24 SeptemberSing a Christmas Song

Activating your body, mind, breath and voice, there are few activities that involve you more comprehensively in the present than singing. Your task today is to sing a Christmas song.

Don't worry, this need not be some grand solo performance to an audience - it could be singing carols as part of a group, an a cappella version in the safety of the shower, or simply singing along to a song on the radio - wherever you choose to sing, all that matters is that you give it your full attention and really go for it.

Feel the breath in your chest and the vocal vibrations in your throat; hear the sound of your voice; follow the pattern of the melody; consider the meaning of the lyrics. Feel the various emotions involved, both in the tone and message of the song and in the personal feelings you get from the activity of singing. And most of all, enjoy singing for singing's sake, for the fun and expressive act that it is.

Singing engages you completely in the moment and can be as relaxing as it is exhilarating.

I will definitely be singing “These Are the Special Times” by Céline Dion today. It’s one of my favourites.

I can’t wait to ask Siri to play this song, turn up the volume, and sing along. I’m not the best singer — not to say I have no singing voice at all — but that won’t matter. Once it’s on, I notice my breath more, the rise and fall of the melody, and the emotion in the lyrics. It’s impossible not to be present when you really sing along — not just quietly in the background, but properly, wholeheartedly.

It feels like a small but meaningful pause in the day, and a reminder that these really are the special times.