Meet Ganga Karen Ashworth, who’s passionate about helping you discover the healing power of your voice through an interview conducted by Virginia Muzik.

How many of us take our voice for granted? We use it every day to communicate – our emotions and energy levels, our needs and desires. Yet many of us give little thought to this powerful, portable instrument that resides in our throat, that’s fueled by our breath and that says so much about us each time we make a sound.

Ganga Karen Ashworth doesn’t take her voice for granted – or anyone else’s for that matter.

The Transformational Voice Empowerment Coach is passionate about guiding and supporting people to find their own true voice and experience the profound healing it can offer physically, emotionally and spiritually.

With more than 20 years’ teaching experience, the singer, songwriter, speaker and author deeply understands the effect of sound, voice and vibration on our physical and energetic bodies.

When she answers my phone call, Ganga’s voice sounds all at once warm, confident, compassionate, serene and completely in her own power. But Ganga says most people aren’t aware of the impact of their voice.

“Most people don’t really consider how they use their voice or even the words they use and the incredible vibrational impact it has on themselves and on others,” she explains. “I also think with all the media attention on TV shows like The X Factor and The Voice, there are people who can sing and who can use their voice – and do. Even speakers, who are allowed to do that, they’re a kind of elite, then there’s the rest of us who can’t do it like that, and shouldn’t. I want to cross that divide – because there are different uses for the voice and if our voice is available to us it’s an incredible healing instrument and incredibly empowering in our creativity and self-expression, so why would you cut that off? It’s literally like cutting your throat”

“Your voice can generate joy and happiness for yourself, and change the way you feel – if you’re not feeling joyful and happy – which is a large percentage of our population. There’s a lot of anxiety and depression… and a lot of stressors and people experiencing symptoms of stress.”

So what’s a quick way to calm yourself when you’re stressed?

“My first advice is to sigh. Let your breath out,” Ganga says. “Notice what it does to your shoulders and to your body. Notice where the stress is in your body, where are you feeling it? And then give it a sound and release it.”

If your voice gets stuck during this exercise, Ganga says that’s a very normal response. “Most of us have a blockage of some sort in the throat chakra – energetically, or through things we’ve left unsaid, things we wish we could have spoken our truth about, things we’ve just thought ‘oh I better not’ and put a lid on it.”

Speak your truth
By putting a lid on it, eventually that lid’s going to blow. Many of us withhold speaking our truth for fear it could hurt others – especially something said in the heat of the moment.

“When it comes blurted out, it’s often because it’s been in the pressure cooker with the lid on for so long, it has to let off steam or it blows the lid off,” Ganga says. “But if we’re able to release some of the steam in a healthful way when it’s not directed at someone, the ability for the words to be sent with love, heard by that person and received with love is much more clear.”

Not like other voice or singing coaches
Ganga’s approach to bringing people in touch with their voice focuses on mindful whole-person awareness more than vocal technique, which she says tends to apply a band-aid over what’s really going on.

“I encourage clients to listen to their body and acknowledge what the reasons are for any blockages. There’s usually a picture, a memory, a sensation, a time when that arrow of criticism went in. And often, the block is something that’s protecting us or doing us a favour,” she says. “So, rather than trying to obliterate this thing that’s in our way – which is the mind’s tendency – we actually go into the reasons it’s there in the first place and clear it at the source, not just teach ways to use the voice (but certainly that’s part of it). I do work with people on the use of their voice but it’s much more in an embodied sense. My reason for that is when the focus is in the mind and on voice technique and getting it right, that puts a lot of pressure and fear of failure upon the voice”.

“Any tension in the area where the mechanism of the voice is will impede the body vibrating freely, limit its ability to make the sounds, freedom and expression of the voice. My approach is ‘relax and don’t think about it’.”

Transforming voices – and lives
Ganga works with individuals and groups, from facilitating singing circles to empowering the voices of people with cancer through Petrea King’s Quest for Life Foundation. She sees profound transformation in her clients.

“It’s so divine. Confidence is a major thing I see. It can be extreme: confidence to leave a job and strike out doing what they’re passionate about. It applies to relationships: people who are in relationships that, when they have an empowered voice, can either heal the relationship or realise the best thing is to leave it. The throat chakra is the change centre of the body – you clear that and big things open up. I’ve seen people in my groups use their voice to heal themselves and others. I’ve seen people meet across the singing circle and get married. It opens up and transforms their lives.”

While group singing brings an obvious uplifting energy, not everyone feels comfortable letting their voice out around others, and Ganga’s one-on-one sessions provide a safe alternative, allowing deeper exploration of any issues surrounding a vocal blockage. Sometimes it’s just letting go of others’ expectations about how we use our voices, as Ganga herself has experienced:

“For me, a lot of the un-learning around singing is this expectation that it’s for others, but I actually love giving the sound to myself and singing just because I love it. Not because I have a performance or a reason I have to practise, but just because it’s for me, it sustains me. I’ve realised how essential it is for my wellbeing… it is my vitamin supplement. When I sound and sing, it gets me through the day.”

Sing your way home
Ganga has published a book, Singing the Silver Circle, a fantasy novel that tells of one woman’s journey of self-discovery and weaves into the story some of the techniques and approaches Ganga uses in her work to open and free the voice, offering the reader their own opportunity for transformation”
“The lead character, Aria, with her incredibly scientific mind, is at first resistant to the power of her voice,” Ganga explains. “She gets drawn into another world, where all your emotions are carried on, visible and audible in your voice. And the only way for her to ‘return home’ or get back to what she knows is… to sing. But she doesn’t believe she can”

“Bottom line: singing the self is knowing thyself. In essence, even when you feel totally out of your depth around life’s challenges… your voice is your way home.”

Ganga runs regular singing workshops:
SHACappella (Southern Highlands A Cappella)
Singing music from around the world with harmony, fun and laughter. Even if you think you can’t sing, you’re welcome, from 7.30-9pm Tuesday evenings at the Mittagong Playhouse.

Sing for Your Soul
Soul-full expression of sound and song meeting monthly on a Friday night 7-8.30pm at the Illawarra Women’s Health Centre, Belfast Street, Warilla NSW.

Coming up in August:
The Silver Circle Journey 22-23 August
Mt Keira Scout Camp Conference Centre

Unblocking and expressing your authentic voice is a journey to knowing your self.

A unique journey where you will discover:
• A newfound confidence in yourself and your voice
• Real clarity about your life
• Your Soul Song – your own personal song that expresses and connects you with your soul.

For more information, visit http://singingtheself.com/