous system in a state of partial and continual “fight-or-flight” mode. The deep, slow, and relaxed breaths learned through breathing exercises, and reinforced through singing, help rebalance the body into the opposite state of “rest-and-digest” for improved healing. Further, breathing muscles are like any other: if you exercise them, in this case through singing, they become stronger.
Read more in the Globe and Mail article.
Read the trial report here.
Early indicators are promising:
- Most participants found the course helped with their breathing
- Participants’ anxiety scores improved, in two cases significantly
- Participants generally had improved scores across the wellness measures
- All participants rated their experience of the course as either very good or good
Testimonials
“More holistic than I was expecting. It was helpful in calming my nerves and breathing more naturally. Helped me get out of my head and into my body. I can breathe through things that come up in my day that would have previously set me back.”
“I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and would highly recommend. I struggle with anxiety and the breathing exercises and body awareness have had a very calming effect on my state of well being. I find myself using the exercise for breathing and body posture spontaneously and if I wake during the night I can easily return to sleep with amy’s voice in the back of my head walking through the breathing exercises.”
“I feel like I’ve been able to re-establish a relationship with my breath. Breathing is still a challenge but it’s getting easier!”
“I very much enjoyed this course and our weekly meetings. The course has improved my mindfulness around breathing and body positioning.”
“It was really great to learn from Amy and also to connect with fellow long covid survivors.”
Course Curriculum by Week (One hour per week, for eight weeks)
- Week 1: Learn the mechanics and anatomy of breathing & improve body awareness
- Week 2: Improve your posture for optimum air flow through the body and for comfort
- Week 3: Find a soothing low breath & enjoy some singing warmups
- Week 4: Find a soothing low breath (more deeply) & enjoy some singing warmups
- Week 5: Begin to release tension in the mouth and throat & enjoy some singing warmups
- Week 6: Sing a lullaby with all of the above skills
- Week 7: Sing a lullaby with all of the above skills
- Week 8: Sing a lullaby with all of the above skills
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be a singer? No! Participants do not need to be singers or have any interest in music.
Which language is the course taught in? English
Is there a cost? The fee is pay-what-you-can from $100-$600. ($100 doesn’t cover expenses; $600 covers your expenses and helps someone else.)
How do I know if this is a good fit for me and my health? There is a simple, two-part screening process to make sure the course suits your needs.
How long is the course? 1 hour per week for 8 weeks.
Where is the course available? In Canada to anyone online.
Recordings for Participants
Now the Day is Over by Sabine Baring-Gould
Night is drawing near,
Shadows of the evening,
Steal across the sky
Note: the hissing sound at the beginning of the recording is intentional and part of the preparation to sing!
Welsh Lullaby, Traditional
Sleep my baby, on my bosom,
Warm and cosy will it prove;
Round you mother’s arms are folding,
In her heart a mother’s love.
There shall no one come to harm you,
Nothing shall ever break your rest;
Sleep my darling babe in quiet,
Sleep on mother’s gentle breast.
Note: the hissing sound at the beginning of the recording is intentional and part of the preparation to sing!
Dors, dors, le petit bébé, Traditional Acadian
Dors, dors, le petit bébé. C’est le beau petit bébé à maman.
Dors, dors, dors, dors,
dors, dors, le bébé à maman.
Demain s’y fait beau j’irons au grandpére;
Dors, dors, dors le petit bébé.
Dors, dors, dors, dors,
dors, dors, le bébé à maman.
Note: the hissing sound at the beginning of the recording is intentional and part of the preparation to sing!
Der Mond ist Aufgegangen, M. Claudius & J.A.P. Schulz
Der Mond ist aufgegangen,
die goldnen Sternlein prangen
am Himmel hell und klar;
der Wald steht schwarz und schweiget,
und aus den Wiesen steiget
der weisse Nebel wunderbar.
Note: the hissing sound at the beginning of the recording is intentional and part of the preparation to sing!
E L'Uccellino, Puccini
E l’uccellino canta sulla fronda: Dormi tranquillo, boccuccia d’amore; Piegala giù quella testina bionda, Della tua mamma posala sul cuore.
E l’uccellino canta su quel ramo, Tante cosine belle imparerai, Ma se vorrai conoscer quant’io t’amo, Nessuno al mondo potrà dirlo mai!
E l’uccellino canta al ciel sereno; Dormi tesoro mio qui sul mio seno.
Soprano, Amy Steggles
Piano, Neil Reimer
(The course is inspired by the successful ENO Breathe program in the United Kingdom.)