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Using Your Voice Effectively: Communication Through a Polyvagal Lens
783 Plays1 day ago
In this episode of Wired for Connection, we chat with Mattie Shisko on the link between the nervous system and your ability to communicate in an authentic way. Mattie is an internationally recognized voice, performance and public speaking coach with over 30 years of experience.
She teaches groups and individuals in the fields of politics, education, healthcare, creativity and business - The Art of Speaking Publicly - and facilitates regular workshops in using the Voice as a Resource and Regulating Tool for Well Being.
At the heart of her work is Dr Stephen Porges’s Polyvagal Theory. Combining science, art, mindfulness and play, she helps her clients embody their voices with heart, humour, compassion and integrity.
Mattie is a Course Partner with the Polyvagal Institute, and offers her own course called "Aligning Our Voice with Our Intentions: A Polyvagal Course for Communication." The course runs several times a year, and you can learn more here.
CONNECT WITH POLYVAGAL INSTITUTE:
@PolyvagalInstitute on social media
Visit us at polyvagal.org
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Transcript
The Impact of Voice on the Nervous System
00:00:00
Speaker
I really do believe that the tone of your voice has a significant impact on another person's nervous system. And I believe if you want to make people feel safer, start with the tone of your voice.
Introduction to the Episode
00:00:15
Speaker
Welcome back to Wired for Connection, polyvagal podcast. My name is Mac with the Polyvagal Institute. And today our conversation is with Mathilde Shisko, or Maddie for short.
Meet Maddie Shisko, Voice Coach
00:00:26
Speaker
Maddie is an internationally recognized voice performance and public speaking coach with over 30 years of experience. She teaches groups and individuals in the fields of politics, education, healthcare, creativity, and business, and also facilitates regular workshops using the voice as a resource and regulating tool for well-being.
00:00:46
Speaker
Before retiring from the position in 2023, Maddie was the senior voice instructor at the Vancouver Film School for 20 years. At the heart of her work is
Vocal Exercises for Nervous System Preparation
00:00:56
Speaker
Dr. Stephen Forges' Polyvagal Theory.
00:00:59
Speaker
Combining science, art, mindfulness, and play, she helps her clients embody their voices with heart, humor, compassion, and integrity. In this episode, we'll highlight how exercising your vocal cords and playing with your voice can prepare your nervous system for an important conversation or a performance of any kind.
Maddie Shisko's Journey to Voice Coaching
00:01:19
Speaker
Here's Maddie. So Maddie Shisko, thank you so much for joining. our podcast wired for connection here and just excited to get to know you a little bit more and your line of work.
00:01:31
Speaker
So I was just hoping we could kind of start there and and discuss your background um and how you got into this line of work and and being a voice coach. Thank you, Mac. It's so great to be here. Thank you so much for
Polyvagal Theory in Voice Coaching
00:01:44
Speaker
the invitation. My background really is in acting and being a voice coach came many, many years after being an actor and then an acting instructor at various film schools and theater schools along the way. So what I've learned in learning polyvagal theory is how much of an extraordinary neural exercise acting and learning acting actually is.
00:02:10
Speaker
So it really did come into my work as an actor and as an acting coach well before I became a voice coach. So I feel like I have two different paths. I do have two different paths. I still work as an actor and an acting instructor as well as a voice coach to politicians, healthcare providers, artists, organizations and leaders.
00:02:35
Speaker
And so when you say voice coach, and I don't know how many people who are listening or watching have have worked with a voice coach before, but could you just share a little bit more about what that work actually looks like? I think we have an idea of, you know, helping to maybe boost the the effectiveness of a presentation. But could you just take us inside your world a little bit more?
00:02:57
Speaker
Definitely. So the first thing people think of is, oh, you're a singing coach. And I'm not, although I do sing and I love to sing. And a lot of my exercises incorporate melody and singing as well. But a voice coach is really about having people step into their authentic voice.
Finding Your Authentic Voice
00:03:20
Speaker
What does it mean to actually speak from the heart? How can I make these presentations more engaging? I'm a politician and I need to be my authentic self, but I also understand that I have a responsibility to the party that I represent. So there's there's lots of different areas of voice coaching that come in. I often have people that come to me and say, um i can't be heard to the back of the room, or I've just joined an organization. I feel that my voice is not being heard in this way that I would really like it to be. So what can I do to to work around that?
00:04:00
Speaker
A lot of organizations bring me in because they have these generational teams now and finding the respect of all of the voices in the room. And I also work with parents and friends and colleagues who just want to be able to, i call it align their voice with their and with their intention, which means to me coming into presence and being in the moment and speaking my truth and making a connection through
Voice and Co-Regulation
00:04:26
Speaker
my voice. So I work with people who work with their voices for a living, but I also work with people who find they just feel that parts of their voices have been locked away
00:04:37
Speaker
or haven't been used, and they feel them kind of swimming around inside of their bodies and just need a little bit of ah skill or encouragement to just bring them out into the world a little bit more.
00:04:50
Speaker
ah That's so interesting because i think, you know, with polyvagal theory, we we really talk about co-regulation a lot and how healing and restorative are a really great conversation and a safe conversation.
00:05:03
Speaker
calm, connected environment, how great that that can feel. But with that being said, I think what you're kind of talking about is that that felt sense or that presence when you are trying to use your voice and and speak and communicate in an authentic way that can be really scary for people, depending on the context or depending on you know, what they've been through that day or or their trauma history. So I'm just wondering if you could speak to maybe just like how powerful or, you know, some of the changes that you've seen in people when you've worked with them on, as you said, you know, aligning their voice with their intentions.
00:05:40
Speaker
Could you share a little bit about, you know, some stories from from clients that you've worked with in the past? Yeah, thank you. really One that really stands out for me is when I was very, very early in learning polyvagal theory for myself. I'm actually a late bloomer when I came to the theory compared to a lot of other people in the Institute.
00:06:01
Speaker
And I was just starting to really you know get into it and to really harness the concepts and the ideas, knowing and seeing how brilliant it was to be able to layer it into the work that I do as a voice coach. Because at the heart of great speaking is humanity.
00:06:18
Speaker
We want to hear the human and polyvagal theory is really the science of what it means to be human. So it
Techniques for Voice Work
00:06:26
Speaker
was just such a natural progression for me. And the face-heart connection, I think that was actually the thing that I read from Steve that ah made me go, oh, wow, this has to be in my work.
00:06:36
Speaker
And understanding, as you said, that there are different situations and and life situations where people's voices might have left them or they, like this one example that I have, i was working with a woman in 2021. She called me up and she said, look, I'm i'm in menopause.
00:06:56
Speaker
and I actually speak in the house. I am a representative and my body is failing me and i and my voice is failing me. I don't know what to do.
00:07:07
Speaker
And so i thought, well, you know, I'm just starting to learn this thing called polyvagal theory and it's about different nervous system states and the vagus nerve and co-regulation and neuroception and maybe maybe there's something in there that we can work together to see if we can find a solution for you to get functioning again.
00:07:25
Speaker
Well, it worked. It was incredible because it harnessed the breath and it harnessed movement and sound. And as we know, and and the co-regulation between the two of us, which are all potent natural nervous system, like and nervous system stimulators, vagus nerve stimulators. So it really, ah after about two months of working together, we had a session and she said, you won't believe it, I feel like my old self again.
00:07:55
Speaker
So that was a really wonderful moment where I knew that this work really worked. I've seen a lot of work out there with movement, obviously somatic movement.
Demonstrating Vocal Exercises
00:08:06
Speaker
and breathing and breath work but when you add in the voice it seems to really double the efficacy of those other modalities because of the vibrations when we hum and we sing and we chant and even when we speak in a slow steady rhythm the vibrations stimulate the vagus nerve and the branches of the of the of the vagus nerve So it was just a no brainer for me to continue down that path of creating exercises that explore nervous system regulation.
00:08:38
Speaker
I love that. Thank you for sharing. And I'm so glad that those exercises were helpful for that client that you were sharing a little bit more about and, you know, to your point about The breath work or obviously, you know, when we're talking about stimulating the vagus nerve there and there's a great resource, great resource on the Polyvagal Institute's website. Naturally, you can do it through yoga or exercise or cold exposure or breath work. you know, dancing, singing, humming, yeah like you were saying, but I feel like integrating the voice is something that people maybe are not thinking about in regards to vagus nerve stimulation. So could you also just give us maybe an example or just like a brief vocal exercise when when using the voice to kind of get yourself into a place of of calm and ease before either a presentation or maybe just a really important conversation with with a loved one?
00:09:37
Speaker
Yes, I would love to. i call this one, um the one that springs to mind, it's the yummy hum and the ripple. And I use the ripple because I really love to attach the sound that we make to the water in our body. And I often talk about the vagus nerve as being a river and the larynx being an inlet.
Adjusting Tone for Effective Communication
00:10:00
Speaker
And so when we use the voice, it's like... we gently use the voice as water through this inlet and as we are if if if the flow is smooth and steady then everything downstream tends to settle and soften but if we're pushing and rushing then the water becomes choppy and activated So if you have that sense that the larynx is really beautifully connected to the branches of the vagus nerve and just we're not always wanting to calm down, however, like we want to be sure when we talk about regulation and a lot of my work is like vocal play and vocal improvisation so that we're really extending and expanding
00:10:52
Speaker
the resilience and the flexibility in the nervous system. It's a great way to do that. But for this exercise, it really is about how do I take myself off the ceiling and bring myself into the chair to be able to have some kind of a calmness and a steadiness and a stability in the voice.
00:11:11
Speaker
So we will bring ourselves, call ourselves into practice. And if you're not watching this, you can just listen to my voice, but placing one hand on heart and one hand on belly.
00:11:26
Speaker
And when we place a hand on heart and belly, let's become really intentional with the feelings and the weight of those hands on our heart and belly.
00:11:38
Speaker
these I got you hands.
00:11:48
Speaker
Taking a breath, just seeing what happens to the breath.
00:11:54
Speaker
And if I feel held enough and stable enough in my body and with the breath moving in and out of my body, can I let sound emerge on a little hum?
Navigating Nervous System States
00:12:15
Speaker
And with the yummy hum, just allow the yumminess, the yumminess of the yummy hum just to come through. Maybe that adds a little bit of a smile or a little bit of a warm feeling, maybe a little bit of ah a glimmer.
00:12:37
Speaker
And, of course, we're prolonging the exhalation at the same time as those little vibrations happening to access the vagus nerve.
00:12:47
Speaker
And as I open to an ooh, ooh. Let that sound attach to the water in your body and ripple all the way through your body. Ooh.
00:13:11
Speaker
And when you get to your toes, you can stop and then just sense the residue of that vibration your outside.
00:13:26
Speaker
Thank you so much. That was so beautiful and so nice. And i think I'll have to revisit that because I don't know if I fully sunk in since I was doing my little podcast host duties. But ah for those listening or watching, think we all know by now, and this was why I was so excited to have you on the podcast, your voice just in general is so soothing and nice to listen to. So when you add in a practice like that,
00:13:51
Speaker
um I hope everyone's feeling regulated and at ease and calm and and eager for the rest of our conversation. So thank you, Maddie. You're so welcome, Mac. Thank you. i I really do believe that the tone of your voice has a significant impact on another person's nervous system.
00:14:10
Speaker
And I believe if you want to make people feel safer, start with the tone of your voice.
00:14:19
Speaker
And, and in relaying that safety to other people, to groups of people, I'm wondering if what your thoughts are on just how important it is when you are able to either use those practices or find that sense sense of safety in your voice to adjust your tone as such. And how, how does that make an impact with communicating to people in, in different contexts, different settings, different kinds of people?
00:14:47
Speaker
Well, you mentioned earlier about communication and co-regulation. And I really think, well, as we know, and if you believe it to
Mindfulness in Communication
00:14:56
Speaker
be so, i do, is that co-regulation with a trusted other is such a potent nervous system regulator.
00:15:04
Speaker
We can use all of these practices and all of these devices, but really when we get together with someone that we trust and and in whose company we feel warmth and safety and belonging and connection, that changes our physiology.
00:15:16
Speaker
So when we talk about communication, at the heart of communication is that co-regulation. And with regards to how How much of a reach do we have to have? Do we have to be wonderful communicators with everybody from all walks of life? That's a really tall order. And I think it really depends on your world and on your life and what you're called upon to do. Is it enough just to be in your inner circle, in your community? I think so.
00:15:47
Speaker
I mean, for some of us, we have jobs where we do need to travel the world or we're speaking at conferences and that's not comfortable for everybody. It's certainly not comfortable for me to go and and speak to everybody. And I'm supposed to be a person who teaches other people how to communicate. And yet, and yet I'm a very, very shy person.
00:16:06
Speaker
And I, you know, as the older that I get to, the more and more I withdraw and find it even a little bit more difficult to get out there and speak to people. It's almost like having a hockey coach. Sometimes the hockey coaches were never really the best players, but they make a really good coach. And I think that's... um I try to walk the talk.
00:16:27
Speaker
Yes, I try to walk the talk and I always put myself out there to emcee, to keynote, ah to run workshops with large groups of people because it's important for me to understand what the body goes through so that I can then use lived experience to help my clients go through it as well. And now I've forgotten your question.
00:16:49
Speaker
Yes. Sorry, sorry. No, no. you' you've I think you've you've answered it. I think just was, we were talking about communicating to different kinds of people and in different settings and meeting, kind of meeting every nervous system where they're at as ah ah as a voice coach, but also just as a human being trying to communicate, knowing that especially in today's day and age, a lot of folks may be not regulated or are coming into
00:17:19
Speaker
a presentation or a space with a lot of different things happening in the background of their nervous system. So just wondering how important you feel these exercises or just this ability to align your voice with your intentions before actually communicating with someone, how that has impacted, you know, folks in your life or or clients or or stories from your, your past about communicating and really finding common ground with other people, depending on where they're at.
00:17:47
Speaker
Yeah, and it's so important for us to be regulated in order to be regulating. And I work a lot on my preparation before I walk into the room. That's, you know, when you're walking into a room and you have no idea the nervous systems that you're going to meet, it is the number one thing to do. As long as I'm regulated and I have a curiosity as to what is beneath the behavior, and this is what polyvagal theory teaches us, that we're understanding what is under the hood.
00:18:17
Speaker
It's really difficult to navigate so many different nervous systems in the room for so many different reasons. They can be looking away for some reason. They might have had... a really difficult phone call before coming into this session. But all of a sudden we start to make it about us. I'm not good enough. I'm not on my game. Oh my gosh, this isn't interesting to them at all. And so when you're trying to impart knowledge and to give a presentation and you have that running in the background, it can really affect what you're actually saying in the moment. It can really take you out of that moment.
Slower Speech for Public Speaking
00:18:51
Speaker
it's important to slow down. And I got this from Steve. It's one of the first podcasts I heard him on, actually. He had a story and he said he was at a conference and one of the one of the presenters was really, really nervous about introducing him. And she kept coming up to him and saying, but i really I'm really, really nervous and I've got to introduce you tomorrow. And he kept saying, it's okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I'll talk to you tomorrow And so he finally talked to her and he said, if you just slow down the very first thing that you say when you're introducing me, you will already be bringing the parasympathetic nervous system to the front of the bus.
00:19:33
Speaker
I don't think he used front of the bus, that's me. um And it's true, if you just elongate your sentences because when you're speaking you're exhaling.
00:19:44
Speaker
So that's a wonderful thing to remember if you get caught up in the idea of these people don't want to talk to me or they don't want to listen to me. Just finding your center, finding the earth. I love to feel my feet on the floor or wherever your point of gravity is with the earth, just making that connection and receiving that support from the earth.
00:20:09
Speaker
If I can receive that support from the earth and when I'm speaking, extend my exhalation, And bringing a little bit of melody and prosody, if it's suitable in the moment, then that's going to start to change my physiology.
00:20:23
Speaker
And that might in turn change the physiology of other people in the room.
Polyvagal Theory in Acting
00:20:29
Speaker
Yeah, thank you for sharing. And i also i really want to talk about before we get too deep into just the whole voice coach world. And um you you had mentioned that you started as an actor and that was kind of how you found your way to polyvagal theory. So would you mind sharing just a little bit about your acting experience and kind of how that led to becoming a voice and performance coach in the way that you are now?
00:20:55
Speaker
Mm hmm. Yes. I was writing a curriculum for a school and it was called Core Actor and we were looking at different systems in the body and looking at the autonomic nervous system. And a couple of years before then, one of my colleagues was actually my maiden name is Porges, I'm actually a Porges.
00:21:15
Speaker
And she said to me, do you know this gentleman, Stephen Porges, he was looking into SSP. And I went, no And then she started to tell me about his work. And then I started reading his work. And then, of course, the face-heart connection. We wear our heart on our face and we hear it in our voice.
00:21:32
Speaker
And the idea that the nervous system actually retunes depending on the circumstance and the experience that you're going through. i went and then I started reading more about the theory and I thought, oh, my gosh,
00:21:46
Speaker
I wonder if this is why so many actors meet untimely ends, um ah lose themselves, have destructive relationships or their relationships fall apart because they haven't been able to find their way back to what we know now as ventral and in connection.
00:22:04
Speaker
Because a lot of the roles that we play are not just about sitting down and having a cup of tea. You know, we we mirror humanity, but more than mirroring humanity is we actually, we dive in with empathy and compassion and we roll around in there and we bring to the screen or we bring to the stage this full person that has a history and that is triggered. And that is, and then night after night after night or month after month,
00:22:34
Speaker
playing the same stories. And sometimes, you know, if you're working in film, it's out of sequence. So you're constantly having to take yourself to places, sometimes in in the blink of an eye.
00:22:47
Speaker
And then also you've got a whole film crew sitting around you and, you know, maybe you might feel judged. So there were so many elements to acting that I felt polyvagal theory was such an incredible resource. And I thought, why isn't it being taught in acting school? Because if it's really about bringing another human to life why aren't we using this knowledge on in the first place why aren't we using this knowledge of the autonomic nervous system and the hierarchy to be another door into that room of what state is your character in why are they in that state how how do they listen um how present are they what are their stories and then you add in the complication for an actor that you're actually hosting this other nervous system inside your nervous system. And I was just like, oh, my gosh.
00:23:39
Speaker
It was a powder keg and it and it's ongoing. I mean, it's still evolving. And years ago, or for many years, I was using an exercise in class.
00:23:50
Speaker
They were based on breath holding patterns. It was created by Donna Farhi, who is a yoga practitioner from New Zealand. And she had these breath holding practices and she had the psychology behind them and the physiological traits behind them, like chest breathing, reverse breathing, breath grabbing.
00:24:08
Speaker
And I used them for an acting exercise. This is way before I knew polyvagal theory. It was, okay, so choose one or two of the breath holding exercises and create a character on them based on the physiology and psychology that she describes. And so people were bringing in characters and they were, and the breath holding pattern, as we know now, it affects your posture.
00:24:31
Speaker
It affects your voice. It affects your eye gaze and the way that you see the world. And so we were developing characters and then putting them into a situation or a scenario and these other people were coming alive just through changing the breath and changing the voice. So now I know why It worked because what we were doing, we were we were really um harnessing harnessing that breath work and that autonomic nervous system work, the imagination, the attunement, the presence, the listening, everything was coming together that we know now to be for polyvagal theory to be such an incredible resource.
Nervous System Flexibility for Actors
00:25:11
Speaker
So i use it for...
00:25:14
Speaker
I use it for transformation. i was, oh gosh, here I keep on going here, but I was doing a play a couple of years ago where I had to play five different characters. It was called The Wolves Are Coming For You by Joel Horwood.
00:25:27
Speaker
And there were three actors playing 21 roles. And in one instance, I actually had to play two roles, two characters at the same time, the only person on stage. One was was an 11-year-old girl with a stammer and one was a 50-year-old male Vietnam War vet.
00:25:47
Speaker
and they were having a conversation and it was just me. So these two characters had to come out of me and I was just learning polyvagal theory. I was doing the play zone the play zone with Michael Allison. I thought, oh, this is going to be my case study. So I actually created four five different people based on the autonomic nervous system and it was um yeah I don't even know why it's not it's not used in in theatre schools predominantly um there are there are many acting teachers however that are
00:26:22
Speaker
doing When you do the work in the rooms, I think everyone is doing it intuitively because I think the actor training is very, poly very very polyvagal. So now we're just putting a vocabulary underneath it to what we have been doing all along, essentially.
00:26:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's really interesting. Playing so many different characters moving in and out of different roles, you know, essentially at the same time. And you said something earlier that's really important too, is that it's not necessarily about being regulated all the time or you know feeling safe all the time just wondering how you feel how important it is you feel to be able to move in and out of the different nervous system states when you're trying to be an actor sure but also you know as we move throughout life in our day-to-day lives we're we're asked to be in different states pretty much constantly and that ability to kind of move in and out
00:27:21
Speaker
And then also find space within those nervous system states to, as you're kind of talking about, communicate effectively from, you know, either get yourself to a different place or recognize that maybe now is not the best time to have a conversation because maybe I just had a long day at work or, you know, I haven't had a walk outside in a while.
00:27:39
Speaker
Could you speak to that? Just how hard that is and just how much of a skill that is to hone that move in and out of different states to to achieve what your goals are?
00:27:50
Speaker
Finding nervous system flexibility or agility, as Michael Allison calls it, and I use that word a lot. I call, I say, the agile voice, particularly for a politician, where their voices really have to be, or I can use that as an example, actually. You know, we they have to be the voice that people trust,
00:28:11
Speaker
that they believe, that they feel that they have a sense of safety and connection with, and they also have to be the leader and the
Enhancing Creativity Through Movement
00:28:19
Speaker
fighter. And they have to, um you know, you have to, you know, there's fish shaking moments and table slapping moments. And then we have to come back down into these smaller moments of connection and the gamut that some people in their work really have to embody is extraordinary.
00:28:39
Speaker
So embodied practices such as voice, movement, mindful exercises, sports, running, dancing, when we're actually involved in all of these modalities, we're increasing flexibility,
00:28:54
Speaker
and resilience in the nervous system. And voice is one of those ones which is just so natural. We don't need to have any equipment for it. Just by doing some vocal play and some vocal improvisation and exercises, whether it's intentional like you set aside ah use set time aside to do it or if it's integrated, all of this is actually increasing nervous system flexibility so that when we're called upon to be this person in this situation, just look at the roles that we play.
00:29:23
Speaker
you know, myself, right? Mother, wife, sister, daughter, neighbor, a colleague, voice coach, actor, acting coach. i mean, the way that I communicate with all of these different people in my world has to be a little bit different. So the more range that we have, the more likely we are to make deeper connections. Right.
00:29:45
Speaker
I was wondering also just on the heels of that, how you think about your work in relation to creativity as as an artist, as an actor, but also just beyond that in your day-to-day life.
00:29:59
Speaker
When do you feel most creative and and how do you feel like the nervous system connects or doesn't connect during those times? Mm-hmm. I feel most creative when I'm actually moving, you know? It's it's interesting. i I really find movement to be one of the greatest um inspirations for me to discover things, to create things. I um i find it through through movement, through...
00:30:31
Speaker
like just riding my bike or walking or running. I
Safety and Stability in Vocal Expression
00:30:34
Speaker
do this amazing class called The Class by Taryn Toomey, which is a moving meditation and they incorporate sound in there a lot. But as ah as an artist, I find that I can't, I don't have those creative moments when I'm still.
00:30:48
Speaker
And I think that, um, but i But I do have things that I rely on. Like there's a stability in in the things that I do. and And just going back to the idea of of safety is I need to feel safe for my voice to emerge. And I think that's true for a lot of people.
00:31:08
Speaker
We might not be going into an environment that is considered safe or that we're well we're uncertain about, not necessarily in a life threat, but we're just really trepidatious and uncertain about. I do as much as I can to feel stable.
00:31:23
Speaker
in myself. i I interchange those words stable with safety a little bit because for me I feel safe when I have something to rely on and if I can rely on my breath, feeling my body in the earth, on the earth, then i have something from which my sound can spring or my creativity can spring.
00:31:46
Speaker
But that's not the same for everybody. Sometimes people really need to put themselves in danger or really feel that threat in order to be creative and make the world's greatest, whatever. And yes, absolutely, go for it. But is it sustainable? At what moment do you come back to recover? At what moment do you come back to find ventral and safety? You must. And if you don't, then it's going to have its repercussions, as we know.
00:32:09
Speaker
But for me, creativity, um it's my but I just love it. It's my most favorite part of my job is just inventing new exercises. And they can come from anywhere. They come from inspiration from everywhere. and Then I'll just have the idea and I'll work it out and then it the jar of glimmers for example which is actually on the pvi website that came out of a session i was having with one of our beloved community members and it just sprung to it oh my god it's a jar of glimmers oh my gosh and so we just started working the exercise and then you know later on in the months ahead i started to refine it but it really can come from anywhere i
00:32:55
Speaker
I do consider myself creative and I love being creative and less sciency, which, you know, which being in this community is is very, very, very intimidating.
00:33:06
Speaker
And so I often find myself having to do my breathing exercises, having to do so much reading and and research in order for the science to really stick in my brain because I'm really, that is that is something that I really, really have to work on.
Aligning Voice with Intentions
00:33:22
Speaker
and um I don't put myself out there so that reason too much because ah for fear of judgment or getting something wrong and it's really ironic because I encourage people to be free with their voices and to sound despite the fear of judgment so I'm a work in progress as well so I don't know if that answers all of your question or goes off onto a different tangent entirely no no it does and you know let me be the first to say also a work in progress we're all a work in progress and and you know the i know that there is your work is so needed in the polyvagal community because like i said it was just so happy to have you here with us to talk today because i think that you're offering a lot of practical skills that
00:34:10
Speaker
maybe there are skills that people haven't even considered before. you know This ability, you know i feel like we've all experienced this maybe in in our romantic relationships or familial relationships, but life can be really hard. It can be really challenging. And you're asked to do a lot of different things on a day-to-day basis, but above all else, you still need to have that ability to connect and communicate with those loved ones in your life. And sometimes we forget to put that intention behind it um and and that kind of brings me to my next point which you know your course with the polyvagal institute is called aligning your voice with your intentions a polyvagal course for communication just wondering what that core what that phrase means to you aligning your voice with your intentions how do you think about that and and why did you choose to title it in that way the to me it means presence
00:35:06
Speaker
It means coming into presence. And when we come into presence, we have the opportunity for deeper, more meaningful communication and connection. So underlying everything, i if I really get to the source, if I drill down to what it means to align your
Co-Regulation and Community
00:35:23
Speaker
voice with your intention, it means bringing all of these things into harmony so that ah my breath, my voice, my body, my message,
00:35:31
Speaker
um Seeing rather than looking, listening rather than hearing, it really brings me into active presence. And as you were just describing there, we're pulled into so many different, you know, okay, go got to bring myself back here. Okay, hang on a minute. Because we find ourselves wandering. I mean, our little minds wander all the time and I'm constantly, you know, trying to bring her back into being in the present moment.
00:35:57
Speaker
It also means to me, meaning what you say when you say it. speaking living thought and making it matter. Every time I teach a class, every time i i run a workshop, every time I do a podcast or an invitation to have a a a conversation, I try to consider it as my last.
00:36:25
Speaker
This is the last time I'm ever going to be on a podcast. This is the last time I'm ever going to teach a class. This is the last time I'm ever going to run a workshop. For me, it makes me be very, very intentional. It helps me be more intentional and more present. And then from that comes more joy because I find if I'm really in the moment of this communication and of this conversation and if I'm really, really listening and if I'm really seeing who I'm with then that just brings me joy.
00:36:55
Speaker
or i I try to find the joy if it's if it's going in the other direction. Oh, curious, what do I need right now? Rather than, why is this going wrong? What do I need right now?
00:37:06
Speaker
And I think The reason why we chose, and it was a collaborative effect actually, a collaborative a thing to arrive
Empowering Students Through Voice
00:37:17
Speaker
at the title for the course, it was it was a collaboration, it was a team. And I also think that that's really, really important to find that co-regulation within community. It's vital And and the Institute is such a wonderful community for that, that we arrived at communication or um
00:37:37
Speaker
because it encompassed so many different people. And it wasn't just pigeonholing we think that these are the ones that need it. Like we think that helping professionals are the ones that need it. In actual fact, it's universal.
00:37:51
Speaker
It's communal. And if you think about the origins of the word communication and to communicate, it was about bringing something to the table and sharing. And it was a lot later on, it became more um ah about expression of words and communication of language. But it was really about what am I bringing to the table? And this is us coming together as collective voices so needed in this world. right now of how can I just share a little bit about my voice and how can I have a voice that gives me that stability to have a little bit of freedom and agency. So that is, and at the heart of that course is the embodied exercises, which increase vagal tone, vagal efficiency, our ability to expand our canvas. You know, we're really expanding the canvas to um find that resilience, which is also so needed in our world. and that flexibility.
00:38:50
Speaker
Well, I hope that this experience for you was a joyous one and you didn't have to search too hard for connected, calm and happy feeling here.
Resources and Further Learning
00:39:01
Speaker
And ah as we as we wrap up here, our conversation, just wondering on the topic of the course, for those who you know have taken the course with the Polyvagal Institute before are going to be enrolled in your upcoming cohort,
00:39:16
Speaker
What is one thing or, you know, what what is something that you hope that students take away from the course after they're enrolled?
00:39:26
Speaker
A sense that their voice matters, that they are enough. And that they can be the beacon for a safety connection and belonging in all of their interactions. That would be the main thing.
00:39:42
Speaker
Love it so much. Thank you so much. And I'm wondering if you, if we could just leave our community and our audience with where they can find you, where they can follow your work and where they can learn more about you and what you have to offer a, as a voice and performance coach. Oh, thank you. My my website is myvoicecoach.org and my email and my contact details are in there. I am in Vancouver, British Columbia, and I work globally through Zoom and also as the educational as a ah course partner with the Institute. But myvoicecoach.org is where you can find me.
00:40:24
Speaker
Awesome. Well, Maddie, thank you so much for joining us on this podcast episode and really appreciate your time and really appreciate your work as well. Bringing vocal exercises, vocal play, polyvagal theory, creativity, all the things ah to the forefront here for our community. So thank you.
00:40:45
Speaker
Thank you. It's my pleasure. Thank you, Mac. Thank you for listening to this conversation with Maddie Shisco on Wired for Connection, a Polyvagal podcast. Maddie's course with the Polyvagal Institute, Aligning Our Voice with Our Intentions, is open for enrollment at several points throughout the year.
00:41:01
Speaker
You can learn more at polyvagal.org. This show is produced by the Polyvagal Institute, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a safer and more connected world.
00:41:13
Speaker
Polyvagal Institute provides education, resources, and community to those interested in learning more about polyvagal theory and applying polyvagal principles in personal and professional contexts.
00:41:25
Speaker
To learn more about Polyvagal Theory and other offerings, visit us at polyvagal.org, where you can join our online community space and access our free learning library. You'll also find information about upcoming courses and community events.
00:41:39
Speaker
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