Dr Gemma Perry

🇮🇹 I am not Italian. But I learned to speak Italian, and I feel different when I do. More passionate. Freer. Like I have a more detailed vocabulary to pull from and cool gestures. I used to even feel more confident doing public speaking in Italian than in English!

Apparently, the language you grow up in is tied to all your earliest feelings and memories, and a language you learn later doesn’t carry all that.

Also, there is something called “cultural frame switching” which means that every language comes with its own way of expressing yourself. And Italian just pulls something out of me and makes me more argumentative 🤣

Do you speak another language that makes you feel different? Curious!

Congratulations on being here and managing whatever you are managing!

This was an installation at the Home of the Arts compliments of the White Rabbit Gallery 🐰

One of the interesting things about vocal practices is that you are still practicing even when the mind wanders!

📊 In one study, we measured cortisol (your stress hormone) before and after people repeated the sound ‘Om’ for 12 minutes, either mentally or aloud.
Both practices reduced cortisol and self-reported psychological stress. Both practiced increased feelings of social connection. But only the vocal group showed a reduction in anxiety.

Participants also reported being more engaged in the vocal Om practice. This is common as mental repetition takes a bit more focus, so people often noticed their minds wandering (which is completely normal). When that happens in many mindfulness practices, the practice pauses until you notice and gently bring your attention back. This could be within seconds or minutes, so we are no longer doing the practice during that time. We are wandering!

But with vocal practices, even if the mind wanders, we are still producing the sound. The breath is being controlled (through the sound), and even though our mind might be wandering, our body is still engaged in the practice.

This may be one reason we found a greater reduction in anxiety following vocal practice compared to silent.
That’s one of the beautiful things about mantra. You don’t have to have perfect concentration to benefit. The practice gives your attention something to keep returning to, and even when your mind wanders, you’re often still engaged through the breath and the sound.

🕉️So if you’ve ever felt like you’re “bad” at meditation because your mind won’t stay still, mantra might be worth exploring.

Many evidence-based treatments for trauma including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) involve revisiting traumatic memories. While these approaches can be effective for some, for others the process can feel overwhelming, retraumatising, or too difficult.

mantra and repetitive sound practices may offer a different pathway by supporting regulation without requiring reliving traumatic experiences.

If you are a health professional, therapist, coach, or yoga teacher and would like to learn how to safely integrate evidence-informed mantra practices into your work, sign up to the waitlist for the Practitioner Training launching soon.

🔗 Learn more via the link in my bio.

That time we chanted Om in the cinema Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace

🎤 There’s something powerful about synchronising your voice with others.
🧠 Synchronised vocalisation is associated with neural entrainment (whereby your brain entrains to external rhythms) and neural coupling (your brain syncs to other brains in the room) which could drive feelings of belonging and connection. But even when you practise alone, you might notice a stronger sense of connection…to yourself, to others, or to something greater. Do you?

This video is from a longer interview I did on how music can help with teenagers’ sense of belonging. You can find the whole interview on Youtube.