Singing Gets You High, Man

When I was 17, my high school choir sang the Mozart Requiem. Oh it was so amazing! We performed it with a professional orchestra and the soloists wore ball gowns like a real professional production. It was amazing. And of course, being the Neo-Goth kid that I was, I was so happy to be singing a beautiful mass about death. 

I was a soprano, and I can recall driving to school one day while singing some of my parts. Singing in the car was one of the many crafty ways I weaseled practice into a very busy schedule. But this day changed all that…

I was driving along in rush hour traffic, singing the high parts to Lacrymosa, one of the most beautiful pieces in the whole mass! After singing a few lines of the highest pitches, all of a sudden my head got all swirly and I barely missed hitting a car that had just moved in front of me! What happened? What was that? I had never experienced that before. 

I asked around and sure enough, singing gets you high. 

I had no idea. 

Singing just makes you feel good period. But when you sing really high notes, the vibrations hit your brain and you get really high.  

I realized that sadly there would be no more singing in the car. It was too risky. 

So what is happening here? 

There are two things you should know about singing if you want to use it recreationally, and as far as I know, this is still legal. 

First of all, singing requires deep diaphragmatic breathing, the same kind yogis use. The same kind breath workers use to reach drug-free psychedelic states. 

Second, singing stimulates the vagus nerve which calms your nervous system, giving you that “Hey man…” feeling. You know what I mean. Why do you think singers are so ridiculously happy all the time? 

If you don’t believe me try this. First experiment with breathing. Lie down on your back and take a big deep breath. Notice your belly rise. Close your eyes and do this several times, focusing on your breathing and the way it lifts the belly up and down. Breathe slowly and stay focused. You should start to feel really relaxed.  

Singers learn to breathe like this STANDING UP. That’s how we breathe all the time! 

Next, close your eyes and hum a few notes. See if you can get the pitches to creep up a little higher and focus on getting the vibrations up into your cheekbones near your nose. If you can, go a little higher. If you can get the vibrations up to your third eye point on your forehead, then you’ll start to feel a little trippy. 

This is just a sample. If you really want to get high on this stuff, you should book a lesson. I can help you hone these skills. 

And hey - instead of these dumb ineffective war on drugs programs, lets just reinstate choir programs into schools again. How about that? 

If you are interested in becoming a musician or singer, or booking a sound healing or voice work session, please contact me here: hello@bellapayne.com

Bella Payne has been a music teacher since 2003, having started out in Hollywood, CA teaching the stars and their kids. Throughout her career, she has also been a social worker, a massage therapist, and a raw food educator. She is also trained in Taoist Martial Arts, Kundalini Yoga, Breath Work Meditation, Belly Dancing, and Kid’s Yoga.

Her bachelor’s degree is in Sociology and Religious Studies. As a high school student, she studied music at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, FL.

She is a classically trained singer and also self taught on piano, guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonium, lute harp, swar mandal/tambura, and Native American flute. She has recorded 4 albums of original music and published one book of raw food nutrition and recipes. 

Her main objective in life is to create as many healthy musicians as possible. A world full of musicians is a healthy world indeed.