The TEDx Experience
It’s a great feeling to pick up your name badge with an iconic logo on it . . . TEDx Yangon 2020, Joanne Lauterjung, Workshop Presenter.
I watched my first TED Talk in 2006, the first year they were posted online and available to anyone, anywhere. I was immediately hooked, The 12-minute format allowed me to quickly digest deep thinking from prominent thought leaders on a wide range of topics from community gardens to global economics. Since moving to Myanmar in 2011, I continually check for talks with Burmese subtitles to use in my trainings. When TEDx Yangon was born in 2016, I was excited for Myanmar to host an event that is intellectually challenging and offers a platform for new ideas (from both within and without the country) to be shared and discussed. I volunteered in 2018, and now in 2020 had the great pleasure of presenting a workshop called The Power of Voice: Vocal Freedom Techniques.
The Power of Voice weaves together components of mindfulness and meditation with music, humming and singing in particular. Research shows that humming stimulates our brain to produce oxytocin, the “feel good” hormone. Anyone who sings in a choir will tell you they leave rehearsals feeling better than when they arrived, and singing in community has the added benefit of social bonding. This workshop gave participants an opportunity to learn internal practices (grounding, breath, mindfulness), as well as skills that singers learn for more mastery of communication (pitch, tempo, dynamics).
The experience was great. The atmosphere at TEDx is supportive, collegial, inquisitive - all the qualities that make their talks so engaging. A small army of volunteers keep everything running, and there’s a first-rate production team to make it all look great and flow smoothly. Assisted by my husband, Matt Kelly, and Htu San, our workshops were attended by nearly 80 people total, and the feedback was affirming: this work is needed and appreciated. Here’s what one participant had to say:
“The workshop was super helpful. I can still feel the moment that we spend together . . . I can't even describe with words. Thank you again.”
This past year was a journey of voice, of finding my own way to vocal freedom and ease, and this workshop was the culmination of exploring vocal improvisation, singing for mindfulness and meditation, and embracing my voice, and musicality, as it is, and as an offering to create a more harmonic, peaceful world.
May you find, and make, your own harmony in this world.