Question about larynx and open throat.

EnglishTea123

Hi, guys! Happy Lunar New Year! A bit late lol

Okay, so I have been working on the program nowadays, and found that, in the "Close Back of the Throat" video, Ken demonstrates his uvula rising. A bit of play-on-words here for me. His uvula is "rising" as the scale ascends, BUT mine just STAYS up. Also, I noticed in that video that Ken's uvula literally disappears. Mine? Mine doesn't really disappear--again, it just stays up there. I just can't figure out what I am doing wrong. Am I placing my vowel sound wrong?

Thanks!

highmtn

Everybody's uvula will look just a little different. It should rise a little more when you go up in pitch. If you're already raising it, then maybe it has nowhere else to go upwards when you do go higher in pitch.

As you continue working the program, you will become more relaxed with your open throat, and it will behave more consistently.

Bob

EnglishTea123

Hello! I have been practicing diligently nowadays.

Okay, so I've been experimenting with open throat sensation, because something tells me that my throat isn't that open at all. While experimenting, I came across this sensation in my ears. It's that feeling you get when you yawn. I dunno if I can describe it in words, but it feels like my ear holes have been opened??? It's like I can hear myself directly when this happens. It's that feeling of trying to push "air pressure" out when your ears feel stuck. Ugh I am not sure if this makes sense.

For example, when I say, "Ah, Ah," while keeping this sensation rather than just flat out saying, "Ah," then I can hear myself better and something feels very open.

If this isn't coming across that well, I do apologize. If it isn't, then I'll just ask it in a different way that I hope makes more sense. When opening the throat properly, do you guys feel anything in the ears? Like, sense of openness and such?? This sensation that I'm talking about becomes more evident when you have in-ear or over-ear headphones.

Thank you.

highmtn

You are opening the eustachian tubes. That's not part of Open Throat technique. Those tubes help you to equalize the pressure of the inner ear with the outside world.

That's not a good idea to try to keep those tubes open all the time. You could create problems with your ears by doing that. Resist the temptation to do that. If you've created a habit from experimenting with that, you should break that habit.

When you go up in an airplane or up on a high mountain, your ears may "pop" and equalize the pressure inside and outside of your head, due to the altitude and relative pressure changes. When these tubes fail to allow the equalization, it can become very uncomfortable. You don't want to mess with this. When the pressure does equalize, it can make your hearing better. If you have clogged eustachian tubes, it can cause you problems with discomfort and with hearing issues. That is something to see a doctor about.

Keep working on your Open Throat, but don't do it by trying to maintain opened eustachian tubes.

All the Best!


Bob

EnglishTea123

I see. Haha i guess I just took a step closer to finding the true open throat feeling. Process of elimination. Thank you, as always, Bob!