Workshop - Poetics of the voice as a stage:

Filling the body by sound

This project is an intervention proposal, elaborated by the psychologist Caio Zenero Pinheiro
CRP: 06/174963 from applied studies in corporal practices. All ethical concerns have been taken to
respect individual and collective demands in the clinical reality, as well as the context of the 26th
IIBA International Conference. Thank you for the opportunity to share this work.

Responsible: Caio Zenero Pinheiro

Psychologist inscribed in CRP: 06/174963

Trainee in Bioenergetic Analysis by IABSP

Email: [email protected]

Contact phone: +55 (19) 98131-6106

Piracicaba

March 2023
Introduction:

Listening is extremely important for the formation of affections and construction of

subjectivity. Embryogenesis studies indicate the fetus already hears from intrauterine life,
being able, soon after birth, to recognize and discriminate the voice of its mother, having a
preference for this one, if compared to other voices (PIONTELLI, 1992). Regarding the
process of subjectivation, the sounds move the relationship between: individual, language,
and thought. From the articulation between these three elements, the human capacity to
represent is built, linked to the dimension of symbols and representations related to the
memory (CASTRO, 2020).
Vocalization requires an active position and articulates the subject with the production
of synaptic "new paths". The production of the spoken word, for example, requires the
presence of breathing, the activation of plural muscle chains and the organization of sounds in
an organized way in time. Use of speech has a potential for human transformation. The
production of discourse can be very effective in the release of affections linked to traumas -
speech can even lead to health. The psychological method itself has been described as: "cure
by speech" (FOCHESATTO 2011). Authors from the Bioenergetic Analysis propose the
perspective of the use of the body and bodily functions for a process of individuals’
transformation.

One of the most important theses of bioenergetics says

personality changes are conditioned by changes in bodily
functions, namely: deeper breathing, accentuated motility, fuller
and freer self-expression (LOWEN, 1975-2017, p.99).

For these reasons, the present study was systematized through planning, thought of as
an intervention in order to promote the movement necessary for the production of health, in
an articulation between the voice (vocalizations), the body (and its expressions), and the
ability to create new synaptic paths. Or, in other words: It is an invitation to give voice to our
bodies, even in times of challenge1.

1
Direct reference to the title of the conference.
Justification:

● The proposal does not require participants to have any specific material.
● The proposal aligns with the theme of the 26th IIBA International Conference.
● The proposal has already been applied several times, with positive feedback on the
benefits of the practice.
● The intervention is appropriate to the time suggested by the organization - requiring
only 80 minutes to perform all the steps described.

Objectives:
The workshop consists of a bodily experience that, in general, aims at the articulation
between the primitive affections (connected with the beginning of the speech process) and
body expression. It is an attempt at integration: voice - body, aimed at promoting mental
health.
Specifically, we can say that the meeting aims to enable its participants to experience,
through vocalization and its expression in spontaneous and free body movements, which Reis
(2020) describes as "intensive quality of voco-corporeal presence".

Characterization of techniques:

All dynamics and techniques applied here came from the articulation between
Bioenergetic Analysis, studies in Speech Therapy and Contemporary Dance techniques, based
in: Arthuso (2021), Feldenkrais (1977), Lowen (1958) and Rodrigues (2020).

Meeting planning: - Total time: 80 minutes2

The proposal was constructed in VIII therapeutic topics, intentionally distributed

over time, considering the Reichian Orgasmic Curve.

2
Considering the total time suggested by the organization (90 minutes), the proposed activity
bequeathed a margin of 10 minutes for possible delays and/or adjustments.
The Roman numerals contained in the graph correspond to the topics described below:

I- Intuitive walk: - Total time: 5 minutes

All participants will be invited to walk through the room, occupying the empty spaces,
in a fluid and intuitive walk. The responsible psychologist will guide them to move, breathe
and connect with the feelings, emotions and expectations of the experience. Walk will be an
invitation to connect with the subjective world.

II- Exploratory drift: - Total time: 5 minutes

As soon as the participants connect with the subjective world, they will be invited to
the exploratory drift. The responsible psychologist will guide them to walk with fluctuating
attention, turning their gaze to the elements that brings attraction, making an exploration of
the room and everything that composes it - participants will also be invited to direct their
attention to each other. It is a moment for the members to connect with the field formed by
presence, in an intimate articulation between the objective-subjective world.
III- Connection to the ground: - Total time: 5 minutes

Participants will be asked to walk until they find a place in the room where they feel
good. The orientation is: “when you find this space, pay close attention to your surroundings
as if trying to memorize as many elements as you can about the space”. Then, they will lie on
the floor with their belly up and hands along their body - breathing and contacting themselves.

IV- Exploring the body on the ground: - Total time: 10 minutes

The mediator will read the following excerpt taken from the book "Awareness through
movement":

There are parts in every body and in every personality with which the
individual is fully aware and familiar. For example, almost everyone is
usually more aware of their lips and fingertips than of the back of their
head or armpits. A complete and uniform self-image in relation to all
parts of the body, all sensations, feelings and thoughts - it is a difficult
ideal to achieve until now, in the state of ignorance of man.
(FELDENKRAIS, 1977, p. 201)

Feldenkrais (1977) believes the transformation in the self-image enables the

constitution of new connections capable of transforming feelings, emotions and, consequently,
thoughts. This modification is permeated by the exploration of movements. In this topic the
mediator will guid practices to "expand the limits of the possible" (FELDENKRAIS 1977),
seeking to create alternative forms of adhesion of the participants' backs to the ground.

The conductor of the group will then say:

- Think about the excerpt read. What do you think about trying to expand our body
awareness to get a more complete and integral self-image?
- Try to explore the entire back of your body, but in a different way...
- You should move as little as possible, using only the points where you feel the body in
the ground. Then, pay attention to the parts that connect your back to the ground.
Where does the body touch the ground? Where doesn't it?
- What parts do you use the most to support your back on the ground?
- Can you seek for other parts that sustain and support you?
 - This is an invitation to perceive the void and try to fill that emptiness in a subtle way
with your presence on the ground.
- Try to use subtle movements, pay attention to de parts of the body that you already
know and use them to discover ways to adhere, to the maximum, the back of the body
to the ground - filling the maximum points in which the contact is not perceived and
trying to find new parts of support that connect the back to the ground.

In this way, a transformation in the self-image can be produced by the exploration of

the parts that support the body. In this topic, the adhesion and connection of bodies with the
ground have been explored to produce the rootedness of the participants in their bodies and in
the environment in which they are.

V- Listening training: - Total time: 10 minutes

Participants will be invited to observe sounds, noises and silence, as soon as their
bodies integrate into the space. A construction of listening will be made with the objective of
integrating sensory perception and imagination. The process will be constructed by the
following listening path: 1- cosmos (room and surroundings), 2- macrocosm (city, state,
country, world) and 3- microcosm (skin, viscera, blood circulation). The mediator will act as a
conductor of attention/imagination, making statements such as:
- Turn your listening to the space around you (people nearby, noises in the room, noises
nearby).
- Now, try to expand a little bit: start listening to the building as a whole, the floors,
people walking down the halls…
And so on: The guidance will take place in stages going from "cosmo" to
"macrocosm" ending inside the skin: "microcosm".

VI- Voice as a stage: -Total time: 10 minutes

Castro (2020) describes us as "sound and listen beings", this perspective characterizes
us as producers and receivers of sounds, noises, music... Taking this as a prerogative, in this
topic the invitation to sound exploration through the intonation of consonants will be
suggested.
 As proposed by Rodrigues (2020), the use of consonants leads us to an "ecology of
practices aimed at phono articulatory investigation". It means that the exploration of
consonants, disassociated from vowels or even "ready words", allows the body to meet with
sound separated from sense - As in the early stages of speech, when we babble sounds that are
not linked to the semantic field or when we hear the sounds produced by parents and
caregivers but still do not understand anything that has been said, only recording the
intonations and sounds "loose in the air".
In this moment of experience, we’ll be building an environment of primitive sound
memories. Each participant composes the space with their vocal presence in an exploration
conducted by the mediator, who will make the following orientations:

- Lay where you are and start chanting some letters.

- These are letters that we do not have the habit of vocalizing because they are
consonants.
- We'll try it one at a time, starting with the "m".

At this point the mediator will demonstrate how to sing the "dry" consonant - without
it being linked to any vowel. The form of vocalization of the consonants will be oriented by
the table of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). At this stage the participants will be
instructed to sing the vowels: "m", "p", "b", "k" and "l". One at a time, in an average of 2
minutes for each.
It’s important to remember that this experience has been built based on the Reichian
Orgasmic Curve. This topic is linked to the "loading" or “charge” stage, by the orientation of
vocal exploration, it is important that the mediator give suggestions that increase the charge
on participants’ bodies, such as:

- Try to put a little more energy into the intonation.

- Take a deep breath and use the air from your lungs.
- Use your voice to increase the body's energy flow.

The use of voice produces movements that articulate lungs with abdominal and
diaphragm muscles, laryngeal muscles and airflow, muscles of the lips, tongue and jaw, as
evidenced in the following diagram:
 3

VII- Filling the flesh by sound: - Total time: 15 minutes

The participants will be invited to close their eyes and move freely experiencing the
consonants: "m", the "p", the "b", the "k" and "l".
It will be guided that they seek to understand the feeling that each of the sounds
provokes, feeling which is more comfortable and which is more uncomfortable. It will be
suggested they try to connect with the affections that have arisen from the exploration and use
the voice to "release" possible negative feelings (exploring the possibility of shouting or
whispering, of extending the time of sonorization or getting it short, for example).
It’s expected that the sound composes and crosses the body, turning into movement,
crossing the flesh and gaining the world through the body expression. Participants will be
invited to go lifting and "dancing" the feelings that come, producing sounds of consonants.
This topic should provide a fluid experience composed by movements that each one feels they
need to do to release tensions and connect with pleasure.
This topic is characterized by the "climax" of the activity, so it is important that the
guidance is vigorous. The mediator will try to get participants to the maximum of their
energetic power in movements and free sounds in an attempt to produce a discharge.

3
Vocal parameters from a nonlinear point of view - Mattos (2014) apud Rodrigues (2020)
VIII- Relaxation and final sharing: - Total time: 15 minutes

At the end of the process, the participants will be instructed to surrender to the floor,
adopting a position they consider most comfortable. The mediator will guide them to
accommodate their bodies for a moment of relaxation, surrender, rest and self-regulation, after
all the expenditure of energy. Tranquil songs will be played to reassure the participants.
Finally, everyone will stand up, lazily, and form a wheel to share the experience.

Conclusion:

As we have seen throughout this work, sound exploration articulates the relationship
between objective world and subjective world, mind-body, sensory perception – imagination
and release of possible negative affection. Thus, it can be concluded that voice is a very
interesting therapeutic resource in the work in body psychotherapy, since its use enables the
interrelationship between essential elements to the construction of psychic health.

References:
ARTHUSO. (2021) Pesquisa e estudo: “A voz que dança”.
CASTRO. (2020) Música e clínica - sonoridades e subjetividades. Curitiba. Editora Appris.
FELDENKRAIS. (1977) Awareness through movement. São Paulo. Summus Editorial.
FOCHESATTO. (2011) A cura pela fala. Belo Horizonte. Estudos de Psicanálise. n. 36
LOWEN (1958) The language of the body. New York. Collier Books.
LOWEN (1975-2017) Bioenergética. São Paulo. ABDR.
PIONTELLI. (1995). De feto a criança: um estudo observacional e psicanalítico. Rio de
Janeiro: Imago.
RODRIGUES (2020) Glossolalia intensiva: Como criar uma voz para o corpo sem órgãos.
São Paulo. Dissertação apresentada ao Departamento de Pós-Graduação em Artes da UNESP.
SOUZA, V. L. T., DUGNANI, L. A. C., REIS, E. C. G. (2018). Psicologia da arte:
Fundamentos e práticas para uma ação transformadora. Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas).