Modern research has shown that the voice has powerful potential as a healing tool. Singing and vocal exercises can help reduce stress hormones, lower anxiety, boost confidence and improve our sense of community and connectedness to others.

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Yet far too many of us are told from an early age to be quiet, that our voices are not 'beautiful' enough to be heard. Our voices quickly become an object of comparison and aesthetic judgement, were our own sense of self worth is defined by who sounds 'the best'.

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What would happen if we removed this judgement? What if you could sing, loud, and proud, knowing that you are free to be and express yourself, just the way you are?

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As a child, I loved to sing. When I was ten years old I got up on stage at a kids talent show in Majorca and sang a song I had written myself, without accompaniment. Yet, when it came to taking formal singing exams in my late teens, something changed. Singing at home, on my own, was not a problem, but performance anxiety, perfectionism and an awareness of my own vocal skills being judged had a crippling effect on my grades. I became afraid of singing solo, instead retreating into the safety of group singing, or not singing at all.

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In 2012, I became involved in Viking Age re-enactment at Storholmen Viking Village open air museum in Svanberga, Norrtälje. One of the founders of the village was a talented kulning practitioner, and I fell in love with the sound straight away. It wasn't until my late 20s, however, that I began to practice kulning for myself.

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I learned the basics of kulning through two courses at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, as well as through a course in kulning som friskvård held by Karin Lindström-Kolterud. As part of my master's degree in Musicology at Uppsala University, I conducted an ethnographic study into contemporary herding call practice. A central part of this study was comparing how practitioners experienced kulning when they practiced for themselves vs for an audience.

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During public performances, participants described a heightened sense of aesthetic judgement, of focus on how their voice sounded, yet when practicing for themselves, they described heightened states of flow, connectedness with nature, processing and releasing of stuck emotions, and a sense of empowerment.

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Kulning, at its core, isn't about sounding beautiful. It's about being loud, about communicating with your surroundings, about taking space and letting your voice be herd. It is about being playful, it is about feeling free.

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Classes in kulning and voice activation at Skogsdimma Gatherings hold these ideas at their core. Introductory kulning practices are combined with improvisation, toning, gentle vocal releases, group singing and intuitive flow to help you tap into your inner truth, overcome fears of being heard and let your voice shine loud and proud.

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There is something profoundly amazing when a new group of people open up and fill the room with their own, unique sounds.

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If you are interesting in reading more about my research into kulning/herding calls and their historical backround, my MA thesis is available to read online here.