September Speaks
How to Nourish a Voice That Won't Be Silenced
Hello Wild Folks,
Iceland has been inspiring me for some time now.
At first, it was the land, the natural beauty. Oh, those rainbows.
But this year I learnt about the people. The Women!
It made me want to pack up my things and move there, pronto.
I watched a documentary about Iceland's 1975 women's strike a few months back on a flight back from the States. It was truly inspiring. Got me all pumped up and made me think hard about the role that I, we, play in shaping the furture we want. For ourselves, our children, for their children.
And Iceland came to a complete standstill.
Men couldn't get to work because there was no one to look after their children. Newspapers couldn't print because women ran the typesetting.
The footage they showed was both hilarious and sobering.
Dads, husbands, brothers, left with their mouths wide open as the women in their lives just walked out the door and said they'd be back later. They had kids hanging off them in offices. They looked ragged and stressed.
The women? Determined, united. A force!
The result, the whole country went,
“Oh. OH. We actually need you.”
Five years later? Iceland elected the world's first democratically elected female president.
The story confirms why it is I do what I do.
Helping women find their power in spaces where they've been taught to make themselves smaller.
Because what I see every day in my voice coaching . . .
Having a seat at the table means absolutely nothing if you can't speak at that table.
Those brilliant women?
They know their stuff.
They have the ideas that could change everything.
But somewhere along the way, they've learned to make themselves smaller, quieter, more palatable.
And democracy is literally dying because of it.
The V-Dem data shows freedom of expression declining in 25% of countries worldwide. (Thanks Elle Griffin for that info!)
What does this mean for womens voices?
We're losing the collaborative leadership styles that women bring, the inclusive perspectives, the very approaches that research shows build stronger institutions.
Iceland's women didn't just go on strike. They showed us what happens when women's voices become impossible to ignore.
CHANGE.
That's what I'm after. One voice at a time.
How to Nourish a Voice
After watching those Icelandic women refuse to be silenced, I kept thinking about what it takes to sustain that kind of vocal power, that physical presence. Not just for one day of protest, but day after day in boardrooms, courtrooms, conference rooms, even in the GPs office, where women are still fighting to be heard.
So let's talk about nourishing the voice. Because YOU are the instrument.
When it comes to speaking out loud: Food, movement, reading, thinking, socialising, resting all play a role in how we show up.
We have to tend to ourselves holistically. Mind, body and soul.
We can't sustain any kind of presence if we're running on empty, physically or emotionally, and we certainly can’t lead a movement.
With Actual Food
As I watch our quince tree doubled over, bearing an enormous harvest of fruit and delight in a daily blackberry forage, it seems only fitting to talk about vocal nourishment in the context of the actual foods we are feeding our instrument.
What I, what we consume, impacts how we write and how we speak.
Unlike a cellist or a piano player, our instrument is of us. We are the instrument of communciation. How we feel, mind, body soul, has an enormous impact on how we ‘play’.
For those of you who know me well, you’ll know that I am a farm to fork/ garden to fork (ideally!) human. I buy organic whenever possible and consume wholefoods, fruits and veg by the gallon. I am not a vegitarian, one day I hope to be a pescatarian, but the power or food to heal and nourish has shaped who I am and it’s something I read about a lot.
I think it started when my mum had cancer and I found a book called “Eat to Beat Cancer”. I’d always loved good food, but the idea that we could maintain our health and keep cancer at bay was eye-opening.
After her passing my body was a complete mess. My grief had manifested itself in my body.
“The body says what words cannot.” Martha Graham
In addition to A LOT of yoga, I worked with a nutritional therapist. I was still training to be an opera singer at the time and needed my body to work properly. I needed energy, stamina, strength to feed a powerful opera voice, to sustain me during long rehearsals and emotional music.
What I didn't realise then was that I was beginning to understand something much bigger . . .
Sustaining vocal power requires that we pay deep attention to nourishment throughout every stage of our lives. Our voices, the literal ones that sing and speak, and the metaphorical ones that fight to be heard, need different things at different times.
What fed my healing body in my 20s isn't what my perimenopausal brain and body needs now.
The work of Dr Federica Amati and her book, Everybody Should Know This, are resources I turn to weekly. I have so much for energy, and know that what I’m putting in my body is backed by science.
Movement
How you move your body through the world impacts how you sound.
Physical tension and bad posture are communication killers.
In additiona to stress and anxiety, high heals, computer screens and mobile phones are the worst offenders in the 21st century.
If your body is tight, your shoulders up around your ears, and your jaw clenched then you will not be able to speak your truth. You voice will be physically held to ransom.
For women, throwing on some high heels might feel like an easy authority win, but I tell you this from experience, those heels, they disconnect you from your vocal power.
Ancient cultures understood the connection between being rooted and being powerful. They hold the wisdom that we have lost.
Women from India, Zulu tribes, Bedouins, the ancient Greeks. They embodied their sound. Many traditional cultures understood something that the Western world is only rediscovering. That true vocal power comes not from the throat, but from deep in the core of the body.
Find ways to open up the vocal body and truly connect with your natural physicality. For me, this is running, hiking, yoga and feldenkrais.
There's so much more to explore about nourishing the voice - how breath transforms that grounded energy into vocal power, and the stories we inherit about when it's safe to use our voices. More on nourishing the voice to come.
Until soon,
Claire x
Work Together This Autumn
As I continue to learn how best to meaningfully support as many women as possible, my Autumn offerings have evolved a little since I last wrote. This reflects what I see working well with my existing clients, what others have asked of me, and my own capacity as a human being and mother.
IT'S HAPPENING: Voice Circle opens October 2025
This is VERY exciting for me. It’s been in the works for over a year and the time has finally come to turn it into a reality.
I keep witnessing the same profound transformation in my 1:1 coaching . . .
When women find their authentic voice, everything changes. Not just how they speak in boardrooms, but how they set boundaries, navigate difficult conversations, and show up for themselves everywhere.
Voice Circle is an intimate group coaching experience for professional women ready to discover that power together. First cohort starts mid-October.
1:1 Voice Coaching: I’m currently taking bookngs for October. You can choose the journey that's right for you here.
