(Excerpted from her eBook “The Singer’s Guide to Powerful Performances”)

Adequate Rest

Your body and your voice need rest in order to function at their best. Since your voice is generated by muscle action, when you sing with a tired body and fatigued muscles you’ll generally use excessive effort to accomplish what a rested body would do more easily. Effort generates strain and tension, which in addition to detracting from the quality of the performance, may lead to vocal blowout.

Use some or all of these tips to achieve restful sleep regularly:

  • Avoid watching violent shows or the news on TV prior to going to bed. Instead, precede your night’s rest with relaxing, restful activities that will help you ease your mind off the day’s activities. These can include reading, watching a comedic show, or doing some restful stretches or yoga postures.
  • Ensure that your bedroom is a good sleeping environment. This means it should be dark, quiet and cool, and your mattress and pillows should be supportive and comfortable. If you can’t block out external noise and light, a sound machine, relaxing music, or earplugs and eyeshades may work well for you.
  • You can refer to a useful exercise designed to help you get a good night’s sleep called Take a Walk, found in chapter seven of the book “The Problems of Work” by L. Ron Hubbard.
  • Having your attention on things you still need to get done is a sure way to stay awake. Either get them done or write them down. Similarly, pressing but incomplete communications might snag your attention and could cause worry. Do what you can to finish your conversations before retiring and if something arises late in the evening that can’t be completed in person or by phone, send an email or text message. If that isn’t appropriate for the situation, at least make notes and decide when you’ll contact the person to complete the conversation. In short, do what you can to at least temporarily complete the cycle of action so it doesn’t go round and round in your head all night.

In Part 2 of this article, Jeannie gives suggestions on nutritional supplements and exercise that help you get a restful sleep.