The voice is our primary way of expressing ourselves, and vocal problems can have a profound impact on our well-being and relationships. If you've ever been unable to speak for a while, like during laryngitis, you know how challenging it is not to have a voice.

I found out for myself just how important the voice is when I experienced vocal difficulties that turned out to be related to a benign growth in my larynx. I had surgery to remove the growth, and then completed vocal training to practice more effective ways to speak and prevent recurrence of the problem. My vocal therapist recommended I pursue additional training to integrate the body and the voice, which led me to Mark Moliterno.

Mark has developed a unique blend of vocal training and yoga therapy called YogaVoice®. As we discuss in this week's episode, the voice doesn't begin or end in the throat; it involves the entire body, from our feet to our heads, as well as our minds and energy.

Mark has a gift for teaching, as you'll hear in this episode. He treats the whole person, not just the voice, and greater vocal strength and integrity are one of the important results of that work. I'm deeply grateful for the work I've done with him.

In this episode we explore:

The role of the voice in our self-identity

What the quality of our voice can reveal about us

The connection between the voice and the body

The effects of stress and trauma on the voice

How the chakra system relates to the voice

How Mark developed the YogaVoice® program

Mark's background in professional singing and yoga instruction

Mark Moliterno, MM, has extensive experience in both voice and yoga. He is an accomplished professional opera singer as well as a voice and yoga teacher, certified Yoga Therapist, workshop leader, and author. He specializes in helping people understand and overcome blockages to their authentic voices, both physical and energetic.

Mark holds bachelor's and master's degrees in voice and opera from the Oberlin Conservatory of music; he completed additional musical studies at Rutgers University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Study in Aldeburgh, England, and the Hochschüle für Musik, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

Mark is a longstanding member of the voice faculty at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, and also maintains private voice and yoga therapy studios in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.

In addition to his career as a performer and educator, Mark is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher and an IAYT-certified Yoga Therapist. He presents YogaVoice® workshops at professional conferences and gatherings nationally and internationally. Mark has published articles in YogaLiving Magazine and The Journal of Singing; is co-author of The Musician’s Breath; and is the author and featured instructor of The Musician’s Breath Yoga DVD. His work related to overcoming performance anxiety was featured in an article entitled "How to Be Fearless" in the May 2014 Yoga Journal magazine.

For a description of Mark's approach from a singer who worked with him, check out this article: Learning to sing: lessons from a yogi voice teacher.

Find Mark online at his YogaVoice® website.