Finding Safety Through Sound: Healing Trauma with Your Voice

The Healing Power of Sound

Have you ever noticed how a gentle hum can soothe your nerves or how a sigh of relief helps you let go of tension? The voice is more than just a tool for speaking—it’s a direct line to your nervous system and a gentle yet powerful resource for healing.

For many people, especially those who’ve experienced severe early childhood trauma, the voice can feel stuck, small, or even silenced. Trauma has a way of disconnecting us from our bodies, making it difficult to feel safe or grounded. But what if your own voice could help you find that sense of safety again? In this blog post, we will explore how sound and vocal practices can support trauma recovery by calming the nervous system, restoring a sense of connection, and empowering self-expression and I will share practical ways below to begin using your voice as a pathway to regulation and safety.

Trauma, the Nervous System, and the Freeze Response

When we experience stress or danger, our nervous system activates important and necessary protective responses—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. These reactions are designed to keep us safe. However, if we don’t have support navigating and moving through these responses, the body can get stuck in these states, even long after the threat has passed. 

The freeze response is particularly common for trauma survivors. It’s the body’s way of shutting down to survive overwhelming situations. When we aren’t given the space or time to move out of our freeze response, over time the healthy freeze can linger and leave us feeling disconnected, numb, or unable to fully express ourselves.

The Role of the Vagus Nerve

One of the key players in regulating our stress response is the vagus nerve—a long nerve that connects the brain to the heart, lungs, and digestive system. It’s also deeply tied to the voice, running through the throat and vocal cords.

When activated, the vagus nerve helps shift the body into a state of calm and relaxation. Practices like humming, singing, or chanting naturally stimulate this nerve, sending signals of safety to the brain and helping to bring the nervous system back into balance.

Why Trauma Disconnects Us from Our Voice

For many trauma survivors, using the voice—whether speaking, singing, or even breathing audibly—can feel unsafe. Trauma often teaches us to hide, stay quiet, or suppress our emotions to avoid conflict or danger. Over time, this suppression can lead to:

• A tight throat or shallow breathing.

• Fear of speaking up or expressing needs.

• A sense of disconnection from one’s body and voice.

But the good news is that the voice can also be a bridge, a way to connect back to one’s self. Through gentle, intentional vocal practices, we can begin to soften these patterns, restore a sense of safety, and reclaim the voice as a source of empowerment.

Practical Voice-Based Exercises for Safety

When trauma leaves us feeling disconnected or frozen, the voice can act as a gentle anchor to bring us back into the present moment. Below are four simple yet powerful vocal practices to help calm the nervous system, release tension, and restore a sense of safety in the body.

1. Humming for Grounding

Humming is one of the easiest ways to soothe the nervous system. It creates vibrations that stimulate the vagus nerve, which signals to the brain and body that it’s safe to relax. I like to imagine a quiet hum as the gentle beginning of a thaw from winter’s freeze.

How to Practice:

1. Sit comfortably with your feet flat on the floor.a

2. Take a deep breath in through your nose.

3. On the exhale, hum softly, letting the sound vibrate in your chest, throat, and lips.

4. Repeat this for 1–2 minutes, paying attention to the sensations in your body.

5. Play with exploring this both with your eyes opened and closed and see what feels better for you.

Why It Works:

The vibrations from humming create a sense of internal resonance, helping you feel grounded and present. This practice also slows the breath, encouraging relaxation. Humming also increases nitric oxide in the nose which in turn increases blood flow throughout the body.

2. Vocal Toning for Emotional Release

Vocal toning involves sustaining a single sound, like a vowel, to create resonance in the body. It’s an excellent practice for releasing tension and reconnecting with your breath.

How to Practice:

1. Take a comfortable seat and place one hand on your belly or chest.

2. Inhale deeply, then exhale while making a long “Ahh” or “Ohh” sound.

3. Focus on feeling the vibration in your chest and abdomen.

4. Allow your inhales to happen naturally at the end of each tone, rather than a forced inhale.

5. Repeat 5–6 times, letting the sound become fuller and more relaxed with each round.

6. Try different pitches to see how higher or lower tones effect you differently.

Why It Works:

Toning helps release energy stored in the body and encourages emotional flow. It can also be empowering, especially for those who feel disconnected from their voice.

3. Sighing with Intention

Sighing is a natural way for the body to release stress. When done intentionally, it can provide immediate relief and help shift you out of tension or overwhelm.

How to Practice:

1. Inhale deeply through your nose.

2. Exhale with an audible sigh, letting your shoulders drop as you release the sound.

3. Repeat 3–5 times, exaggerating the sound if it feels good. Take some time to pause between each sigh to feel the nourishment and effects of each sigh.

Why It Works:

Sighing signals to the nervous system that it’s safe to relax, mimicking the body’s natural way of letting go of stress. It’s particularly useful during moments of anxiety or emotional buildup.

4. Singing to Connect and Empower

Singing—whether it’s a simple melody, a favorite song, or intuitive sounds—can be deeply healing. It allows you to express emotions, release energy, and tap into joy and playfulness.

How to Practice:

1. Choose a song or melody that feels comforting.

2. Focus on the sensations in your body as you sing, noticing how the vibrations feel. 3. Allow yourself to be playful—sing softly or loudly, hum, or even improvise sounds.

4. If singing feels intimidating, start with gentle humming and work up to fuller sounds.

Why It Works:

Singing engages the breath and voice while promoting emotional expression. It engages with our right side of the brain/creative side, rather than our thinking/intellect/rational brain. It can also strengthen confidence, especially if trauma has led to fear of being heard.

Gentle Reminders for Practice

• No Judgment: Let go of how your voice “should” sound and focus on how it feels.

• Start Small: If making sound feels vulnerable, begin with humming or sighing and build from there.

• Stay Curious: Notice what sensations, emotions, or memories arise, and approach them with curiosity rather than judgment.

• Invite in playfulness

If you try any of these practices, I’d love to hear how it went for you.

An Aural Cleanse: Part 1

The hum of our bodies is constant. And the rates of frequency and vibration vary from organ to organ, muscle, bone, tissue…We are truly an ongoing symphony. I have always been someone who is sensitive to sound.

We all need periods of aural detox. Where we are cleansing our auditory centers and thus our brain, body, and nervous system from the general noise that we take in throughout the day. Depending on where you live, that can be a lot or very little. It’s funny, we take showers to clean our body, do cleanses for our digestion/gut, and now there is such thing as a media detox. But what about a sound cleanse/aural hygiene? What would that look like? In the next series of posts I will chat about a few different ways we can nurture and support our ears; inner and outer and use conscious listening as a way to relax our nervous system and calm and ground ourselves.

As you go about your day, take note of the sounds in your environments; from the natural to the mechanical. Are there constant hums of machinery? Is there intermittent sounds of birds or cars, leaves rustling or bangs and slams? Notice what you are passively taking in through your ears that you may not realize; have become so familiar with as it actually turns into a different kind of silence. As you do this throughout your day and week, notice how your body responds to these sounds. Are they comforting? Agitating? Neutral? Do different parts of your body respond to different kinds of sounds and noises? In pleasure? Contracting? Do certain sounds pull you out of your moment, distract you? As you explore and get more curious, allow yourself to connect with your breathing, not changing it, but noticing it, and the sounds from your breathing. See if you can allow this shift in listening to expand and center you. You still hear and listen to the sounds in your environment but the sounds from your breathing are heard and tracked first.

Can you recognize the intimacy between your ears and your breathing? As you listen…listen underneath your breathing. Inside your breathing. Listen to everything that surrounds the shape of your breath. Is it silent? Other sounds?

Thank your ears for all the work they do and all that they offer through their purpose. They keep you safe, they bring joys and pleasures as well as warnings and cautions.

Mindfulness and Vocal Health

Have you noticed that your voice doesn't always sound the same? Some days the lower part of your voice is freer than the upper registers, or vice versa. Somedays it may sound dry or rough, some days light and breezy. You might think "I was sounding so good yesterday and now I can't get there!" This isn't always due to technique. Everyone has on days and off days with their voice, even professionals. Our body is our instrument and we are human; we get sick, we indulge in delicious food, we drink, we get stressed...All of this can contribute to how our voice sounds and how our throat feels. And the more we are aware of how these things effect our voice, the more we can do to take care of it. 

Being Sick: Drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated. If you have a sore throat, tea with honey is soothing for the throat. It doesn't have any effect on the vocal folds themselves but can comfort the muscles in the larynx. Some products out there are great like Throat Coat tea and Singers Saving Grace(a throat spray), both of which you can find at a natural foods store. You can still sing when you're sick but it depends on what your sick with and how it's effecting your throat. If there is any swelling in the throat don't sing, and speak as little as you need. But a simple cold usually doesn't effect the throat. With the flu/stomach bug, wait to sing. And if you lose your voice, try not to speak at all, but especially DO NOT whisper. That is actually very bad for the throat. And trust your instinct. If it feels bad, stop. 

Food: In my experience, there is no black and white list of foods that effect the voice. Some foods can overproduce mucus, or cause a flare of reflux if you have that. But really noticing if there are certain foods that effect your voice comes from you checking in with yourself. Does your vocal quality always change the day after you eat pizza or ice cream? Or eat an orange? Or drink wine? Does it feel like singing takes more work in your throat? You can ask yourself, what have I been eating/drinking? As you note these foods, notice if there is a trend and become smarter about what you decide to eat and drink before an audition or an important performance. 

Water: When I learned this it changed my life: Science says it can take up 2 days to rehydrate. That means if you want to hydrate and make sure your vocal folds are lubricated before a lesson, audition or a performance, it doesn't matter what you drink that day. You can drink 3 bottles of water and it still won't hydrate you. Start being aware of your water intake a few days before. In fact, the best thing to do is to always drink enough water, every day! But sometimes we forget. 

Stress: We are human, so we get stressed out, sometimes have anxiety, emotional ups and downs. This can effect your voice in different ways. And this is where singing can help you and be your friend. Stress and anxiety often effects the breath, causing shorter inhales, tight and high in the chest. Slowing down and connecting to your breath, allowing for a deeper breath as you practice can help. Letting yourself HAVE your inhales. I often talk about the importance of the inhale, that singing isn't just about getting to the notes. Slow down a vocal exercise and simplify it to let your breath and your sound have more space, and let your mind slow down and give yourself a break. Even if you only sing one note but do it with this attention, I call that success. It may take more than a few minutes for your body and voice to relax and respond, so be patient with the process.

Being a singer can feel like a 24/7 job. And that's ok! As you begin to notice what effects your voice, you will begin to have a new awareness and relationship towards your body and your singing. And the care you take of yourself as a singer is good for you as a human.