That Time I Lost My Voice
- Sara Scott McDowell
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
It was the week of our church's annual women's retreat.
We were headed to a beautiful location in the North Carolina mountains. The weather was supposed to be perfect, and the company even better.
I was scheduled to lead worship all weekend, 4 sets total - Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning.
That week, a cold hit me. I tried all the things I knew to do - water with more water, tomato soup, rest, vocal rest, the natural supplements, the allergy, cold, and anti-inflammatory meds...
But nothing seemed to work.
By Thursday, I had lost my voice completely.
Have you ever completely lost your voice before?
Yes
No
Thankfully, I had two other incredible women leading with me that weekend - my sister Kate, and my friend Yvette. They had to pick up way more of the leadership than they were originally planning to, but praise God that they were there. The musical worship for the weekend could continue as scheduled, and I was still able to be a part to provide silent worship leadership and instrumental support via acoustic guitar.
Now if this had happened to me 5 years earlier, I would have done my normal get-back-to-it routine when my voice came back - jump back in as soon as I could squeak out a decent sound again, and believe for the best.
But not this time around. I had learned a valuable lesson with my partially paralyzed vocal cord, and knew there was a better way to get back to singing.
Here's what I did:
Checked in with my voice throughout the weekend using hums
Hums, when done with forward placement and no force or tension, are very gentle on the voice. I was able to check in with my voice throughout the weekend using hums as my measure. If I couldn't get a hum to happen, singing definitely wasn't going to happen.
Took the following weekend off
Vocal loss is serious. It means there's quite a lot of inflammation and irritation happening with the vocal folds. I knew I would need a buffer to rest and recover.
Eased back into full singing by easing into vocal warmups first
If I had been dealing with any pain, I would have waited much longer to return to even vocal warmups. But because I had taken the right precautions, I was able to ease back into my warmups the following week. I started with just 5 minutes of humming. A couple days later, I tried a longer warmup with hums and lip trills. I kept this pace and was able to complete my full warmup the following week, feeling basically back to normal.
Eased back into full leading and singing
Just because my warmups were going great didn't mean my voice was ready for my full range, power, and dynamics. I had additional leaders scheduled with me for my next weekend back, and kept my leadership to a minimum.
Rest and Recover
I made room for as much rest and vocal rest as possible.
This experience also reminded me of 3 really important things:
The Power of Team. If I hadn't invited others in to lead worship with me for this weekend, I would have had to cancel completely. This would have meant a scramble for either me or them as we tried to find someone last minute who could not just fill the spot, but bring the connected leadership they were looking for. Don't be afraid to invite others in.
Vocal Care and Stewardship. Was I super disappointed that I couldn't lead like I was supposed to? Absolutely. But did I panic? Attempt to force my voice anyways? Risk doing further damage? No. I took a breath, and took the steps to care for my voice and myself the way I needed to. It bounced back when it was healed and ready, and I protected the health, longevity, and quality of it.
I'm More Than a Worship Leader. I'm a human being. And sometimes that means I'm going to get sick and need to rest. And that's ok. I don't need to carry the proverbial world on my shoulders and think that things can't happen unless I do the job I've been asked to do. The Lord is in the details. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me and guides me in the day to day, in the planning of services, and during the actual service. His presence is with me, and I don't need to strive or fear. The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all that I need (Psalm 23:1).
So often in worship ministry, we feel the pressure to be on all the time. Even when we're sick. Even if our voice hurts. Even if we know we need to rest.
If you're struggling in this season with feeling like it all falls on you, please know that it doesn't. Take a breath. Let your shoulders relax. Unplug for just 5 minutes to take deep breaths and remember that the Lord is with you.
Hi, I'm Sara!
I support women in worship ministry through vocal coaching, worship leader coaching, and worship ministry coaching. I'm so glad you're here! You can find out more about 1:1 vocal coaching HERE. And always feel free to reach out if you have questions or need anything.
All my best,
Sara