March 15, 2022
So many mixed messages throughout my voice journey, working with different vocal coaches.
Coach A: Breathe this way.
Coach B: No, breathe this way.
Coach C: No, don’t do that, it’ll ruin your voice.
Coach D: Your last coach told you to do what? Clearly he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
The world of classical voice felt like the wild wild west. There were, and are, lots of amazing coaches, but sifting through so many different styles and approaches to find something that resonated with me was an exercise in frustration and largely, futility. It was that chaos of “traditional” vocal coaching that pushed me toward cultivating my own relationship with the mechanics – and metaphysics – of the voice.
I learned to listen to my body. I learned to listen to time. I learned to listen to emotion. I learned to trust my creative impulses. I learned to better understand the unseen world and how it manifests in tangible form. I learned to listen to my ancestors as they vibrated through the cadences and frequencies of my voice.
I immersed myself in improvisation, multiphonic and microtonal singing, mantra, monologues, mindfulness, sound meditation, dissonance, silence, listening, neuroscience, spiritual principles, voice as a manifestation portal.
None of these topics were covered in my music conservatory program. The biggest lessons I’ve learned are from outside of school. The voice does not live only in the throat, lungs, and diaphragm. Listening does not only occur through the ears. They encompass the totality of one’s being.
As such, the terms “vocalist” or “vocal coach” could never quite convey what I actually do. “Music therapist” didn’t quite fit either.
So what do I do? I help energetically stuck people tap into their primal power through invocation practices, so that you can shift from this:
- Difficulty communicating needs clearly
- Lack of confidence singing / speaking in front of others
- Voice shuts down when you feel nervous, attacked, or embarrassed
- Have a hard time saying no and want to stop people-pleasing
- Fear of hurting people with your raw, unabashed truth
….to THIS:
- Speak your truth, confidently
- Fall in love with the unique beauty of what your voice can do
- Open your heart and reclaim your ability to feel, in the areas where you’ve felt numb
- Awaken your vitality, feel more clear and powerful
- Be deeply at home in yourself
- Make room for more magic and delight in your life
- Expand your capacity to live joyfully and authentically.
I define invocation as any vocal expression that calls in the fulfillment of your deepest desires: prayer, song, chant, mantra, poetry, storytelling, affirmation.
If you are at a place in your life where you’re compelled to go deeper in your own journey of evolving your practice of self-expression, register to work with me one-on-one by using the link below.
Listen to my most recent audio on Insight Timer: In Your Own Words: Root Chakra Guided Meditation. You can also download it from my website. It’s full of prompts to heighten your emotional awareness and give your root chakra an energetic boost.
In Your Own Words: Root Chakra Guided Meditation on Insight Timer
Onome facilitates transformative experiences at the intersection of voice, creativity, and mindfulness / manifestation / magic / mysticism. She designs and leads experiential workshops and 1:1 sessions that clear energetic blockages to self-expression, empower her clients to reclaim and confidently wield the power of their imagination, and foster creative fellowship through mindfulness practices, relational games, and vocal play. Through her audience-interactive performances, workshops and sound installations, Onome embodies joy, enchantment, and possibility. She is a partner artist at Carnegie Hall as a core member of the vocal improvisation ensemble, Moving Star. She leads community vocal immersions at concert halls, conferences, galleries, museums, schools, cultural centers, shelters, prisons, parks, churches, online, wherever voices gather.