Nature in Performance Training

Nature can play an important role in embodied voice work by providing an environment that acts as a safe and familiar platform for experiential learning. The calming effects of nature can be measured in heart rate, blood pressure, levels of stress hormones in the blood, and muscle tension. When we calm down, it becomes possible to perceive the external environment (in music it could be the ensemble, in presentation it could be the audience) and our internal emotional states. When we perceive our inner emotional state, we become present.

When experiencing high levels of stress, it is assumed that there are restorative benefits of simply looking at nature in stress-related situations.

— Ulrich

Virtual nature

There are still very few studies on the long-term effects of Virtual Reality, but what has been found in the field of health care seems to support our experience of the benefits of using VR in our Nature Oriented Voice and Performance Training®.

Link to a recent article in the Guardian

You speak wider because you have way more space to see… and the emotions can reach further.

— An actor working on lines with virtual glasses

Beginning with virtual glasses

The first time I tried virtual glasses was at a meeting with a consulting firm. They had set up a virtual dentist’s office in their lobby, and I was invited to try the VR experience there. I asked if they’d have a nature scene for me, and suddenly I was in the middle of beautiful nature in Lapland. I immediately felt the urge to sing. Similar to what you feel when you stand on the shore of a quiet lake and let your voice echo over the land. It was very clear that this was a possibility for voice training…

Later in the fall, I had already purchased VR glasses, but had not really used them for performance training. Once, after a six-hour flight delay, I arrived at my room feeling overwhelmingly exhausted. I remembered the VR glasses in my suitcase, took them out, found a beautiful nature scene in the library (mountains are my favorite, but so is the ocean), put on some birdsong, and started improvising with my voice. The view took me to a relaxed, open space, the sounds flowed with the view, and after two minutes of improvising, I felt refreshed and restored, ready to take on the next challenge.

I saw there a picture of my childhood, it relaxed me on a spot.

— Singer warming up with virtual glasses before a performance

Check out this video from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where VR is being tested to potentially reduce pain. Read the full story here.

Putting VR into Action

I have been using the virtual environment as one of the tools in our training program since last summer, often to warm up, prepare for a presentation, or when the task is bigger than the person. The client chooses his or her favorite nature scene and we choose a picture or video for the goggles. The natural environment gives a wider personal space and takes the focus away from details and mistakes, allowing the singer, speaker or musician to perceive the view and feel the sound.

No thoughts on technic, just feelings.

— Student after a vocal impro using virtual glasses

It has been interesting and inspiring to experience that by combining body awareness with virtual and acoustic experiences, both speakers and musicians seem to feel better supported in connecting with both their inner and physical voices and their surroundings, in other words, in gaining a better presence, especially in the moment of potential stress.

This encourages us to bring the virtual connection with nature into further use in recording studios, concert halls, auditoriums and practice rooms.