Resilient Public Speaking
Consistent Practice
It is one thing to attend a Public Speaking course and take away one or two key techniques that you can put into practice straight away, and another altogether to develop practices that can support you throughout your lifetime.
As a yoga instructor and 20+ year practitioner, I had a regular yoga practice and was well aware of the benefits associated with yoga. In fact, it was very apparent to my husband even, when I hadn’t practiced for a while and needed to release some tension.
It wasn’t until the pandemic that I began to understand how my practice had increased my resilience. When faced with the uncertainty that arose, I was able to prescribe specific remedies to the individual challenges that I faced as each arose. This was different than going through my normal practice. Rather, this was a spot check diagnosis and treatment. When my mind began to race, I was able to acknowledge that it was happening and bring it to a single point of present focus. When the adrenalin spiked, I was able to breathe deeply into my abdomen, and regulate my nervous system.
Certainly, anyone could learn these techniques as simple tools that can be employed in challenging circumstances. The difference is that I was able to use them without any fuss. They worked, the first time. They worked because I have been practicing them over the past twenty years. So I was able to draw on them and reap the benefits straight away.
Continuous practice gives us the tools to allow us to be more resilient under duress. Is it helpful to take up yoga, or breath work during a pandemic? Yes. Will the results be as immediate, and the effort required to garner those results be as minimal, without years of practice, no.
Participants in Hold Your Own trainings will be sent a link to short video clips that will allow them to develop regular breath, voice, and physical practices, so that they can connect with themselves on a regular basis and then call upon those skills when more challenging situations arise.