Painting by Jana Philipp

I’ve been experimenting with primal sounds a lot these past couple of weeks. There seems to be quite a need for it these days; my students are exhibiting a lot of stress and frustration, we’re missing the intensity of human connection and we’re feeling cooped up as winter continues its iron grip on us in typical Canadian fashion. There’s a need for all of us to groan, moan, sigh, rail and rant. We’ve discovered that as we do this, it connects us to a deeper part of ourselves that really wants to be heard. It engages our body in a way that feels authentic and real. It releases pent up energy and longing, and gives us a way to voice our feelings without words or intellectualization. This feels necessary and right.

I’ve found for myself, even on my daily walks, that there’s an intense need to connect with some deeper sentiment, something powerful and primordial. So I grunt, I sigh, I make animal sounds. It feels good. It’s raw, and open and free. When we have done this together, even with our mics off in our Group Technique class, it feels like we are able to commune with one another in an essentially human way. And after we do, we all seem to sing with more of ourselves. It’s like it’s brought us back to the source.