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RELEASE YOUR VOICE
The online course to help you release muscle tension and overcome vocal fatigue.
Is muscle tension blocking your voice?
If you’ve been experiencing ongoing vocal fatigue or dealing with long-term muscle tension, chances are it’s limiting your voice use. You may feel like you have to give up singing, stop attending social gatherings, or even change your career.
When we don’t trust our voice - and especially when it hurts to make sound - it deeply affects the choices that we make and our overall happiness. But the good news is, if your voice issues are related to muscle tension, there are many exercises and techniques that you may not yet know which can help you recover your vocal power.
Hi, I'm Elissa...
Iâve dealt with my own case of muscle tension dysphonia since 2007.
I'm a lifelong performer and have always been interested in the human voice. What an experience it was to lose my own voice at 21 years old due to vocal overuse and abuse! It's been a real journey to find my way back to vocal health, but throughout the process I made a career of teaching how the voice works and how to heal it.
If youâre ready to learn all the information Iâve gathered, I invite you to join me in this robust 20 week course...
Success Stories
Eight years ago I was in a really challenging place in my career. My businesses were struggling and I was extremely stressed. And I started to notice tightness in my neck and a change in the sound of my voice. My voice issues continued to get worse but I didn’t know what to do about them. I was both grateful and frustrated when a voice clinician finally diagnosed me with muscle tension dysphonia.
I started searching on youtube and found Elissa’s videos. Even the things she was recommending for free were amazing and helping me. So I bit the bullet and purchased enrollment in Release Your Voice.
One of my biggest realizations since starting class has been that even before my acute voice issues started, I was experiencing tightness in my neck. I remember having it as a kid and in high school. My nervous system really does have imprints, as Elissa says, and whenever I come across a stressful situation I have a habit of tightening my neck and holding my breath. These memories are helping me understand that my diagnosis of MTD is not just a purely physical issue. I realize that the work to heal my voice is going to be as much mental as physical.
So that’s what strikes me most about the approach in Release Your Voice... it’s giving me the tools to work on my voice physically, but also to work on my mindset. I haven’t found this approach anywhere else, and I’ve looked! All the steps are in the right place in this class, and I’m so grateful to be getting the help that I’ve really needed.
I’m a singer. And during a stressful time where I had to perform, I pushed myself. I realize now that I was afraid to show vulnerability and therefore I shut my voice down.
I went to go see multiple doctors. They told me there was acute swelling but other than that, nothing was wrong with my voice. So then I tried going to a speech pathologist, but it wasn’t enough to just have ten sessions.
I signed up for Release Your Voice because I saw that Elissa’s business name was “Voice Body Connection” and I knew the issue had to do with my body. Plus I heard Elissa talking about things that were so important to me, like speaking my truth and being in alignment. I've found the class so helpful, especially as we started working on making easy sounds and aligning our body. Before I hadn’t understood why it was so important to have good alignment. But Elissa explained how the voice will compensate if there’s not good alignment. Now I’m more mindful about being aligned and in my body… I notice it all the time and I know how to adjust.
When I do all the exercises I’ve learned, my voice is perfect for the rest of the day. I have good stamina and good volume, and I feel really integrated and powerful. Release Your Voice has helped me understand so many new things I didn’t know about my voice. This class is a resource I know I can always come back to.
Over the past few years, I noticed my voice had been feeling pretty drained. Every time I sang my voice felt tight and tired. It was definitely frustrating, but I didn’t do anything about it because I didn’t feel I needed to.
Then I got laid off of my job and the severance package paid for me to take a job search class. In that class we would write, memorize, and present three-minute positioning statements. Every time I got up to speak, I felt like I was freezing up in my throat. It was like a car engine seizing. I found myself thinking: “Wow I’m not going to be able to get through this.”
I signed up for the Release Your Voice course and dove right in. With the support of what I was learning, I started being able to say the positioning statement all the way through without hurting my voice. I was also able to control my breathing and be loud enough.
I now feel that I have all the tools to protect and project my voice easily. And the story has an awesome ending: I got a job - a really good job! - and I feel that that was in large part because I took Release Your Voice. I don’t think I would have had the confidence to really put myself forward or start singing again without the support I got from Elissa and the other students. Help like this really does make a difference.
How It Works
Think of Release Your Voice as a masters-level university course.
Over 20 weeks, you’ll develop a comprehensive understanding of your vocal instrument and an awareness of where you hold your tension. By the end, you’ll have a huge repertoire of exercises and techniques to help you reduce muscle tension and speak with more ease!
Class info:
The legacy version of Release Your Voice that weâre taking off the shelves was taught live in 2021. We're offering it now as an independent study option. When you purchase the course, youâll have access to over 36+ hours of course recordings to work through on your own time.Â
This most recent iteration of the course contains more hours of material than anything we have offered or will offer again. On December 4th, at 10pm Eastern Time, we will stop selling this previous version of the course. The new version of Release Your Voice will not be available again until later in 2024.Â
All students who purchase this independent study legacy version of the course will be invited to repeat the upcoming online version of Release Your Voice for no additional course fee.
If youâre interested in and/or have been waiting to engage with this material, we highly recommend that you purchase now. Not only will you be getting a significant discount, but youâll have access to archival footage that future students will never get to see.
For an overview, scroll down to refer to the full class curriculum. Each class session or Q&A call is 90 mins long, and they are all pre-recorded. So you'll have 36+ hours of content at your fingertips the moment you enroll.
Bonuses:
Included in the course is enrollment in the Learn Vibrant Voice Technique online course, with additional instruction on how to use vibration for your voice. This is a $199 value.
Once you enroll in this course, you will get the upcoming version of Release Your Voice FOR FREE, which will include pre-recorded content as well as all future live online sessions with Elissa.
Class Access
Our class is fully online. The recordings can be accessed in our Voice Body Connection portal. The relevant links will be sent to you upon registration.
Your access to the class recordings never expires... as long as the internet keeps going, they're there for you!
Will there be homework?
Yup! But in fairness, we like to call it âhome-play!â You will never get busy work, but you will have assignments to self-reflect, practice all the exercises covered, and share your thoughts and progress.
You can submit your home-play as a comment on the corresponding page of the course portal each week. Even though the course will soon be archival, you can submit home-play whenever you like, and Elissa or another Voice Body Connection instructor will review it. We encourage you to engage in that way - habits only change with consistent, repeated practice!
What You'll Learn
ENERGY
You’ll learn how to energize your voice to be strong and powerful. We’ll cover posture, breathing, and optimum patterns for strong vocal support. If you don't have a healthy breath support pattern, it's impossible to untangle your vocal tension issues.
MOVEMENT
You’ll identify where your muscle tension is causing the most rigidity, and learn exercises to release tension in those areas. We’ll specifically focus on the neck, chest, jaw, tongue, and larynx, and use approaches that include self-massage, movement, and Vibrant Voice Technique (vibration for your voice).
SPACE
You’ll learn how to create space through your vocal tract for a more resonant tone. We’ll play with acoustics and intoning to enhance your resonance, and you’ll learn how to articulate with increased space, freedom, and ease.
APPLICATIONS
You’ll apply all of your knowledge to real-life situations. We’ll discuss how overall health and diet tie into your vocal health. We'll chant and sing (and yes, you can do this even if you're not a singer!). And we'll explore speaking, so your voice can feel strong in a loud restaurant or while delivering a presentation.
Class Curriculum
| Week/Date | Module & Details |
|---|---|
| ⪠CLASS 1 |
INTRO > This is a big deal Today weâre going to talk about the emotional component of your voice, and why reclaiming it is important. Weâll also set the tone with meditation and anxiety-reducing techniques, and some theory about habit-changing. |
| ⪠CLASS 2 |
INTRO > Clinical considerations with Melanie Our resident Speech Language Pathologist, Melanie Tapson, will join us as our guest instructor to cover what you need to know about your vocal medically, and when itâs important to head to the doctor. |
| ⪠CLASS 3 |
INTRO > Your voice and your overall health Weâll have a comprehensive conversation about how your overall health wellness, and especially your digestive health, affects your voice. |
| ⪠CLASS 4 |
INTRO > What's your nervous system got to do with it? Heard of Polyvagal Theory? It's a relatively new theory about the nervous system that will help us understand how to unwind "fight or flight" mode in our nervous system and our voice. |
| Interactive Session: | Questions about your vocal health, with Elissa and Melanie |
| ⪠CLASS 5 |
ENERGY > What the heck is breath support? An anatomical journey from the diaphragm to the larynx, and everything in between, in order to understand optimal breath support for making sound. |
| ⪠CLASS 6 |
ENERGY > Why your posture and fitness matters with Claudia Today, our guest instructor will help us understand what âgood postureâ really means when it comes to your voice, and how to engage in an appropriate fitness routine. |
| ⪠CLASS 7 |
ENERGY > Why an effortless inhalation is key An effortful inhalation pattern is one of the primary reasons peopleâs voices remain riddled with tension. Today weâll cover how to release your muscles while you breathe to allow for an easy inhalation. |
| ⪠CLASS 8 |
ENERGY > Your belly and your voice The gut/voice connection is HUGE. Weâll focus today on when and how to release the belly, and when and how to engage your abdominal muscles. |
| Interactive Session: | Your personal breathing patterns, with Elissa |
| ⪠CLASS 9 |
MOVEMENT >Tension in the shoulders and chest On our first day of tension release and movement work, weâll focus on releasing tension in an important zone: the shoulders and the chest. |
| ⪠CLASS 10 |
MOVEMENT >Tension in the neck As we focus on the neck today, we'll specifically look at the back, sides, and front of the neck so you can discern your own personal patterns of tension. |
| ⪠CLASS 11 |
MOVEMENT > Tension in the jaw Many people deal with jaw tension. Whether you grind and clench at night or over-exert your jaw during speaking, these exercises will help you release excess jaw tension. |
| ⪠CLASS 12 |
MOVEMENT > Tension in the vocal cords Todayâs the day we visit the area around the vocal cords themselves! Youâll learn various versions of laryngeal massage that can help you release tension at the epicenter of your issue. |
⪠CLASS 13 |
MOVEMENT > Tension in the tongue Tongue tension is extremely common, and surprisingly difficult to overcome. Today weâll focus on releasing tension the body and root of the tongue. |
| Interactive Session: | Questions about your personal tension patterns, with Elissa |
| ⪠CLASS 14 |
SPACE > Resonance Day Weâll start our journey into the âSpaceâ portion of class with an experiential full-body exploration of how to change the shape of your vocal tract to change your quality of sound. |
| Interactive Session: | Measuring and listening to resonance, with David and Laurel |
| ⪠CLASS 15 |
SPACE > Articulation Weâll focus on creating more space and ease with your vowel and consonant sounds. |
| ⪠CLASS 16 |
APPLICATIONS > Speaking Day Today we start exploring the overall flow of your language and how to apply our work in class to everyday life. |
| ⪠CLASS 17 |
APPLICATIONS > Vocal health check-in with Dr. Gupta We'll welcome our resident laryngologist Dr. Reena Gupta for a session about what to do moving forward when you encounter vocal health issues. |
| ⪠CLASS 18 |
APPLICATIONS > Singing with Stephanie Our resident singing teacher and sound healer, Stephanie Rooker, will join us to explore why we are all singers and composers, and how to tap into our intuitive capacity for song. |
| ⪠CLASS 19 |
APPLICATIONS > Singing with Elissa We'll apply our new vocal health habits to varied styles of singing, to be sure sound production in every genre can be done with ease. |
| Interactive Session: | Final open session, with Elissa |
| ⪠CLASS 20 |
CONCLUSION > Wrap up day Itâs the last day of class! |
Guest Instructors
Melanie Tapson,
Resident Speech-Language Pathologist
Melanie Tapson is a professional singer, Singing Voice Specialist, and Speech-Language Pathologist based in Toronto, Canada. Her practice is specifically focused on voice assessment and therapy for professional voice users and performers. Melanie’s superpower is diving deep into clinical voice research and then translating it into fun, approachable language. She regularly gives workshops to voice users, voice teachers, and fellows SLPs around the globe.
Dr. Reena Gupta,
Resident Laryngologist
Dr. Reena Gupta is an Ear, Nose, and Throat physician, Laryngologist, and Voice surgeon. Her practice is located in Los Angeles, California where she serves an array of performers and speakers at the top of their fields. Dr. Gupta is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of voice, with a unique practice that goes beyond traditional methods to truly address the needs of professional voice users and those experiencing vocal health issues.
Stephanie Rooker,
Resident Sound Healer
Stephanie Rooker is a singing teacher and sound healer who leads those feeling they “cannot sing” to open their voices and liberate musical expression. Using simple practices and cross-cultural rituals, Stephanie helps students explore new realms of physical, emotional, intellectual, and metaphysical experience with the voice. As Elissa’s own singing teacher, Stephanie has been a sacred guide in helping Elissa access her own voice more deeply.
Dr. Claudia Friedlander,
Voice and Fitness Expert
Claudia Friedlander is a voice teacher and fitness expert. After completing her doctorate in vocal performance and pedagogy at McGill University, she opened her voice studio in New York City. After a few years of teaching, she became frustrated with the inability to methodically address mechanical dysfunctions of some of her students. So she began studies in kinesiology and is now the author of “Complete Vocal Fitness: A Singer’s Guide to Physical Training, Anatomy, and Biomechanics.” In 2008, she also joined the faculty of the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, where she developed, in collaboration with Joyce DiDonato, “The Singer’s Audition Handbook,” an interactive online career development guide for young singers that was published in 2019.
David Harris and Laurel Irene,
Voice Researchers
David Harris and Laurel Irene are the founders of VoiceScienceWorks.com, an astonishing website and resource for voice geeks around the world. Their teaching helps students understand the central aspects of scientific concepts about voice in an experiential way. Using vocological terminology where prudent, they introduce students to tactile concepts and technical tools to help measure and understand the voice. In their session, you’ll learn how the resonance of the human voice can be measured and how you can change yours.
David Ley
David Ley holds an MFA in performance from York University with a diploma in Voice Teaching. He is a Professor in the Drama Department at the University of Alberta where he teaches Voice and Speech, Dialects, and Acting. David has extensive experience in private practice teaching vocal skills to a wide array of professional voice users from schoolteachers to politicians and has taught many voice workshops both across Canada and abroad. He spent ten seasons as a Voice Coach at Canada’s Stratford Festival and continues to be a regular instructor in Stratford’s Birmingham Conservatory.
The Investment
The investment for the course is one payment of $1399, or six monthly payments of $249.
You wonât find the comprehensive information that's in here in any other vocal coaching course out there. Release Your Voice is a compilation of fifteen years of research and practice. And with over 36 hours of content, the class offers university level material at a fraction of the cost!
-PLUS-
Keep in mind that once you've enrolled in Release Your Voice, you can repeat the course over and over for FREE. Vocal tension issues are not something that magically go away and never return. You'll need this support for as long as you keep using your voice. Once you're a student in the Release Your Voice cohort, you can take part in future sessions for no additional course fee.
We offer discounts for BIPOC folks, artists, and those living in countries with an economic scale that differs greatly from the United States. Please read the FAQs below for further information, and write to us at [email protected].
Important Disclaimer:
Please keep in mind that though there are clinical guest instructors in this course, the primary curriculum is being offered by a voice coach, not a clinician. This class is not meant to replace clinical treatment, nor is Elissa qualified to diagnose or advise on medical conditions. The course is offered for educational purposes only, and to share tools and techniques that may help you release vocal tension. There is no guarantee of results.
If you are concerned about whether you should participate in this course, you must consult your doctor.
I’ve always been a singer - a soprano - but when I came into Release Your Voice class I was a couple years into some severe vocal issues.
Over the course of time, the pitch of my voice had dropped significantly and I couldn’t really hold notes without cracking. It was really frustrating… singing used to come easily to me, so it sucked to go from being able to do something super proficiently and then suddenly be at negative 100. I went to get scoped at the laryngologist, and the doctor said that though my vocal cords weren’t moving quite correctly, they looked “fine.” No one explained to me what the problem was or how to fix it. I did a bunch of weekly speech therapy but I just wasn’t getting better. And it was months before one of my speech therapists mentioned the words “muscle tension dysphonia” to me.
With that new information, I started researching and I found Elissa’s videos on youtube. I decided to join the Release Your Voice class because I felt like I’d discovered the only person out there that was even addressing this issue.
Release Your Voice has turned out to be great. There are so many exercises that have been changing things for me… in particular, it makes a huge difference to do tension release work on my neck and practice taking easier inhalations. Now I can sing with the hymns in church on Sundays about 90% of the time. And much of my range is coming back... I even sang a song around a high C/D area the other day! I am so grateful.
I went through radiation. My voice was normal but then about two years later, I started sounding like Mickey Mouse.
I went to tons of clinicians… ENT's, swallowing specialists, and speech pathologists. Their general thinking was that as soon as I started to 'plateau' during the sessions, they would say we’d done as much as we could. But I knew I could heal my voice more.
My wife found Elissa’s work and told me I needed to check out her Release Your Voice course. Reading the description really got my attention... I felt that I had finally found someone out there who understood! And sure enough the class has taught me exercises that no one, and I mean no one, ever showed me before! I have never experienced this deep type of training.
Now I no longer get winded anymore when I’m expressing myself. And I’m finally finding that I still have strength in my voice after talking over loud background sounds and noises. I can even sing to myself and not get hoarse later on! It is truly a gift. I am so, so grateful for this course.
FAQs
There can be a variety of different sensations connected to muscle tension in your throat. You may feel habitual tightness, clenching, a block, like itâs hard to swallow, or like itâs an effort and you have to push to get sound out. You may also feel tension in your jaw and cheeks, or in your shoulders and the back of your neck. If you find yourself feeling vocally fatigued at the end of the day or refraining from using your voice as much as youâd like to, chances are youâre experiencing some muscle tension issues.
If you experience a sudden change of voice - either total voice loss or onset of hoarseness - then it is imperative that you make an appointment with an otolaryngologist (ENT). Two good resources for finding a clinician near you in the United States are: the Johns Hopkins database and the UIowa voice team locator.Â
If you live outside the U.S., please search for a laryngologist in your local area.
If you have experienced a sudden change of voice - either total voice loss or onset of hoarseness - then it is imperative that you make an appointment with an otolaryngologist (ENT). A good resource for finding a clinician near you in the United States is the Johns Hopkins database or the UIowa Voice Academy.
If you live outside the U.S., please search for a laryngologist in your local area.
If you are experiencing clinical voice issues, you must see a laryngologist and/or speech therapist (SLP) before enrolling in this course.
Our students report feeling more vocal freedom and power after following the routines and exercises shared in this course. To check out some student testimonials, scroll up on this page!
Most students find that it takes some time to untangle vocal tension issues and to create new habits. This is often proportional to the length of time since the issues started. This is the reason the Release Your Voice course is long and comprehensive… to give you a really solid foundation and enough time to truly start re-programming your muscle tension issues.
The more often you practice, the sooner you’ll start to feel more freedom in your voice. It's recommended that you spend ten to twenty minutes a day doing exercises when you’re first starting. As your body and your voice start to re-pattern their habits, you can practice less often. But more repetition at the beginning is always best for re-programming a habit.
That’s a great question! It’s hard for me to say exactly, because I was thinking about it all the time, and studying and practicing non-stop. But it wasn’t until I encountered the information I’m sharing in this course (which was five years after my voice loss episode) that I started to improve more rapidly. I remember a day seven years after I lost my voice when I suddenly thought to myself: “Wow! I have more vocal stamina now than I did before I lost my voice!” That was in the middle of graduate school and I was performing in a play again for the first time đ. And even to this day, my vocal health continues to improve. Everyone’s story is different and there’s no prescription for how long it will take. But I can say from my own personal experience that finding vocal freedom again is totally possible.
Yes and no! There are "home-play" assignments, and you have the option to submit them in our course portal. The assignments are encouraged but not required.
Even though the course will soon be archival, you can submit home-play whenever you like, and Elissa or another Voice Body Connection Instructor will review it. We encourage you to engage in that way - habits only change with consistent, repeated practice!
You are the primary evaluator of your own progress. There are no grades in this class and at the end of the day, your learning belongs to YOU â¤ď¸.
Upon successful completion of the course and all “home-play” assignments, participants will receive a certificate of completion (it’s a PDF that looks like a diploma and you’re welcome to hang it on your wall and be super proud of it! đ¤Š). However this course is not a certification program. We do understand that certifications can be important for people, especially in certain professions. If you are interested in a certification, please inquire about the Voice Body Connection Instructor Training program.
Yes.
If you are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color) please use the coupon code BIPOC to receive 30% off your tuition.Â
If you are an artist and need financial support to make this program accessible, we offer a 25% discount for creatives. To qualify, please email [email protected] with the following information: Your name, where you reside, and a short (1-2 paragraph) statement about your creative practice and how you believe that this course will benefit you and your artistic development.
If you live in a so-called developing country and would like to join the course, we offer economic scale discounts that bring tuition to 4 payments of $29/month. To qualify, please email [email protected] with the following information: Your name, the country in which you reside, and a short (1-2 paragraph) statement about why you'd like to take this course and how you believe it will benefit you.
Nope! If you already own Release Your Voice, you have access to it for the rest of time (or anyway, as long as we can promise time and the internet will last!), as well as to future online versions of Release Your Voice.
However, if you own a different Voice Body Connection course that is not Release Your Voice, then we recommend purchasing it now!
Independent Study means you'll be working through the course recordings (live-taught and recorded on Zoom in 2021) on your own. You can submit home-play in the course portal, as you go along, This home-play will be reviewed by Elissa or another Voice Body Connection Instructor.
There will be a shorter version of Release Your Voice (called the Healthy Speaking and Tension Release Intensive) happening in early 2024. When you purchase this course now, you will be invited to take that Intensive for no additional cost.
We are also working on a future long-term version of Release Your Voice, and when that is available you will have access to that as well. Again, for no additional cost.
The legacy version of Release Your Voice that weâre taking off the shelves was taught live in 2021. We're offering it now as an independent study option. When you purchase the course, youâll have access to over 36+ hours of course recordings to work through on your own time.
This most recent iteration of the course contains more hours of material than anything we have offered or will offer again. On December 4th, at 10pm Eastern Time, we will stop selling this previous version of the course. The new version of Release Your Voice will not be available again until later in 2024.
All students who purchase this independent study legacy version of the course will be invited to repeat the upcoming online version of Release Your Voice for no additional course fee.
If youâre interested in and/or have been waiting to engage with this material, we highly recommend that you purchase now. Not only will you be getting a significant discount, but youâll have access to archival footage that future students will never get to see.
For an overview, scroll down to refer to the full class curriculum. Each class session or Q&A call is 90 mins long, and they are all pre-recorded. So you'll have 36+ hours of content at your fingertips the moment you enroll.