Singing for Mental Health: How Singing Helps Release Stress With Mary Denn, Singing for Health and Well-being Practitioner

 Did you know that singing can help you release stress? Yes, reducing stress is one of the many benefits that singing brings! This week on our blog, we are joined by Mary Denn, Singing for Health and Well-being Practitioner and Founder of Tune In, who talks about the impact of singing and shares how we can use it to reduce stress. 

Hello Mary and thank you for joining me today. When I first became acquainted with your work and the therapeutic benefits of singing, I was quite fascinated as, frankly speaking, I had never looked at singing as a tool to help deal with mental health challenges. Can you please tell us more about yourself and what you do as a Singing for Health & Well-being Practitioner?

Hi Kristina, and thank you for your interest in my work! Yes, singing is of amazing benefit to anyone and everyone. There are so many studies now with growing evidence that singing promotes good health and wellbeing. Singing can ease anxiety, depression and loneliness, improve breathing and posture, release muscle tension, help to express emotions and process trauma, relieve chronic pain, bring a sense of calm and connection, provide a welcome relief from the stresses of daily life and even boost immunity levels! Amongst so many other wonderful benefits! My sessions provide a warm, safe space where every voice is welcome - combining mindfulness practice, relaxation, gentle movement, breathing exercises and singing songs - to leave you feeling connected, uplifted and nourished. We are all born singers and I truly believe it is our birthright to sing. I can help you on a journey to overcoming any limiting beliefs you might have about your natural voice, as Kristin Linklater declares: “to free the voice is to free the person.” Singing allows us to come home to ourselves, to be truly present. You don’t need any singing experience to benefit - sessions focus on tuning in to our breath, our bodies, our voices, each other, the music and the present moment. I love to explore and sing a range of styles - from folk to classic pop, original compositions and heart-opening harmony songs.

What led you to embark on this path?

I have always been passionate about the arts, music and people. I particularly love how the arts can bring such wonderful benefits to people’s health and wellbeing - the reason I created Tune In. Sessions are all about finding connections (without judgement) to your breath, body and voice. My training began at East 15 Acting School where I studied for a degree in World Performance. This immersed me in an expressive learning environment involving music, dance and global theatre forms. Much of what has inspired me is woven into my sessions, helping to bring the voice back into the body where it belongs and inviting you to meet yourself with playfulness, warmth and curiosity. I went on to study Music at London Music School where I enjoyed working on my singing and songwriting, but at the time I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go with it. When the pandemic hit and I moved out of London, I was given an unexpected opportunity to reflect on how I wanted to use my voice to help others. I realised that’s what it has always been about for me - forming beautiful connections through music. During this time, I trained as a Singing for Health and Wellbeing Practitioner with The Voice College and began volunteering with a local Singing for Breathing group (for people with respiratory conditions) who have been meeting online. I have since completed the Singing for Lung Health Leader training, and set up my own Tune In - Singing for Health & Wellbeing practice.

Songs are a powerful therapy and singing is a lifeline - especially during the pandemic when people have felt isolated, lonely and feelings of wellbeing have been at an all-time low. Virtual choirs were created, people sang from their balconies in Italy… communities found ways to come together through the power of song. As Gareth Malone says, “we all need music in our lives, there is never a wrong time to sing.” 

What specific medical conditions can singing support?

We have known for a long time that, amongst other things, people sing because they get a sense of enjoyment and it helps them feel better. However, singing provides far more than just a bit of fun! Singing has been proven to provide all sorts of health benefits such as improved breathing, development of core muscles, exercising the brain in terms of memory and concentration and improved cardiovascular health and circulation, as singing is an aerobic activity meaning it gets more oxygen into the blood. Singing is of amazing benefit to anyone, and particularly those with a wide range of health conditions. These include Chronic Lung Diseases (such as Asthma, COPD, IPF and Bronchiectasis), Dementia, Cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, Depression and Anxiety. Singing helps promote deep, diaphragmatic breathing through sung phrases which can ease symptoms of breathlessness, strengthen the intercostal muscles, activate the parasympathetic nervous system and help people manage their different symptoms. We have seen studies about how singing can benefit those with Long Covid, but this is still an emerging picture. The most common symptoms seem to be fatigue and breathlessness, and when working with people suffering from Long Covid I tend to tread gently. As a singing specialist, I don’t have medical treatments but I do have management strategies - and can help you find things that work for you, encouraging you to take each day as a new day. Singing can also reduce heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels whilst boosting the immune system (in 2002, Dr Kreutze at Frankfurt University’s Music Department sampled singer’s saliva before and after singing, proving that the secretion of anti-bodies within our bodies is increased when we sing, thus boosting our immunity! However, this didn’t happen when singers listened to the same music, proving that we need to actively take part in singing to acquire the physical benefits).

Can you share a singing exercise that our readers can do at home to reduce stress?

A simple, fun exercise to do is stretching the arms up overhead and enjoying a relaxing yawn as you release the arms back down! Imagine you are a graceful cat stretching and yawning. Do a few of these and really let go - don’t be afraid to make the yawns nice and big! This is so freeing, as well as relaxing your voice, improving range and opening up the chest / releasing tension. Gentle humming (on a major scale or choose a simple melody such as ‘Moon River’) and sirens (taking an ‘ooo’ sound from the lowest note in your range to the highest, then back down) are also a great way to give the vocal folds a nice massage.

On your social media platform, you often speak about using singing as a tool to boost our mood and release endorphins. How long should one sing to feel noticeable benefits?

Definitely! These are the body’s ‘feel-good’ chemicals and are associated with happiness and enjoyment. Endorphins are also released when we laugh or eat chocolate! Who doesn’t love the feeling of joy?! Additionally, when we sing we take deeper breaths which increases the blood flow around the body and enhances the effect of the endorphins. Try loud, joyous, hearty singing for at least 5 - 10 minutes a day! Dance and sing to your favourite song in the morning when you wake up, or in the shower. The endorphins released through singing give you an immediate sense of pleasure. So many people are told at a young age that they ‘can’t’ sing, even if they love it, and people are often embarrassed about their own voice for many years and lose their connection to it. But it doesn’t matter how you sound, all that matters is allowing yourself to discover (or re-discover) that beautiful connection to your unique voice. Whether you’re a shower singer, professional diva, or take part in a singing group - embrace your natural voice! Singing can give you an immediate, natural ‘high’, but you should carve out time to sing regularly to really feel lasting benefits to your health. So go on - feel nourished and uplifted, release stress, boost your immune system and don’t worry about how it sounds - just sing!

You host weekly group singing sessions over zoom, where can we learn more about this?

At the moment we meet online on a Tuesday morning 10 - 11am (GMT).

You can visit my website to find out more: https://tuneinwithmary.wixsite.com/home or simply email me at [email protected]!

I also offer tailored 1-2-1 sessions online, and look out for some FREE online evening sessions, coming in January! Stay tuned by following my Instagram and Facebook pages: @tuneinwithmary.

Thank you for all the great tips, Mary!