Why We Sing

Singing has always been there for us, inspiring and healing us from the cradle to the grave. Julia Hollander, a singing therapist, teacher, and performer, explores the importance of singing to our wellbeing, charting its influence on spiritual, emotional, and physical lives. She also discusses how singing can bring communities together in harmony and protest, embed languages and math formulae, and rehabilitate Long Covid sufferers. People of all ages and backgrounds are waking up to the joys of singing, and song-making is available in an increasingly broad range of social and therapeutic contexts.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 01 February 2024
Publisher: Atlantic Books

Singing has always been an integral part of human existence, serving as a powerful tool for inspiration and healing. In her book, Julia Hollander, a singing therapist, teacher, and performer, explores the profound impact of singing on our spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. Through personal anecdotes and scientific research, Hollander demonstrates how singing can enhance our lives from birth to death and beyond.

One of the book's central questions is why parents feel compelled to sing to their newborns. Hollander argues that singing to infants helps with their development and promotes bonding between parents and their children. She also explores how song can bring communities together in harmony, as well as in protest.

Hollander also discusses the therapeutic benefits of singing for individuals with conditions such as Long Covid. She explains how singing can help improve breathing, reduce stress, and enhance cognitive function. Moreover, singing can provide a sense of empowerment and self-expression for people who have lost the ability to speak.

Throughout the book, Hollander draws on her own life experiences and those of her fellow singers to answer these questions and provide insights into the magic of singing. She also includes the latest scientific research to support her findings.

In conclusion, Singing has always been there for us, at the root of what it is to be a human being. Through personal anecdote and scientific fact-finding, this book celebrates the way song inspires and heals us, from the cradle to the grave, and in the process does for singing what The Well-Gardened Mind did for nature, and what Why We Eat did for our diets. As a singing therapist, teacher, and performer, Julia Hollander is in a unique position to consider singing's importance to our wellbeing, charting its extraordinary influence on all aspects of our spiritual, emotional, and physical lives. By delving into her own life experiences, and calling on those of her fellow singers, the author seeks to answer these questions, underpinning her findings with the latest scientific research. In so many walks of life, people of all ages and backgrounds are waking up to the joys of singing, its power to give hope and connection in a fragmented world. Song-making is available in an increasingly broad range of social and therapeutic contexts, prescribed by doctors and community services. This book offers explanations for why this should be, and inspiration to anyone who loves to sing.

Weight: 322g
Dimension: 196 x 127 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781838953652
Edition number: Main