Walking into the ATELIER, you are welcomed by voices and a heartbeat. You are surrounded by sound.
A brief, gentle transition takes place between the outside and the inside in the quiet, discreet entrance that serves as ALL's reception. It acts as a preparatory space where your breath starts to slow down, and your senses become sharper.
Sound is the first thing you notice, as orchestrated by life:
Our hearing develops in the womb during the second and third trimester: we can already hear our mother's heartbeat as well as our own. We can also hear voices, as explained by Dr. Jean Abitbol.* So, voice is the very first manifestation of otherness that we perceive: our mother's from the inside, but also others', from the outside.
By entering the ALL box at the Accor Arena, we can feel voices inviting us to enjoy an experience. They are representations of a benevolent otherness, welcoming voices of hospitality inviting us to discover something… Limitless Experiences.
A faint, almost imperceptible sound punctuates the whole, like a heartbeat within, uniting these voices together. The heartbeat echoes our own internal rhythm that we feel before and after birth. Pressure is relieved at the threshold of this timeless space, where everyone is invited to leave their worries behind and open themselves to the moment.
Singing for health?
The benefits of singing, both alone and in groups, have been studied in medicine, especially in neuroscience.
"Singing is an excellent tool and excuse for regulating your breath and acting on stress and anxiety mechanisms, leading to active relaxation and increased wellness" as well as recharging your batteries, explains Jean-François Labit, a clinical music therapist in his article for the Fédération de la Recherche pour le Cerveau (French Brain Research Federation 08/2021).
Biologically, singing reduces the level of cortisol (the stress hormone), pleasure stimulates the production of dopamine (the success and reward hormone), oxytocin (the relationship, trust and love hormone), endorphins (pain-blocking hormones) and serotonin (the respect and social predominance hormone).
Among its many benefits, singing is also thought to have a positive impact on our cardiovascular health:
"When you are singing, you breathe differently.
Your pulse speeds up when you exhale and slows down when you inhale.
Your heartbeat enters into harmony."
says Dr. Bjorn Vickhoff, a neuroscientist, in the study Music structure determines heart rate variability of singers conducted in Sweden in 2013.
Learn and go further: The voice.
The voice has so much to teach us. A doctor explains it so we can get to know it better. This makes us want to further develop and master it.
* Jean Abitbol, speech therapist and face & neck surgeon, describes the emergence and development of the voice in human history in his book, Odyssey of the Voice (2006, Plural Publishing). A former senior registrar at the Paris Faculty of Medicine and a member of the American Voice Foundation, he is Europe's pioneer in laser voice microsurgery and has developed innovative techniques, both therapeutic and diagnostic. He is internationally renowned and has treated many celebrities, singers, actors, lawyers, teachers and voice professionals. He has also published The Power of the Voice, 2018 (Plural Publishing), The Beautiful Story of the Voice, 2019 (De Boeck Supérieur) and The Female Voice, 2019 (Plural Publishing).