If you go to any musicians’ or singers’ LinkedIn threads, or community singers’ forums, you will always find when there is a discussion about what singers take to keep going, the mention of a ubiquitous throat lozenge, Fisherman’s Friends. Strange little flat oval tablets that are so strong they singe the hair off your nostrils when you breathe out and cauterise your throat so that you can carry on singing.
I was addicted to these, famously so, to the point where students and participants at my expression courses and retreats would find bigger and bigger boxes of these potent little things to give me. I used to suck them all the time. In fact, if I didn’t have them, I would feel quite a bit of mental discomfort, feel that my throat would clog up and get a bit raspy. I would have to clear my throat a lot, and generally singing wasn’t as enjoyable. In fact, when it comes down to it, I really felt that I needed these things to keep singing.
Then about 14 years ago, a very good friend gave me what I thought was some very strange advice… and that was just to try giving up gluten and dairy in my diet. Well, the first thing that happened was that I gained at least another half an octave of vocal range. Of course there was a bit of ‘letting go’ that had to happen as I had some smaller addictions (not as bad as the Fisherman’s Friends) like French baguettes, butter, and Brie cheese… preferably all together, in equal quantities.
Along the way, lots of other lifestyle choices opened up to me that I also had never considered – like not drinking alcohol any more, or smoking anything. This was all a very natural evolution. I started to feel more balanced and natural and found my own rhythmical way of living that actually supported my body and my music.
Along the way, I also took off 45kg of weight. I can barely lift 20kg nowadays – just imagine having a 45kg sack strapped to your back and carrying that on stage every time you had to sing and perform. So you could say that I have chosen to let go of a lot of stuff, so to speak, and the effect has been quite extraordinary. I am 64 now and I was singing at a festival recently, and really, really enjoying the feeling and sound of my voice. It felt effortless, unlimited; it felt like it could reach any note wherever I wanted to go, almost angelic in its quality, but with a strength and clarity. I was deeply appreciative of how it felt, and the journey that had got me there.
And guess what? I also realised that I had kicked the habit of Fisherman’s Friends, and that the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.
By Chris James, Singer/Musician/Voice teacher, McLeans Ridges, NSW, Australia
Further Reading:
How I Lost Weight: Sustaining a Weight Loss of 12 Stone & Counting…
The 6 best ways to lose weight authentically (hint: it doesn’t involve fad diets or gym memberships)
Addicted? Who? Me?
Interesting that in giving up something you gain so much more.
Amazing is it not to change, then feel, and then deepen, and feel, and then the changes become natural, as then flow into every area of our lives, and before we know it those who were considered friends have dropped out of sight, as you have shared Chris.
The difference in my voice is quite astounding when I am speaking from my head or my body, when I speak from the body I know my place in my universe, when I speak from head I can at best guess I am ok.
‘I also realised that I had kicked the habit of Fisherman’s Friends, and that the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.’ The best friend, not just for your voice and yourself, but for all those you can now support with such gentle, humorous and beholding authority because of your deepening appreciation of yourself, who you are and what you so gorgeously innately bring by being who you are.
Thank you Chris, a much needed conversation!, and adding to what you have shared, so much is gained by letting go, and I would imagine if we were to start again from scratch and dropped everything we were eating for a few months, then start again a-fresh, with an understanding that our body will share what works for us then our way of eating would not be a diet but what serves our bodies. This then raises another question! would we need super markets in their current configuration?
“……. the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me” and not only for one’s voice but for one’s whole being and way of living.
That is an amazing improvement and at an age where many people just try to manage their decline. Clearly decline isn’t necessary from your experience, Chris.
So true Christoph, our evolution never stops ,and it is up to us all to step up and live in a True way to maximise our age.
Our Voice is a great indicator to how connected we are or not and to what effects our life choices. The workshops Chris presents gives the participants a personal experience of this.
Interesting you would have mental discomfort when you did not have your Fisherman’s Friends fix and not bodily discomfort. Indeed our additions may be very physical but they are entirely in our mind and never the truth of our body.
My voice continues to change, it deepens, lightens, the vibrational quality of it, feels more humorous, loving, expansive…some years ago I had a tight, shrill voice, but no more…I can go into that every now and then, but I feel greatly reduced when I chose it. This voice that is growing and changing is coming from how I live, and how I am with myself, it is deeply healing to feel the power of learning to express who we are in truth and not hiding.
How we are, and how we live affects our voice, and all of our body, our well-being, as you discovered Samantha.
Amazing that by cutting out certain foods from your diet had such an impact on your vocal range Chris. What we eat and how our voice sounds either speaking or singing is not something we would usually associate together, but evidently this is something that we could all consider. Perhaps our true voice is still hiding deep within us, not yet heard, but surely there deep within, waiting to be discovered.
How addictions can sit in the way of us shining bright.
If we can feel the quality of how we live when we sing then for those who say they can’t sing or hate their voice. Is that true or is it the life led they don’t want to feel? Like our relationship to having our picture taken.
There are a lot of things that can hold us back from singing – whether we have a beautiful voice or not and working through these can be very freeing.
I love this and I take the advice, acceptance and appreciation are key and often lacking, we can make such amazing changes in our lives, but the foundation of these choices are found in accepting and appreciating all that we are and all that we choose.
It is interesting to be honest and open to the things we use to get through our days, be it fishermen friends coffee, alcohol, emotional drama, sugar etc… instead of just assuming that we need them to get through our days. Questioning our habits is essential.
We clog ourselves up so much – more than we actually realise. And it is only when we start to unclog that we discover our true selves underneath it all.
Sarah ‘clogged up’ is a great description of what we are, we are so totally clogged up with everything we are not that we have lost sight of who we all are. Thank goodness who we all are can never be erased but only temporarily obscured from view.
Our voice can change through what we consume…..it is not something many of us thing about, I know singers are aware of dairy, but usually I have heard hold back for a couple of days before a performance, but this looks at it form a deeper more meaningful angle, I love it.
A beautiful lesson in discerning a true friend – or not.
Amazing Chris! This is a beautiful example of what self-love and committing to being who you are led to deep healing. You are an inspiration for us all and your ability to give up your addiction sounds like it was effortless due to your commitment to love.
Its often those first steps that are the hardest when attempting to give something up. But once we start to feel the effects of a certain food or drink on our body, it becomes very simple to cut it out of the diet, as the body is very quick to send a message about how the discomfort it feels.
And Chris your playfulness has become even more play full, no one can deny the joy in your eyes and face. It is simply the truth of living the real you they/we get.
Oh I love that Chris, I remember trying one once and yes, it singed my nostril hairs and I never went back – to consider this was all part and parcel of being able to sing better – it just goes to show what lengths we will go to for what we want.
Chris you are a stunning example of what it is to sing with connection and the fact that the greater the connection to our essence, our Soul the greater the power and grace is so effortlessly and naturally expressed through our voice.
One loving step leads to another and then another, until all that is not loving falls naturally away, leaving us with the love and truth of who we really are.
Very beautiful Jill and nothing beats feeling and living all of who we are. The more we embrace the love we are, the more we have to share with the world. It is our responsibility to live love not only for ourselves but for the rest of humanity as well because everything we choose impacts on the rest of the universe.
Living and embracing the love we are allows all that is not love to naturally fall away, I love the simplicity of this Jill, ‘all that is not loving falls naturally away, leaving us with the love and truth of who we really are.’
Our voice box either amplifies ‘all that we are’, or it ‘amplifies all that we are not’, depending on the choice of energy we are aligned to: Soul or spirit. The former, being our true self, is a silky expression that falls out of us with no effort. The latter is a strain to maintain.
Yes..we feel the difference in our own bodies – a surrendered silkiness, or force and strain – and also notice it in others, through pitch, tone, body movements.
I realise many people would not understand what it means to be themselves, and honestly we shouldn’t until we can feel that in our bodies, and with the supportive and clear environment we can absolutely feel much more.
This is a (rather sad) fact Adele, that most do not understand what it means to be themselves. Of those who come to realise they are not themselves many will go searching for ‘who they are’. The only way to discover this though is to connect deeply into our body and from there start to discard all that we can nominate as being not us. A vast difference to looking outside of ourselves to determine new parameters to identify ourselves with.
What a great reflection you are to others Chris, when we see someone living so simply and so naturally healthy – one can not help but be inspired.
Chris this is testament to the fact that we can take one small step towards true love and our whole world changes.
Shows that the truest, best and most effective weight loss method is simply choosing to be responsible for the way we choose to live
“I gained at least another half an octave of vocal range” when we take responsibility for how we treat and care for ourselves our range of expression knows no bounds.
We have to want to feel lighter within ourselves before trying to lose weight. The more that we connect with how lovely it is to feel light in our body the easier it is to keep any weight off, therefore the decision to lose weight is a decision to be more seen and less protected in ourselves.
Before I knew otherwise, I would never have believed that certain foods could affect our voice and how we sound. Thanks to Serge Benhayon and the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom, I am now much more aware of what and how certain food stuffs affect me, and therefore I avoid them as much as I can.
No need for a fisherman’s friend or any type of stimulation when we have our connection to the all.
Very miraculous Chris to give up dairy and gluten and to experience such a change. When I heard about the effects of gluten and dairy I could give them up not long after. This was also for alcohol and tobacco – almost immediately (When I knew the consequences of alcohol it was no longer a choice). In my body I was ready to let them go to deservedly give myself a better quality of life. When you feel it is true in your body there is no going back.
The fastidious and relentless way we hang onto some habits like they are our dearest friend is a dead giveaway. The intensity they produce is simply because they block out the truth. Imagine if we made reality our best friend instead. Thank you Chris.
The trouble with reality is that we all believe that our version of reality is the real one and very few of us are prepared or even able to see it any other way.
In my experience, the more I live in connection with my body, and therefore treat it with the respect and honour that it (and I) deserve, the clearer, stronger and more powerful and delicate my voice is, whether I am singing or speaking. Anything that we do to dull ourselves has a direct impact on the vibrational energy in our bodies and therefore on our voice .
When we start living in a more loving way our old habits that no longer serve just naturally fall away as you show in this blog Chris.
Interesting that the more that you let go, the more you were able to express and that this was also reflected in your voice and the octaves you were able to reach. I have never been a good singer but the more I allow of myself out the sweeter and stronger my voice has become.
Yes, they always seem to give a hit and that doesn’t seem good for the body in the long term.
These lozenges have a numbing effect which may be what we are looking for and they go when we don’t need that effect anymore.
There are some things in life that we say support us, and we cling to them with all our might – but this desperation in itself should be an alarming sign. The things that are a true support, speak for themselves and don’t come with any kind of addictive drive. Thank you Chris for the tale of discerning what is really your friend – it reminds me that the things that are often best for us take some dedication and work to maintain.
Wowsa Chris 45kg thats some weight! Amazing and super inspiring and simple too. All you did was make a decision to be more of the real you.
I used to chew chewing gum everyday- especially when I left home and went outside. When I realised that it is actually a constant action and motion I kept myself in through the chewing gum I asked myself why. It was like putting myself under a tension through the chewing. When I decided to say YES to more stillness, when I go out to the world it was super easy to change that habit. Saying no to just chewing gum would have not worked, it needs a YES for something else. Than any addiction or habit can be changed much easier.
The changes that come with eating in accordance to your essence are incredible. You as a singer should write a book about it, how your change of lifestyle even expanded your vocal range- without any more practise but being more harmonious in your body and in effect allowing more of YOU. That will change people’s perception, because, don´t we not all get sold the idea of improving ourselves through exercise when it comes to singing?
“… the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.” Beautiful Chris. Yet the world does everything to dissuade us from being these amazing powerful human beings – from parenting to school and onwards. Rediscovering who we truly are – and through making changes to our lifestyle choices – we can return back to the sensitive tender beings we came into the world as.
We have bridled our absolute brilliance with our everyday behaviours. We have tarnished who we all are beyond recognition. We have dumbed ourselves down to near neanderthal levels and all of this we have done through our movements. We choose to move against the natural grain of God, our limbs, our mouths and our brains all moving to the rhythm of an imposter. A dirty scoundrel who loves nothing better than to impose false ways of living and being over the top of a true life and to watch all of us all mechanically moving out of sync with God. Currently we are all the united body of God moving in such a way that we no longer know who we are.
Being honest is vital to the process of exposing our addictions and the confessions of our imperfections so we can learn and grow from them, and then let them go.
An incredibly inspiring transformation Chris. And it just goes to show that we are far lighter, more potent and real when we live in connection to who we know we are, rather than the efforts required from being loaded up with and trying to live up to the ideas of who we think we are.
I had a choking fit after a crumb got stuck in my throat many years ago and I became ‘addicted’ to Fishermen’s Friends! I have ‘always’ had a cough according to people who have known me for most of my adult life. I also sing in a choir and FF’s were the only thing to stop the tickle and coughing.
I have just seen a Throat Specialist today and told there is nothing sinister in my nose or throat and have been prescribed a small dose of steroids. I decided to google effects of FF’s and after reading your Blog and people’s remarks I have decided to stop them and see if my ‘cough’ goes away!! Thanks.
Hi Kath, yes it’s good to get a checkup isn’t it. really didn’t think I could do without them at one stage… So it is great to address this.What I also found this really useful to look at was where I wasn’t actually expressing myself… It is extraordinary how this can have an effect upon us… An actual physical effect.
We should never stop appreciating how remarkable our ability is to surrender to the love that we are and just be ourselves. This is such a huge weight off us when you think of the extent to which we ‘carry the load’ of all the ideals, beliefs and images we subscribe to (not to mention the foods we eat to numb us to the effect all this is having on us) when we do not live true to this love.
Beautiful, and from this we can say that actually our greatest addictions are masking our greatest qualities. If we look at it in that way – guess what we all can open up to and re-discover.
‘our greatest addictions are masking our greatest qualities’. This is so true Danna. When we see addictions in this way, it feels easier to let them go
The lengths we will go to to hide who we are is incredible when you really stop and think about it. But how amazing is it to be able to rediscover ourselves through our own voice? It is certainly an ever unfolding discovery for me, and constantly exposes the excuses and habits I use to override and dull down who I truly am.
Great blog Chris. You wonderfully expose how the body is naturally giving us signals we don’t interpret as messages or warnings but instead get used to living a “normal” way of overriding them. The rasping voice was your body telling you that the way you were singing was not natural or congruent with how you truly could sing from all of you.
it is amazing how we can associate a way of feeling with a certain food and then it becomes so much harder to drop it out of our diet. We feel if we drop that food we miss out on the feeling associated with it. Especially difficult if it is a high.
This is a false way to live.
“The best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.” Thank you for these words Chris. They feel very settling in that I need not do anything other than allowing myself to be me to support my voice and all of me.
Hi Leigh… its true isn’t it… Of course if we are ourselves, we are naturally in tune, expressive, resonant… It’s all there all we have to do is be ourselves.,
Yes the ripple effect is extraordinary isn’t it… just like a quietly placed word or phrase of truth can, go on to to touch so many so deeply
‘ It felt effortless, unlimited; it felt like it could reach any note wherever I wanted to go, almost angelic in its quality, but with a strength and clarity.’ I love this description of your voice. The qualities we are are truly magical. How incredible it is that we hide them so – whether it’s with food or drink or whatever. But how incredible we are when we drop whatever techniques we have to constantly use to hide them. What joy to reveal who we are to the world, embracing the loveliness we’ve kept in the dark for too long.
I saw a picture on social media the other day of a lady who stopped caffeine for a month and the before and after was incredible, at the end of the month her whole face was glowing, and her eyes were so much clearer.
It is amazing the miracles that happen when we start to honour what our bodies are truly saying to us.
Thank you Chris for a great sharing, simply by bringing more love into our life by letting go of gluten and dairy and the amazing changes that you felt in the body. The body’s impulse is to naturally heal when we connect to our true selves.
It is extraordinary isn’t it Jill, what our bodies can actually recover from given the opportunity and the connection within… For everyone of us that makes a choice in this way the ripple effect if we choose to talk about it can be so profound and far-reaching.
Great story Chris. It’s amazing what lies underneath all that we pile on top. When we return to ourselves, we realise it was never lost or gone, simply there all along waiting for us to reclaim the truth and gloriousness of who we are.
Eating the right foods for us is so intrinsic to this discovery of us.
One tiny mint can hold such a spell over us when we don’t have a depth of connection to ourselves. My addictions have been many and various. There has been a strange magic at play in my process of letting go. Some of those things have been faced very directly and deliberately, a good example being gluten and dairy. I put them down and never wanted to pick them up again after a few conniptions about the butter!!
Others just fell away very naturally from the connection I was building for myself. The gluten and dairy free mint slice chocolate biscuits for example. I remember being halfway through eating one one day…and feeling sick.
By choice to let go or by the choice to deepen self connection, these strange addictions can be released, and with them the powerful expression of who we are and all that we are here to bring.
It’s beautiful how we can let go of habits and return to ourselves, once we connect to our true self. As we let go off the things that numb us, put us in racy or dulling energy. Our bodies are so clever with our cells and particles, that they are willing to heal and let go of all that is not us, as soon as we say yes to letting go.
Thats so true Amita… our bodies really are amazing aren’t they… just waiting to re-build and re-configure and re-imprint… and when that doesn’t work … well to simply re-incarnate … 🙂
Our cells and particles hold the blueprint of who we all are and there is no changing that. Ever.
The world tells us we need things, and/or help, to make us a better version of ourselves. But that’s all we get – a temporarily better version rather than the true us. But what if we appreciated our essence and who we truly are first. What if that was what we showed the world rather than a series of other people’s suggestions or advice. Blogs like this inspire people to give who they truly are a chance to shine through.
It is interesting when we observe what it is we hold onto. The gaining of voice range from giving up gluten and dairy is rather telling, might that increase in power in the voice be indicative of the wider health benefits of not eating those foods. A very simple way to improve how we feel.
Thats so true Stephen… and when we understand that our voices are a reflection of every single thing that is inside us, our light, our love, our self with or our self doubt, then this reveals even more the power of your statement.
It is amazing how one self-loving choice such as giving up gluten and dairy has the potential to start a domino effect in life, where so many areas start to shift, simply because we are naturally letting more love into our life..
Great blog Chris! Makes me wonder how many of these ideals of what foods and things we needs and what are “healthy” for us when they could in fact not only not be needed but be harming our body. I know that people often say to me what a healthy diet of greens I have. I used to think having heaps of greens was a healthy thing that would never harm my body but bloating and heaviness and overall indulging showed that even greens can be had in excess and that too is harming.
Yes, we see what we want to see don’t we and that is where recognising the body as the marker of all truth and building a relationship with it is really the only way to have a ‘balanced’ diet.
Well said Joshua,it would serve us well to examine the habits and beliefs we have around food as I have like you, found there is only one way to determine this, and that is through honestly feeling the effects in our body and then looking at why we consume them.
Our voice loves it when we are just being ourselves because when we are just being ourselves there is no stress and tension on our voice nor on our body.
so true Elizabeth
Who would have thought a throat lozenge were addictive. We believe the hard substances such as drugs, cigarettes and alcohol the culprits but there are other hidden addictions that don’t come under that umbrella. For you Chris as you made the choice to let go of your ‘Friend’, other things popped up to keep you in that lifestyle you had originally chosen.
This blog is a testimony to others that anything is possible no matter what the addiction is and what stood out for me was the fact that you recognised the problem and you did something about it, it was that simple.
It seems to be uniform across the board, that we will do anything to keep, foster and actively maintain these addictive behaviours. Even when knowing it is extreme or at the very least ‘unusual’ we still think we will fade away to nothingness without their support. But the reality about anything that keeps us hooked always is the complete reverse. It weighs us down, holds us back, restricts our true way of expressing indefinitely. In the end the only way out is, as you show Chris, if we are willing to be our own best friend and tell these old ingrained habits to ‘sling their hook’.
I love that Joseph … we will definitely be telling them to sling their hooks…. and more 🙂
I love that too, Chris, “willing to be our own best friend”. Thank you Joseph for that simple reminder . We do not have to rely on others to be our “best friends”, although there are many of them around us, but appreciate and encourage that warm yumminess inside that is our best friend and fills us up from inside so that we do not need to reach out to other things to fulfill that feeling. In Victorian times young girls used to have a passion of making a “bosom friend.” For bosom read heart. Our innermost hearts are the source of the warmth and the yumminess.
So it is more a case of what we don’t need as apposed to what we do. So many so called remedies just simply aren’t necessary if we look at how we are living and what we put in our bodies. I constantly needed heartburn remedies until stopping gluten, dairy and alcohol and now I never get heartburn or need the remedies.
It is incredible what can change in our bodies and in our lives when we let go of an addiction or a habit, and it is often the case that we are not even aware that we have one until it is not there anymore. There is a freedom and an openness that can and does flourish within ourselves and with each other as a result of our deepening connection to who we truly are.
Yes it is amazing sandra how our bodies change when we let go of things… it’s all there just waiting.
I love this story Chris. I have no sense of what an octave is, but I can feel, after your workshop, the richness and depth of our voice when we are connected.
Hey Patricia
as Homer Simpson said … you go from doh to doh and thats an octave …. well he could have said that 🙂
Thank you Chris for sharing this, it just goes to show we can be addicted to so many different things. We all have our own way to distract, to always repeat to ourselves through behaviours that we are not ‘it’, that we need things from the outside to distract us from who we truly are in full and this has been great example to us all to really look at what might be going on for each of us, what is our addiction that keeps us from just being us?
So I guess Fishermen’s Friends should be renamed in Singer’s Friends… Yet could you really call tablets that are “so strong they singe the hair off your nostrils when you breathe out and cauterise your throat so that you can carry on singing.” call friends for singers?
Exactly Lieke!!
It must be so much easier flying all around the world as you do, 45kg lighter. Do you wonder now how you managed before with all that extra weight? Its amazing how much disregard and hardship we allow into our life with out really questioning it at the time and how a few loving choices can change our life and make life enjoyable. Your blog Chris is a great inspiration to choose love over disregard.
That it is Mary Louise… sometimes I imagine a 50 K sack and having that around my shoulders and having to walk in the world carrying this burden … indeed this burden of disregard
I love it Meg, food last not first!
It’s amazing how the more we let go, and the more we know and claim who we are the less we need to use food and all that stuff to satisfy and fulfil us. You don’t even need to make food the focus, just building a solid steady commitment to life and to deepening your relationship with yourself, it’s the most simple diet ever.
That’s true Meg, normally the focus is on food, we choose a diet with this same focus and try to hold on to it in order to loose weight but it is absolutely the other way around, like you say ‘You don’t even need to make food the focus, just building a solid steady commitment to life and to deepening your relationship with yourself, it’s the most simple diet ever.’
Gosh the things we rely on to get us through the day, this just goes to show how addictive some things can be. Beautiful to hear how through self-love this all naturally fell away for you.
I often think of carrying the extra 20kgs I used to weigh about as having to carrying my 20kg bag at the airport is really difficult without wheels!!! Imagine what that does to our heart and lungs!
not to mention our knees!
I love what you offer here Chris – that to make more self-loving and self-nurturing choices is the way to counter the addictive nature of all distractions (repetitive ill choices) that serve only to keep us locked into a way of existence that is purely functional rather than living the joy and harmony that is available to us all.
Joy and Harmony …….
Sounds like freedom to me …..
thanks Stephanie … definitely a song there 🙂
Thank you Chris James. I have attended many of your workshops over the years and they just keep getting better. The way that you present and what you present has a quality that just was not there years ago. I love how the workshops evolve and give us all a space to evolve in. Heartfelt appreciation to you.
I bet if you tried one now Chris, you would find they do “singe the hair off your nostrils” and “cauterise your throat” having had a break from them, and that perhaps you were numbed by the effect of them back then and your poetic licence is actually true!
Amazing; I had no idea that Fishermen’s Friends “singe the hair off your nostrils when you breathe out and cauterise your throat so that you can carry on singing”. It’s quite extraordinary what we put ourselves through in order to keep going; but as you say, truly enjoyable it is not.
Well there might be a bit of poetic licence there Gabriele… But they certainly are strong 🙂
It is interesting that we look to things like food, alcohol or cigarettes as supports or even our best friends at times and yet all the time we are our own best friends and can make loving choices that are way more supportive.
This shows so well that making these changes in life do not take a lot of effort, a push or will power, only a willingness to be more self loving and make small changes, step by step for a total transformation to be brought about.
It’s amazing to see from making changes to the way we live and exploring our bodies and what works and or doesnt work anymore we are able to kick our addictions or old habits and align to the truth of who we are. An absolute inspiration you are Chris. Thank you.
Thanks Kelly, and of course an absolute abundance of appreciation For Universal Medicine for lighting the fire of change within us
As a good friend I am so glad you keelhauled the fishermen friends. ‘Of course there was a bit of ‘letting go’ that had to happen as I had some smaller addictions like French baguettes, butter, and Brie cheese… preferably all together, in equal quantities.’ I also totally relate to this French renaissance as a part of what I was addicted to and could have well been a part of why I lost 45 kg also. In reality I am still looking into the behaviours that feed my addictions as they were the underlying cause of why I felt empty and had to fill that emptiness with food.
Chris, this is the weight loss program that can work for everyone – listening to our body and living according to our natural rhythms.
The huge changes that can happen in our lives when we start to take look at the so-called small habits we form and see what they are truly doing are amazing. Checking in with my body before my mind justifies my next action gives me the space to realign with what I really need to do.
“I started to feel more balanced and natural and found my own rhythmical way of living that actually supported my body and my music.” It is remarkable what changes can happen when we really start tuning in to our bodies and what they are asking for. What you share here Chris is deeply inspiring, thank you.
Our voice is like an open book. It tells us so much about our essence as well as our choices and how much we are willing to live this essence.
So true Adele
This is a great example of an addiction we take on to counter the ill effects of the way we live. Take coffee for instance. When I was a kid, there was only one or two cafés in town, you didn’t see everyone including school kids walking around with take away coffee and people weren’t so tired all the time. Coffee sales have gone through the roof. WE might like to think its because it tastes good or the cute patterns they make on the froth, but really its because we would struggle to get through our days without the caffeine. Change the way you are living, eat well, do gentle exercise, express the real you, be more observant than reactive and the coffee industry sales will plummet.
I had a cold recently and bought some throat lozenges from the pharmacy, and it really surprised me just how sweet and strong they are! Crazy that these are sold to help with colds when the sugar causes such a short term pick up and then fall, plus being identical to sweets I’m sure they aren’t great for your health or teeth
Hi Susie, Olbas Oil Lozenges are great, once you have scrubbed off the exterior sugar! They work, but as with anything else we can get addicted to them. I know that, there was a time when I had to have one when I went to bed “in case” I croaked and coughed all night. One night I just stopped, and the result was that by putting a much more loving alternative in place — gentle breathing — my throat was much clearer and I had a good night’s sleep. Sometimes we won’t allow ourselves to even remember the loving thing we could do for ourselves to change the habit, but when we do it’s like magic and everything falls into place.
Chris its amazing that so many people rely on Fishermans friends to keep and help them sing, I wonder what is in those?! Anyway I love how that when you’ve looked after yourself more they naturally were not needed perhaps showing us all the way forward is with care for ourselves rather than trying to stop things we think we are addicted to.
Thanks MA ..
Beautiful example Chris of how radiant we truly are when we shed the props and step into our limitless potential.
Chris James has a wonderful voice, and even more so when he is claiming it in full.
I did my first sing along this evening with Chris James and at first I could feel my sound coming all from my throat and I felt a strain. But then as I let go of trying to sound a certain way I felt how my voice changed and the sound started to come from much deeper in my body – and then there was no strain on my throat – so it is very interesting to observe this and see how we can try and use remedies to make us sound better but actually the sound comes from the belly. I loved your sharing Chris of how you were able to let go of what you thought would fix you and know that our bodies can support our true voice.
It is known fact that being overweight or underweight is a protection against feelings we don’t want to admit or feel and against the world around us. Being honest about the feelings brings us to the truth. The truth is mostly about how little we value and love that essence of ourselves, the true love that is innate in us, and therefore feel we have to protect ourselves from whatever the world chucks at us. Did we but know it through all that long process of trying to break habits, if we allowed ourselves to re-connect with that essence and feel the power it has to render the attacks useless then there is no need for protection and the weight effortlessly drops away, or naturally increases. When we align with our soul then the body follows.
Chris its great to hear how simply making loving choices allowed you to let go of so much in your body and addiction of the lozenge’s. Its crazy what we can hold onto without out even realising. Bringing honesty to it is the best way forward.
Hi Amita … yes indeed, an ongoing choice to keep letting go and feeling… and there it is more to let go of
Addictions to one thing or another are fairly common in life, I know I have had them, and if I don’t truly heal them I end up replacing one addiction with another. It is important to address the root cause and heal that.
Something I have been noticing recently is that when I eat, and also overeat, certain foods my body tells me it didn’t appreciate it by giving me a very husky, no tone, almost non existent voice!! I have refined my diet over many years but when I remember all the sugar, grains, dairy and much else I use to stuff down me no wonder my voice was strangled and unavailable, and I felt I couldn’t sing. The messages weren’t so obvious then, but certain old habits die hard, and those few remaining choices I make to abuse my system really show up in certain parts of my body, including my voice. Choosing a loving way for ourselves frees us up to use our full expression, and then everyone benefits.
It’s so cool when you realise that every single little choice you make effects your whole life, and that the more love in those choices allows things that you thought you’d need and want forever to just fall away.
I love to read this blog again today Chris, it is so simply and beautifully written and delivered. For as long as I could remember I have disliked ( even hated) my voice but then little wonder as I was empty and very needy back then… Like you I have let so much go in my life, in a nutshell I let go of an old way of living and relating ( from my head) and now feel more solid in my body than I ever have. Over the years I have changed from the inside out and look and feel differently and have developed a new commitment to life… and I also discovered that ‘the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me’.
Your transformation has been beautiful to behold Jacqueline… a testimony to making right choices
I lived with an opera singer for twenty years so learned about all the ways singers use to try and keep their throats clear. Each singer had their favourite remedy, one was gargling with a sherry and honey mixture. Having been in stage myself, not singing but acting, I know that the throat is the first place where the anxiety of performance shows up, and so the throat lozenges or whatever else become a form of protection to try and control our ability to perform. There is a double anxiety then, the performance and the “will my throat behave?” You have shown us, Chris, how possible it is to change this addictive behaviour by first connecting with what we truly know inside us, and that it is only our fear of making ourselves vulnerable without our usual support systems that holds us back. When we truly connect then we open up to ourselves and others instead of shutting ourselves off and down, and dwelling on all the physical difficulties fades away. You sing with such joy from the heart Chris, it is hard to belief you were like you were.
Very insightful Joan… you have opened up even more awareness for me in your comment … thank you.
Life becomes amazing when we become our main support system. To be able to go into any situation with any person and to know that you’re absolutely rock solid feels incredible. This is how I feel most of the time and there are supports that I have in place to enable me to feel this way. My connection to my body is one of my strongest supports, my routine/rhythm is another, my awareness is yet another, as is my willingness to be open and honest. I have a support system in place that in turn enables me to be the main support system in my life.
When we focus on a habit and try to break it I don’t find it as affective as when we bring more care to ourselves and then just completely loose interest in the thing we were addicted to in the first place. As caring for and loving ourselves feels far greater than the addictive habit.
I Love that Kevin … letting go of the shackles !!!… great image
“I am 64 now and I was singing at a festival recently, and really, really enjoying the feeling and sound of my voice. It felt effortless, unlimited ” What is more usual is to hear that singers voices lose their strength and and power as they get older, whereas what you are sharing Chris is the complete opposite. And I know from my own experience that the more I let go of in my own life, the clearer and stronger my voice gets. There is a beautiful depth to it that I am discovering that has always been there but which had been masked by how I had been choosing to live my life.
I have heard of singers taking up smoking cigarettes to try and get a more raspy or edgy depth to their voice, can’t imagine it doing the voice or anything else for that matter much good long term. I love reading blogs like this where we are released from the shackles of habits that are not only not good for us but also hinder or stop our evolution.
I was addicted to sunflower seeds for awhile, it sounds ridiculous but I was and I put on weight and constantly thought about how I could eat them, with what and how, I was like a crack addict. Until we live the full glory of the love in our hearts we will always be reaching to something to relieve the tension of not living that love.
Indeed Vanessa, learning to consistently accept and realise the boundlessness of our potential is not a way of being that we the world upholds or supports.
There are so many habits we have that are bad for us, but we don’t even realise they are a habit, let alone that they cause us harm. Once we know they are a habit that harms us, then they can be looked at in the true light of day and choices made to live another way.
Feeling what impulses my body has been life changing, not only has the Fisherman’s Friends, gluten, dairy and alcohol dropped away my awareness has developed in so many others ways. My awareness is how I am evolving, so that everything I do in my life is becoming simpler so that I do not react in many situations.
Agree, and ideally, we shouldn’t rely on any substance for relief and it is only a temporary buffer to the ill that will one day manifest.
I love it when you don’t even realise you have kicked a habit. For example I used to throw back bottles of sparkling water that it replaced normal water. One day I just didn’t like the carbonic acid of the drink and gave it up without even knowing.
Living truly and naturally is the best way to live.
We all have the capacity to be addicted to many things, in this case for you it was Fishermans Friends, we as humans do like to find distractions or addictions in life. But what you have illustrated is when you get underneath the true reason ‘why’ there is an addiction or distraction, the opportunity for healing is immense.
Stopping those things we are addicted to can be simply a case of letting go of things as beautifully expressed here – we have not understood why we do it in the first place if we have to use will power and effort to do so.
We can be addicted to just about anything. The root cause however is always the same and that is that we crave a deeper connection with ourselves and everyone else. When that occurs the addiction just goes.
Well said Elizabeth, and the more we let go of the clutter that gets in the way of this connection the easier our journey. Chris makes a good point that gluten and dairy were the first things he let go of and these are well known to dull our awareness ( research now links gluten with Alzheimers) and create mucous (dairy products) in our body which inhibits cell activity and of course has a huge affect on our vocal chords. A great way to begin a clearer life, physically mentally and emotionally is to drop these from our diet. However if we do this without connecting to our self consciously we are expecting our renunciation to do it all for us without putting in place a new way of being. The Gentle Breath Meditation and gentle exercise where we feel our bodies from the inside all support this movement away from addictive behaviours.
I love this too and can relate to what you have shared here Chris as I have had a similar experience myself. I was never addicted to Fisherman’s Friends, but definitely had other addictions, one of them being sugar or sweet foods. I have always enjoyed singing but never knew the strength and range of my own voice until I stopped eating dairy, gluten and sugar. And I still find now that the more I refine my diet, the more I am able to feel and connect to who I truly am, and in return my voice gains more depth and strength, and there is a different quality to it.
Yes indeed it can be so simple sometimes, when i stopped eating gluten and dairy there was an immediate 1/2 octave vocal range opening and increase…. very cool!!
It is amazing and scary at the same time how we have these things in our lives which we see as harmless or our own little coping secrets, but are in fact being abusive to ourselves.
I love that ending Chris, that just being yourself was the best of friends for your voice.
I love the way you describe feeling your body and your voice now Chris that you have let go of so much. It shows us that we are always carrying our illl choices with us and how much freedom can be felt when we make more loving choices.
yes it really is like a great weight being lifted off us…. sometimes more liberating then simple weight loss!
Choosing to make choices that supports one to establish one’s “own rhythmical way of living” is the most loving thing one can ever do for oneself. For from that foundation one aligns to the rhythm of the Universe.
Another awesome example of how well the body responds to a gluten and dairy free lifestyle. Very cool Chris!
When I overeat I am sure that impacts on my expression, I am less likely to really bring all I am to a situation and in that case everyone loses out. When we start to see how our unhealthy habits impact the whole we are more likely to change them.
I so relate to what happens to my expression when I overeat the bloating, numbing, become lethargic and even fall asleep in the middle of the day so these are affecting my days. One by One I am becoming more aware of what is affecting my true expression and what I need to do to develop a greater awareness and therefore not go into a reaction that then causes me to overeat so I become numb and not be aware of my clairsentience.
Greg I have come to realise that the vast majority of us are in a reaction of some kind most of the time. Sure we might not be blowing our top or balling our eyes out but we’re not settled either, there is something going on, a kind of underlying disquiet that never gets recognised or mentioned.
Thank you Chris for sharing your journey to freeing yourself from addictive behaviours. You have an amazing talent and we are all blessed to have you singing at the top of your form !
Thanks Roslyn… the extraordinary thing is … it just gets better …. who would have thought that possible!
It takes honesty and commitment to give up the comfort and address the real underlying issues.
and its definitely worth it …:-)
Fisherman’s Friends aka anything that avoids me taking responsibility for being my fully claimed self! Simple really. Holding that truth in every moment is my life’s purpose!
It is quite amazing how our voices and they way we use them to communicate is very telling of where we are at, at any given time, and anything that is not truly needed to support us would have to have an impact on our expression as everything is everything and everything effects everything. Funny how we can override that one and keep going with our addictions to satisfy the spirit who does not wish to address such things.
There is a new advert out here in the UK on the TV promoting Fishermans’s Friends as the cure for all singers throat problems, so obviously it is a well known aid for singers – every time I see it I think of this blog and how addictive they are.
I was really interested to read how you gained an increased vocal range Chris by changing your diet. What a beautiful reflection of how our particles expand and our vibration changes when more space is created by eating lighter and less dense foods.
Funny that you mentioned that you got quite a lot of mental discomfort when you didn’t have the throat lozenges, it’s as if we are always looking for something to keep us occupied and when we are left to be we always avoid what we are feeling!
This is so great to read, it is not in trying to kill the addiction. But choosing more and more for ourselves, to see the beauty that is there in life. And that the addiction is there to hold back from this beauty. Gradually growing out of our livingness.
Amazing to discover that just by giving up dairy and gluten you discovered a whole new range in your voice Chris. If this is possible from giving up just two food types, it leaves me wondering what else is possible…? Maybe there is far more for us to discover about ourselves that lays hidden under the layers of behaviours that we take on to stop us feeling the potential of who we truly are.
Baguettes and fisherman’s friends, were once part of my addictive behaviours along with gluten and dairy. I was totally addicted to strong tasting food even super hot chilies so now I am pondering on what was it about taste that had me addicted. Because now everything I eat is soo(!) yummmy. I have also lost somewhere over 40kg. I will never know exactly because when I was big I would stay away from scales. I now value what I feel in my body when I eat over what the latest taste sensation is, even though as I have previously stated every thing I eat tastes super yummy. If something makes me racy, which always leads to me feeling sleepy afterwards, or if I feel lethargic or bloated then I have to narrow down from the meal I have eaten to discover what is no longer supporting my body. Who knows one day even corn chips might return to my dinner plate but every time I give it another go it fails to support me and bloats me leaving me feeling like I have a hangover when I awake the next day.
I feel I am just addicted to life in a way that keeps me from feeling I am just a living Son of God. It is time to break the shackles, hoist the main sail and return to the calm waters of my inner-heart.
People generally put on weight as they age, however those involved with Universal Medicine seem to be bucking the trend
What an awesome transformation Chris, very inspirational indeed. So beautiful that you found that the best friend for your voice and for you was you; true and simple.
This blog reminds me that there is a constant communication happening between each other all the time, whether we are up on stage or walking down the street. And in this communication we have a choice to be ourselves, or to protect ourselves – using whatever props are available at the time. The thing is however in the protection, as Chris explains, we are not actually protected because we are not bringing all of ourselves to the fore, which is already a hurt to begin with. And in fact the greatest steadiness and stability we can have is to be all of who we are, thereby the communication we have is genuine and fulfilling.
I was watching a shared video clip on the internet today about the addictive effects of social media and mobile communications. It’s no wonder that everyone is so attached to their smart phone, even at 18 months old I have seen toddlers being able to access basic function of these devices. Where are we really going with this? Definitely worth asking if we are making that choice to use our phones and the many features or do they hold a pull over us.
It is very true that we can rely on all sorts of foods and products to get through life when all the time when we allow ourselves to express from our inner most there is so much support naturally there.
Being truly you sounds like the best thing for all of you. Always inspired and amazed when people make choices from who they are then turn around and realise they no longer need the things they thought they needed, those things had naturally dropped along the wayside because they were never who they were in the first place. Very beautiful.
Chris you are an inspiration for letting go of this addiction and for dropping such an incredible amount of weight, this shows us what is possible when we begin to truly support and love our bodies.
That’s a good point Gill, giving something up only to replace it with something else i.e smoking and then putting loads of weight on because we start to eat too much or snacking – like you say nothing has changed. So it all comes down to the connection we have with ourselves first, and then true change can occur.
I find it quite remarkable that we can lose weight and later on when we are living with the new weight, we look back and feel we would not be able to carry around the weight we let go of, yet before we carried it around all the time.
I love this photograph of Chris. It expresses so well so many of his adorable qualities – playfulness, childlike innocence, openness, tenderness, welcoming, fun.
‘…that the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.’ – Love this Chris – it shows that if we trust the fact that there is a deep relationship we can have with ourselves, then so much is offered. A continuous reflection from our bodies as to where we are living. A marker of truth.
We all have found so many ways to distract ourselves from being true to ourselves, inspirational how you have let go of these ‘props’ and transformed your life.
What you’ve shared Chris really highlights how normal it is to take supplements, lozenges, pills, medicines, tablets etc. as an effective way to ‘cope’ with how we’re choosing to live. What if when we were prescribed medicines or felt the need to take any supplement because it was the only way to continue living the way we’re living, we addressed the living part and looked at WHY rather than find means to take the edge off it or cope.
Its funny the thoughts we have that keep us in a certain pattern like thinking you need fisherman’s friends to support your voice when the truth is that when you actually let go of all of that- your voice was much stronger. Seeing this offers the reflection for us to consider things differently and have a deeper look at long held patterns and beliefs.
I have found that life without any true friends I would be very limited. I feel that true brotherhood will unfold more openly if the simple gluten, dairy and lets throw in sugar free diet was observed worldwide.
What an inspiration you are Chris! Showing everybody it is never too late to change your choices and your ways, even if you have been living so long an unloving way. What better time is it than now to introduce more love into your life, rather than put it off to another day that is “more convenient” or suitable for our busy lives.
It’s brilliant to read sharings like yours Chris. They confirm how we tend to hang on with such a vice like grip to these habits and things we think we need. Writing this now I get why we call them vices. Because it is like we are deeply wedded and clamped on – literally. It is good to bear this in mind, as it can take a little time to prise your hands apart and consider letting go of these addictions. Certainly, in the end – we feel better without them.
Beautiful Chris, What a different man you are!
Your blog shows that when we get convinced that we need something to do something and feel confident, this becomes reality. Yet your blog also shows that in truth we already can do everything without extra outer stimulation when we connect to ourselves and that also former beliefs can be broken down if we choose to because in truth they do not belong to us.
Addiction of any type, even if we are addicted to something that we consider minor is telling us that something is not quite right in our world. Everything is everything and addiction is telling us something about the way that we are living that is not supportive for us.
I have a good friend whose voice has been transformed in recent months into something most beautiful. This didn’t occur through training or lozenges or anything other than a deep care and consideration for herself and a commitment to life, her work and all her relationships. We might wonder how that would be linked to our voice but I guess our bodies change and open with such commitment and our voice is a reflection of our lived quality.
Trusting our body and all that it reflects to us may present its challenges along the way as we let go of our props and the underlying ideals and beliefs that drive them but the transformation in our lives is amazing.
‘the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.’ Well said Chris, this is all that is needed. As we uncover lifetimes of not being that -who we truly are – , we discover that it is really that simple.
Yes amazing what emerges when we start delving a little deeper into our habits and patterns… thanks Chris, your story is very inspiring.
Whenever there is food that I feel suddenly becomes “more-ish”, I know it is time to look at what I am using that food for – as a means to not feel, as a way to be distracted, as a way to numb myself out? Not that I classify chewing gum as a food, but this morning I found myself reaching for a chewing gum in my hand bag and was really disappointed when I did not find any there – I double checked my handbag and then proceeded to grumble under my breath. So I had to have a laugh at myself, especially when I noticed myself getting a little irritated that I had no gum! But to me this was also a moment to realise that perhaps there was a little bit of an addiction happening there – as I felt like I was really missing something without the gum – or if not an addiction, there was something playing out where I had the need to have the gum so as not to feel something else! I am still sitting here tonight wondering about it, and I still have not found that darn chewing gum!
I so relate Henrietta, and it is not just gum that is bringing addictive qualities to the things in my life. I relate this to coconut water and other sweet thing that I know do not honour my body.
What an awesome testimonial for living true to oneself and the quality of life-enhancing benefits that came from your giving up gluten, dairy, alcohol and Fishermans’ Friends. They say ‘seeing is believing’ and boy are you a walking inspiration for so many because of the choices you have made for yourself. Thank you.
What an amazing story Chris, and I also feel that in my life I have had a lot of addictive behaviours, which like the fisherman’s friends were never true friends that supported me but simply stopped me from feeling. The so-called physical friends are easily exposed but the emotions and thought patterns that have derailed my life are much more insidious and more difficult to expose and heal. Emotions would give me a feeling but those emotional feeling were never allowing any true feelings. Emotions for me were just a mind game that kept me from feeling the truth of who I am. I feel much more of who I am or my essence / inner-most connection by listening to Serge Benhayon and being a student of The Livingness.
Beautifully said Greg – thanks to Serge Benhayon and the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom, I too have a much greater understanding of how things work and how to truly heal so that I allow myself to feel more and more of what is really going on around me. What a blessing to have come across this man (Serge) and the Teachings!
What we use to avoid feeling the truth of what is there for us to feel and take responsibility for can be so subtle. Thoughts, physical movements, body sensations can all be addictive and signs of avoidance. I know now that when I feel certain body sensations it means I am avoiding something or I will get up of my chair when I feel uncomfortable and need to deal with an issue. Fascinating to observe and carefully ponder what is truly happening.
Its beautiful how when we choose to break away from just one unloving choice, their is a natural pull to renounce others.
With the prevalence of gluten and dairy everywhere it does seem very strange to have it suggested to give them up. Yet, boy-oh-boy does giving them up not half provide the best clearing of the body ever.
So much is revealed through our voice and how we express, so any changes we make that will truly support our bodies, is going to have an impact on what comes out of our mouths when we speak or sing. I had never realised this until I went to a workshop with Chris, and began to unravel how much I was holding back my expression and realised how much that holding back was affecting me, my voice, and other people. But when I dont hold back, the strength, power and clarity that is there comes through with no effort whatsoever.
Reading this blog again I realised that this blog is about medicine. So often we take medicine or receive a medical intervention which suppress the symptoms and allows us to continue functioning but without dealing with the underlying cause of why those symptoms are there in the first place. True medicine in my opinion involves looking at the lifestyle choices we are making that is creating the symptoms and not just alleviating symptoms.
Some years ago I would never have considered not drinking alcohol or not treating myself to whatever food I felt like…actually I never thought I could stop…and yet the day I stopped, it was no struggle. It is amazing what we can let go of in our diets and, habits when we make a commitment to self-care and ponder the possibility of self-love. Still on the path and much to learn along the way, but feeling all the better for making some good choices.
I love the voice being a marker of how the body is nurtured or not, how much tension is in the body, how is the voice after having eaten certain foods. I only can say of my observation that my voice reveals a lot how I feel.
Interesting how we can look back and realise that we have kicked a habit without trying to, and it had more to do with other changes in our lives! This is very inspiring Chris and shows that we don’t have to force ourselves to stop addiction, but that when we work on a more global approach then the addictions actually lose their power and we can make the needed changes with less of a ‘fight’!
I love the sound of my voice reverberating through my body, there is no effort but it is still clear and strong. Nothing else is needed.
I am amazed by how my mind finds a taste and holds onto it like a bullterrier no matter what it does to the body. I remember my first beer. I spat it out and said “no way”, then several years later I found myself having to keep up with the group and over-rode my body and forced myself to like the taste as everyone else said how refreshing it was. Also, at that time, there was an age thing where you could not wait to be old enough to drink.
The level of tenderness and grace that can come through in a voice when the person is connected fully to their body and then express, is amazing. I myself have felt the difference when I choose to be fully present with myself and then express, and my food choices definitely help or hinder this.
To drop that much weight without actually going on a diet, without any sense of deprivation or lack is very inspiring; just goes to show that there is another way to live, a very liberating and joyful one that feels natural and self loving.
Many things in life can become a crutch if we let them and your fishermans friend were no exception. This made me remember that way back when I used to store my weed in a fisherman’s friend tin which is also something I have left well in the past.
Aha Kevin! Reminds me how my partner (years ago) did cover up his smell of alcohol while driving a car with fishermans friend…looks like this treats are supporting irresponsible actions, hm?!
Having been blessed to have attended your workshops and have a couple of your CD’s I would say your voice is astounding and I love how it makes me feel connected to a bigger picture. Giving up gluten and diary obviously has millions of benefits.
I have often heard people say, I cannot give that up, for I love my coffee too much. And that to a certain extent is true, but only because we have learnt to love something extrinsic to ourselves to make up for the void we feel within. Learn to love yourself, really love yourself, and you will eventually realise that you did not so much love that which you thought you did, as you realise that you needed it to make you feel complete.
I love that how when we start to truly care for ourselves, things that we were so absolute on having, slip away without a fight.
I came to a similar realisation recently. The little changes we make are crucial to the final outcome, looking back on the last year of my life I really appreciate that now.
I love your confession Chris. It’s seems so innocent but has been so harming. A great exposure.
There are so many things that we think that we need to have to get through life and yet they are only really allowing us to not be aware of what we are really feeling, ignoring and overriding in life.
Wow what an inspiration you are Chris, thank you for sharing your experiences and your wisdom. I love what you have expressed here, I close my eyes and I can hear your angelic divine voice;
“It felt effortless, unlimited; it felt like it could reach any note wherever I wanted to go, almost angelic in its quality, but with a strength and clarity. I was deeply appreciative of how it felt, and the journey that had got me there”.
I find it fascinating how many things and ways we can be addicted that we dismiss as it is not the picture of addiction we have been sold. If we were willing to see that anything that we do to not feel our separation to God is essentially a behaviour to avoid pain and often those behaviours are compulsive as it is for addicts of drugs we would have to reassess big parts of our lives. Most of us aren’t that keen on such honesty or clarity. I am finding though that to live without that clarity due to using a substance like chocolate for example becomes more painful to the body and the soul. Time to get real, get honesta, and up the love!
Thank you for this story Chris. I have also with the support of Universal Medicine managed to loosen the hold of many behaviour patterns that I was addicted to but would not have ever considered myself as being so – such as chocolates, pies and starchy foods. I have slowly realised that any behaviour that I find difficult to shift is likely burying something I am refusing to face, sometimes that is a hurt or my own irresponsibility, and sometimes it is the responsibility that would come if I embrace my own grandness and fuller expression!
It is not such an easy thing to overcome, leave behind or give up one´s addictions; no matter how minor or trivial they may appear, underneath we will always find a profound cause we need to identify and address; and by doing so much more is changed and healed than just the exterior behaviour we call an addiction.
Underneath all addiction there is always something deeper to feel.
I read recently the saying that people who are addicted are not addicted to the ‘thing’ (alcohol, drugs, candies,..) but addicted to escaping reality/truth. And so we can say when our true addiction is not to a ‘substance’ but a way of living (avoiding true reflections) – the drug can change but the habit does not as long we are concentrate on the substance to stop and not focus on the way of living. We have to learn to embrace the reflections we get from life and learn from them.
For years as an athlete I struggled with congested sinuses and excessive mucus production when I was training and competing. This was a significant thing as it often effected my ability to breathe clearly when playing sport and I also assumed that it was just how I was. Then I went on a gluten and dairy free diet and within 6 months the symptoms had disappeared completely. There is a lot to look at with diet and our health and how our bodies are reacting to what we eat or drink.
Wow Chris to have let go of all that is inspirational, by just making loving choices you have turned your life around and no way look 64. Well done you for making those choices, now you can share with others your journey.
It’s always easy to look at the addictions that are obvious and almost gratifying in some way to have a struggle with them but once they are gone it reveals that we have so many more subtle and interesting things we do and ways we do them for the same purpose.
Indeed Michael, its amazing when we get honest with our choices how many of them can be traced back to the same source, separation from self in all its guises.
What a gorgeous blog! Its amazing what we can become addicted to, simply because we need something to keep us living the way we currently are. I also lost stacks of weight without any effort when I dropped gluten and then later dairy from my diet. In the last few months I have really noticed how certain things I eat affect my throat. If my body thinks they are a bit creamy (like dairy) I often get a mucousy throat and I cant speak as clearly.
Many of us sing on ‘mute’ without realising it. That is, we sing without being aware that the voice we are singing with is not our true voice at all. The question here being – to what are we giving our voice to? Is it all that is love or all that is not? If ‘expression is everything’ (Serge Benhayon), than what is the quality of all that we express and thus the effect this has on all who receive this expression?
So true Liane and of course the same goes for what we say, if we are not really present with ourselves what comes out of our mouth then is lacking integrity and responsibility.
How easily addictions can melt away when more of who we truly are blossoms. What is not who we are in truth can simply no longer remain the more of our true selves we let out.
Taking responsibility by addressing your addictions and making more and more loving choices has paid off
tremendously. The joy that you emanate to all by the instrument of your whole body’s music is a deep inspiration to all others and deeply healing and nourishing.
What’s really cool, Chris, is how your addiction to Fisherman’s Friend just naturally went away without you forcing it through will power, as is all too common. I have had similar experiences with foods like nuts, which I no longer eat whole bags of at a time after I realized that I was using them to over-stimulate myself and check-out from feeling something that I was allowing to get me all emotional. This takes time and patience with oneself without the need for perfection, but with honesty and openness for knowing the true cause of the addiction.
A few years ago I would not have been so clear on what it looked like to be ‘truly me’…. “…the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.” It is something that I am becoming more aware of, in how I feel, how I express and how I move. Choosing to notice the signs my body shares, care for my body and make space to be still, (whether I am moving or not) this has allowed me to feel more truly me. I have also noticed that through this practice my voice has really altered, it is deeper, bigger, more gentle, more committed, and I can sing in a way I never knew possible. It truly is the voice’s, best friend to learn to be ourselves more fully.
So good to read how simply we can open up when we’re ready and the weight of previous choices melts away when we stop to appreciate the journey. A beautiful blog, inspiring!
A powerful metaphor for life Chris – living in a way that supports us to simply be ourselves and express this in full for the world to enjoy too.
“…..the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me”.
Love how you discovered this Chris – ‘and that the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.’
So many subtle forms of medication that we use to paper over the cracks and make it look like we are functioning well
We let go of all this baggage and what we are left with is the lightness of our being.
Chris, thank you for sharing the power giving up gluten and dairy had on your voice. Another amazing benefit of dropping gluten and dairy from our diets.
The process of letting go actually seen as a process of letting out the qualities we naturally have. Qualities that for a myriad of reasons we have covered up, denied, suppressed or ignored. I know that as I let go of more and more ill habits I feel a release into, and expansion of, a way of being that is effortlessly natural.
Thinking we ‘need’ something is no different to an addiction. This is a very powerful example of what happens when we take the ‘need’ for something away, and how the quality by which we live actually supports us to deliver what is needed in a true sense.
“the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me”; simple yet powerful and wise words Chris, thank you.
It’s quite interesting how we may consciously or unconsciously have a ‘go to prop’ in times of need, but your blog shows us that underneath all the ‘props’ we actually have everything we need, simply by letting go and being ourselves.
We can find ourselves doing things to dampen down our natural shine and joy . . .. this is a never-ending journey of observation that is always changing, as that which is not needed in my life drops away.
Its amazing how so very simple changes supported you so much and impacted your voice for the better. I am glad you found that being you in full was the best friend you could ever have.
I have been amazed since attending your workshops by the fact that we can all sing, and that how we treat ourselves and our body has a huge impact on the quality of our voice.
Our bodies are great tuning forks designed to respond to a Universal order and harmony we more often than not choose to override. If we do not look after our bodies then we will not hear the note they sound that calls us back to such love.
It is amazing a simple choice to let go of gluten and dairy you let go of a whole lot of weight and felt so much more free to sing. Sometimes the foods we eat and think are normal to eat are actually debilitating to our health.
It’s amazing that when you gave up gluten and dairy your vocal range increased. How restricting on your body these foods must have been.
It just shows that any addiction even something innocuous as ‘Fisherman’s Friends can have an affect on the body..
Wow Chris I really love it what you have shared . . . that it is possible to change a whole life, loose a lot of weight, let go of your best friend (fisherman) only by allowing to built a deeper relationship with yourself – how inspirational is that!!!
Wow, that is a lot of weight not to be carried around anymore. I can imagine this alone let’s oneself soar, body and voice alike.
As I also did get rid of of 40kg I can say that the weight is not it. It is just the reflection of how much protection was there and now is gone by choice. If we do not get rid of the protection – the weight (or something similar) will come back. But I agree: to make this choices does bring us up more easily 😉 – be it from the sofa or up the steps …to heaven.
When we let go of even one of our addictions or props in life – we are free to feel all that it has been masking.
It makes so much sense to me Chris that by letting go of foods that were making you feel dull or clogging you up (I’m thinking all that Brie cheese :)) that your voice would be clearer and you’d be able to reach higher/lower notes. The body is after all a vehicle and an instrument for the voice…the more finely tuned it is, the purer the sound.
I remember a friend years ago telling me she had cut out bread because she always felt sleepy to the point of actually dropping off after eating it. I found it hard to believe at the time, but years later, having removed bread and anything with gluten in it out of my own diet I no longer feel a weariness or sluggishness myself and instead a vitality and keen interest in life. I can therefore understand how amazing you must feel now Chris. Well done.
We have many ways of numbing what we do not want to feel, in order to override and push past what our bodies are telling us.
Yes and many foods.
Our addictions can be food or can be in the things we do, and all of them keep us from our true connection. Discipline alone cannot clear them but truly loving ourselves helps them to drop away naturally.
Thanks, Chris. It is definitely worthwhile to consider any addictions we may still have, and how much power we give to them. They can be as subtle as a type of thinking or self-judgement, keeping us bound up in a false sense of self and denying who we really are.
It is amazing what is possible when we are willing to tune in to what our body is asking for. So rather than trying to achieve something, such as losing weight, by listening to what our body wants or doesn’t want, our diet changes organically and the wieght drops away without any trying and so our connection to ourselves gets stronger. What a great example you give here Chris, confirmed by the additional angelic power you found in your voice.
Wow! If we would accept that needing Fisherman’s friends is indeed an addiction than we are all to have an honest look to ourselves and assess our own addictions. Mine might be (or is!) to look obsesively much on my mobile phone to see if I’ve got new email, messages via What’s App, Facebook or Messenger. A beautiful exposure from an incredible man!
It makes sense that the more at ease you are with yourself the more easily one can sing.
Succinctly put, Abby, I love that and will take it into my day today to consider further – how at ease do I feel with myself? And if I don’t, what impact does this have on my expression?
Our voice is the most amazing marker, isn’t it… It can show with such immediacy, where we are at, the way in which we look after ourselves, and so so much about what is going on in our body… I’ve also found tremendous changes reflected in my voice and the ease with which it’s produced, through dietary changes, and as you’ve so wisely shared Chris, returning to “simply me being truly me”.
If everything about us can be felt in a single note, then we can’t but recognise that the way in which we live is all there in the sound. A voice may appear great, tantalising or pretty, but what’s underneath – the energy riding on that sound – is what truly counts…
This is one joyful celebration of a read from a musician and singer I value so deeply. Thank-you Chris. No doubt your amazing ability to deliver divine qualities through your voice, has grown all the more powerful 🙂 Beautiful.
There are so many ‘little things’ that we can be addicted to in life without realising it. Signs are: We know we just have to go out of the way to get that little item before we get home; days are arranged around maintaining a supply of them. Panic can set in when do not have them. I certainly know it well. But, having gone off gluten and dairy like you Chris, I have found that I am much more relaxed about my little addictions. There are still a few, but considerably less now that I have looked after my diet more, and am more truly myself.
Chris this awesome photo shot shines the entire joy and lightness of you, that’s there in your eyes to grace your music too. Gorgeously play-full.
The radiance in your face truly reflects your sharing here Chris, thank you for bringing all of you to all of us!
So beautiful – “…and that the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.” When we get to that point of evolution that we are actually truly our own best friend and our behaviour reflects that, then that is truly a milestone reached.
This is such an awesome sharing Chris and I bet many students of universal Medicine, myself included can say this too (maybe apart from the music bit) : “Along the way, lots of other lifestyle choices opened up to me that I also had never considered – like not drinking alcohol any more, or smoking anything. This was all a very natural evolution. I started to feel more balanced and natural and found my own rhythmical way of living that actually supported my body and my music.”
It is truly amazing just how making a different choice can lead to a new perspective and then the possibility of another new choice and so on. This is how people change, step by loving step.
It is quite an awesome moment when one realises that giving up all those so called ‘treats’, coffee, alcohol, chocolate and the like actually results in us feeling really, truly well, vitalised and very steady. I have come to appreciate that many of the ups and downs I previously experienced were more due to the ‘treats’ I was feeding myself than how I was really feeling. It has been quite a journey of self discovery and growing awareness but there is nothing in this world greater than how I feel today and nothing on this earth will ever tempt me to consume them again.
So inspiring to read. When we live from love, listening to what we know is true, we can let go of what is not love and it falls away naturally.
You write with such grace, Chris. You express with great lightness the joy of finding one’s “own rhythmical way of living”, which we all can do through the path of exploring our lifestyle choices and then making the choices that support one’s body as you did.
Wow- what an amazing transformation you have gone through- Chris- loosing 45kg!- over a period of time by giving up gluten and dairy, and your vocal range has increased dramatically. You also look so much more vital and full of energy.
Chris – I can see the similarity here of coffee and business – with so many people feeling that coffee is the answer to coping with work. It has become such a normality to load up on caffeine and power through. But are we considering the expense this has on the body, on our nervous system and stress levels, and then on a bigger scale – the whole coffee growing industry and where it comes from. The fact is our bodies do not need much sleep and can get to a state of natural vitality – but it starts with our choices and how much we are willing to see that we rely on substances to get by.
A great story Chris on what you use to think was the reason for you being able to do something and now the true reason for the way things are. It’s great to see people being able to support themselves in this way and personally I never knew those fisherman’s friends were used like that. To have lost that amount of weight is quite astounding and I look forward to seeing where you take all this next, thank you.
Addictions, whether they be seemingly small such as what you have shared here Chris, or something bigger like a drug addiction are all pointing in the same direction. That is, they show us that we are in need of something outside of ourselves to be able to get by in life.
Singing is fun!
This surprised me also Susan! There is no sign of Chris slowing down or giving up in any way shape or form. Reflecting another way.
Its inspiring to see this photo of you Chris matching up with your blog. The singer image and vocalist has become stitched and twisted into so many directions in our present times, it is really refreshing to see someone who shines from who they are with no glam or attitude.
Is the reason I do not embrace the power of letting go because I then have to accept how powerfully simply my life will be ..
Great sharing Chris, it is amazing what we hold onto in the belief that we can perform better, when in truth it is the actual thing that holds us back because we give it more power than who we are.
So many things have been exposed to me since giving up certain foods, because it is not just the foods that were restricting me from feeling. In the past the TV I watched would affect me, along with the music I listened to and even the way I spoke carried a not so pleasant energy. More and more I am finding the reality that everything affects everything.
I was addicted too (chocolate and sugar) – Confessions of a Teacher! Basically anything sweet would float my boat, so much so that I got hypoglycemia and experienced severe drops in energy and would crave more sweet things to pick myself up. Coupled with a gluten and dairy intolerance which I ignored my health wasn’t that vital. Making the decision to cut out dairy, gluten and sugar from my diet was quite drastic at the time, but consequently has been one of the best decisions I have made. My health and energy levels have never been better.
We are all addicted to an endless array of things but the reason why we all self administer our individual drugs of choice is the same and that is to avoid feeling pain at all costs.
I have come to realise that I use cleaning my ears with cotton buds as a means of avoiding how I am feeling. It’s incredible the subtle and not so subtle ways that we avoid feeling what we don’t want to feel.
It amazing Chris that by giving up gluten and dairy in your diet you gained at least another half an octave of vocal range. I have found there are millions of benefits to giving up diary and gluten.
‘I started to feel more balanced and natural and found my own rhythmical way of living that actually supported my body and my music.’ …. I love the ‘natural evolution’ that you experienced once you started to live more in connection WITH yourself, rather than against it. Very inspiring.
‘I really felt that I needed these things to keep singing.’ Love what you’re sharing here, Chris. Maybe when we think we need something to keep going, all it’s actually doing is stopping us from feeling what our body is saying to us. Numbing us to the awareness that it’s time to stop or to do things differently, take a break, go for a walk. What if instead we chose to stop re-connect and then choose what our next step will be, how different would that next step be and the one after and the one after that …..
Having attended your workshops Chris, I have been deeply inspired to find my natural voice and express. The changes that you have made to your lifestyle as your have describer here have been paramount to the quality in which you present your workshops which therefore allows your participants to connect deeper with themselves. Deep gratitude to you for what you continue to share with people from all over the world.
Self love is so restorative in so many ways.
Interesting how your voice range changed with a change of diet – It makes you wonder what levels of function we accept as normal when we have it for such a long time, only to discover there is actually so much more that can be felt, lived and done when we aren’t impeeding on the body.
Yes, Rebecca, it is always worth considering that we have an even greater potential, as evolution never stops!
Chris I love coming back to this and being reminded that sometimes what we hold onto, what we think we need actually stops us being more of who we are.
Addiction comes in so many forms and the root cause is the same lack of connection to ourselves and God that separation causes deep pain and when we are unwilling to feel that all sorts of behaviours step into avoid feeling.
Great testament to the truth that we may not know how things are affecting us until we explore and experiment a little. I had no apparent side affects of gluten and dairy until I gave them up and lost 8 kilos promptly and began to feel more energy for so many things I had on to do lists, which just started getting done.
A beautiful sharing that is so honest simple and joyful celebrating all the little but very big in essence changes you have made and the way you are living now with such a clarity and lightness Chris thank you truly inspirational. It is so great how from one loving choice this can lead to so much and to a very different way of living that one can never look back from and is always with us so amazingly.
We’re never too late to change our lifes? Wow Chris, you started your change when you were around 50 years with all those extra kilos. You’re definitely a role model, especially for men that there’s indeed a possibility to truly change and come back to your natural and vital self. How inspiring is this! I can surely relate to what you’re sharing in the sense of how much I’ve chosen to ‘need’ certain drinks and foods to offset feeling the emptiness within. There’s a lot we do, choose to not be the loving, cheeky, tender, caring and loving man (and woman) we are.
So funny to hear about the Fisherman’s Friends – perhaps they should be renamed Singerman’s Friends! Except of course they would not really be a true friend as they are being used to push the voice to higher notes rather than allowing it to happen naturally so. Strange how we use outside means to ‘excel’ at things, rather than using the natural rhythms of nature to support our natural and gorgeous expression.
Thank you Chris for a great sharing, what a difference we make to our lives when we change our diet, the changes you underwent were amazing. Your photo says it all, joy in being you.
‘The best friend of my voice is simply me being truly me’. This offers us all so much in the way of true well-being and healing. The benefits to everyone is amazing when we are truly ourselves, and the possibilities to health care for throat issues is amazing. Practical proof like this makes a great case study record to support awareness that what our bodies experience and show us is worth listening to and not covering up and treating the symptoms only, just because we can.
Awesome to read about how open you were to giving something perhaps a little unconventional in today’s society a go. It’s very interesting to read about how simple changes to our lifestyle can make such a huge impact.
It’s interesting you seemed to have kicked the habit without focusing on the habit itself. The impression I get is that it’s dropped away as you appreciated yourself more.
Letting go of those fillers we use in order to not feel what is there to be felt create space in our lives to be more of the love and awesomeness that we are.Thanks for sharing Chris, you are a true inspiration for all.
I love your story of how you started off by just trying a relatively small self loving change in one part of your life – gluten and dairy foods – and how that slowly and naturally built to letting go of more that did not truly support you in life. It is remarkable that all it needs is a little step, and that commitment is enough for more to be revealed to us. Little steps as and when we are ready is all it takes.
Starting small is a foot in the right direction. I have found that when I have gone cold turkey with changes in my life there is a quicker return to the old ways.
Love this Chris. Shows that you are never too old to change your life through simply changing your choices. I have known many people to give up on life in their latter years and withdraw further into their patterns of comfort, so what an amazing inspiration you are for all.
The work Chris James does in his travels around the world is very much about expression, encouraging us to simply be ourselves in full. The way he lives supports what he teaches, he is an inspiration to many.
Indeed Carmel Chris’s journey and honesty is accessible to all.
Simply Glorious Chris, thanks for sharing – who needs any artificial pick me up when we have true connection to ourselves and hence the universe.
You’ve talked about so many incredible changes you’ve made to the way you live Chris, it’s really inspiring and goes to show how at any point in our lives, no matter how much we ‘rely’ on something to get us through (e.g. the fishermans friends) we can make adjustments and let go of those things.
What I love about this is that you didn’t set out to not use Fisherman’s Friends anymore but through making self-loving choices they naturally fell away along with many other things like excess weight. Sometimes we can set ourselves a goal like losing weight or giving up smoking or alcohol and it seems really hard but if instead we start to love ourselves more the things that are unloving and unsupportive do naturally fall away it is effortless evolution and no longer a struggle. I would have no hesitation in signposting anyone to Universal Medicine if they wanted to find out more about self-love and self-care, something we greatly need more of in the world today, as you shared the changes are incredible.
I am noticing changes in my voice too in the way I speak. It is clear with authority and I feel I am with my body in full. It is truly amazing the changes that take place within our bodies when we make a choice to let go of that which does not support us.
The changes you experienced from your self-loving choices are some pretty awesome confirmations – some might even call them miracles.
Chris, the shift you have made in your life is enormous and got me thinking. I often feel tired at the end of the day, my days are physically and mentally draining so it is understandable, if I was then lugging around an extra 20kg with everything I was doing, like carrying shopping home and upstairs this would be debilitating and no doubt compound the issue. The way we live has such a huge impact on the quality of our lives and needs constant refining. If I want to feel light and vibrant in my day, looking after my body physically is an essential part of that which reading this blog has made me realise I do not properly do.
Going Gluten and Dairy free started a chain reaction that has supported me to heal many addictions, to sugar, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, people, objects and fantasies. In fact the process has enabled me to return to life free from distractions and indulgences, bringing with it a new vitality, commitment and joy. I found that both food groups made me feel lethargic, stodgy, weighed down (quite literally) and ill and I had no idea just how awful they made me feel until I took them out of my diet. I am very grateful to have received this simple suggestion from a dear friend, what an immense difference this approach makes in our lives, as you have so resoundingly proven Chris, such a simple choice has fundamentally changed your entire life.
I bet loads of singers would drop dairy and gluten in an instant if they knew their range would increase. Years ago I used to sing in a Rock band and Strepsils (also a throat lozenges) and Newcastle brown ale was my choice things to have pre going on stage, the strepsils to numb my throat and the ale to numb the entire body.
Giving up things or stopping them doesn’t always have to be a shame, thanks for sharing this awesome fact Chris because what we so naturally are is already so amazing but it’s the many layers we carry around that stop us from living it in full glory.
‘Aaaaah… I feel better and now I can do that thing that I do, just as I want, when I want too’ – isn’t it the case that this is our definition of success today? But this over-riding of what we see as our limitations and faults just allows us to continue to stay in the dark. We miss the beauty that is contained in our body – a true work of art. It never lies or decieves us lets us down, we just don’t like to see what it sometimes has to say. But my experience like yours Chris is the result is always loving at the end of the day.
Our bodies are our best friends and very wise. Listening to and honouring them is the most healing and powerful thing we can do.
Brilliant blog Chris – yes you have let go of a lot. Love the last sentence – pure gold!
‘the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.’ How true is this for everything in life !
Wow Chris – here’s a bit of lived science. I’ve only read a couple of paragraphs but am amazed at this, ‘just to try giving up gluten and dairy in my diet. Well, the first thing that happened was that I gained at least another half an octave of vocal range. ‘
I don’t know much about the music industry but am pretty sure that singers (and probably scientists) would be very interested in this.
Doesn’t it just show how dampening dairy and gluten are in our bodies – and how much these foods are actually dulling our expression.
Wow Chris that’s a lot of weight to loose, like giving someone a piggyback the whole time. To shift that much in the physical body cannot but be felt as great a shift in your whole being too!
Gorgeous Chris. I love the powerful revelation you have shared, that through letting go of addictions, the ‘things’ we think we need to make us who we are, you actually returned to being who you naturally are, and as such now bring a far richer and truer quality of you to all you do without effort, including music.
It is such a joy when we are able to express from our body: Singing, talking, walking, even just being present.
It’s amazing how simply making self honouring choices to live more healthily can benefit our quality of life so quickly and you are very inspiring Chris in the openness of your expression.
Our addictions are never really about the substance – i.e.: sugar, alcohol etc. but always about what it brings up in order to avoid something within ourselves. In essence, addictions are an avoidance of all that we are; and yet we see the addiction as making us ‘more’ in some way.
Your picture says it all Chris, you cannot deny the joy, the light and the tenderness that you are and bring to the world with your truly amazing expression including your best friend your angelic voice. Every time I see you, you sparkle like the stars, sure you don’t need these famous friends anymore.
The more honest we are the more we have to ‘confess’, not in the sense of guilt but simply realizing and admitting the behaviours that are not loving and supportive so that we are free to discern and make conscious choices instead of being controlled by ingrained, subconscious patterns we choose to ignore, justify or to put a slant on.
Speaking is one thing, but it feels like singing magnifies things to a whole other level. I can’t help but think what it might be like for you now Chris had you not taken the steps to let go of so much. Very inspiring.
What you share here Chris involves making a conscious choice and being aware of those choices and how they impact on the body. A very wise choice indeed and one that has lead to you discovering all of those things that just simply aren’t needed, and then how absolutely perfect you are, just being you. Super cool.
A lot of stuff Chris and I have never seen your eyes shine so brightly. Your dedication to truth and allowing love to return to your body is breath-givingly inspiring.
It is quite something the things that we put up with! Take potatoes for example, I used to love them but they gave me a pain in my stomach. So instead of giving them up I kept eating them and blaming other things for my stomach ache until it got so ridiculous that I simply had to admit that potatoes were not for me. To address any addiction, no matter how small we have to get honest.
I love the light-hearted way in which you express kicking your addictions Chris. When the true intention to heal is there it’s possible to let go of those old habits that we realise are suppressing us fully expressing and holding us back from being more of ourselves. “and that the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me”. And what better reward is there than that.
It is quite amazing what our minds ‘think’ we need, and how those needs are justified… when in truth our bodies simply need to be honoured – they know what is needed in every moment and they are naturally harmonious.
It’s quite an interesting understanding to come to where our addictions are in our life – seemingly innocent little things until we don’t have them. Mine was Soothers – another fairly potent throat lozenger with a very appropriate name. Could also equally be referred to as ‘nervous mints’ as they where used as a form of pacifier.
Very well said – ‘ the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.’
How aptly this applies to the whole of life and how we approach it.
To live our true essence shares the magic that we all have within and inspires us all.
How inspiring Chris… our bodies are so very wise – they know what is true for them and what their natural weight is.
I remember trying to give up gluten 20yrs ago, and could not get past the idea of not having bread – I made numerous loaves of gluten free bread in an attempt to replace gluten bread without success so went back to eating gluten. Fast forward 12yrs and I decided to try again – gluten went easily, and no bread! Dairy was next and was relatively easy as I never liked milk anyway but it took about 6mths to give up cheese. Again, how could I possibly eat gluten free pasta or pizza without cheese? but it was possible.
Because of symptoms I was having a couple of years ago it was suggested I try a fructose free diet – it sounded very limiting however I decided I’d give it a go for 1mth. After 2 weeks my body felt so light I couldnt go back to old ways.
We can have all these ideals and beliefs around food and yet our bodies thrive when we listen to them and feel what is true specifically for us.
It’s funny how we can take on something which we think of as a helper, but in actual fact is a crutch covering up a problem. Eventually the ’helper’ becomes so important that we think we cannot do what we need to do without it, because the problem it is covering up has continued to get worse usually because we are not even aware of it anymore. Then the moment of truth comes and our crutch is taken away, and we have an opportunity to see what we have been covering up for so long. That part is usually not the pretty part. But what is amazing is that we then get a chance to relearn the fact that we are complete in ourselves.
It is very revealing how we can often think that some thing is ‘sustaining’ us and it is actually hindering us from seeing our full potential, and has actually become another addiction of sorts.
Peeling off the layers like you have Chris has allowed us all to feel the gloriousness of you and this is a beautiful gift you are sharing with the world. Thank you.
Love how the flood gates opened from that one choice to give up gluten and dairy. My diet has and continues to evolve the same way – once you stop dampening the body and listening to what it is saying, then all kinds of magic happens.
When I gave up eating foods with gluten and dairy, it felt like bricks were removed from my stomach and I had come out of a 5 year blocked nose and sinuses as well as a fog completely leaving my head. If changing one thing in in our diet can make this big of a change than living the way you have described every day Chris would be extraordinary.
It must feel so freeing to know you don’t need those lozenges to now sing like an angel.
Hard to imagine that we can carry so much excess weight around and that the body doesn’t just go on strike and refuses to do anything at all.
When we think about it, how many of our habits or behaviours are perpetual crutches we don’t really acknowledge? The need to check our phones, our social media feeds, especially in awkward or new situations. What about always needing to visit the shop on the way home for something sweet, a little end of day treat? Or maybe the need to listen to music to relax or when ever we walk somewhere, or a glass of wine at the end of a long hard day?
Some might simply see these as habits, nothing to think about, but what if we looked deeper and asked ourselves not only why we have that habit, but what life would be like without it – would we feel like the day wasn’t a good one without our treat or glass of wine? Would we find ourselves with some anxiousness or tension if our phone is not with us to elevate situations? Why is it our days are not full and amazing in their own right, before we add any treats to it? If the behaviour really is no more than a habit, can we leave it behind without much effort, or would be find ourselves confronted by something the behaviour helps to mask or dampen down?
Chris there is a palpable lightness and sense of breezy space that comes through your written words. Its beautiful to actually feel the effects that all of your choices have had on you, through your sharing.
The energy and vitality that you have Chris and for what you do at age 64 is deeply inspiring. It is quite incredible what is possible when we choose to let go of our ‘stuff’, and you are a wonderful example of how this is possible.
What an amazing looking, feeling and inspiring 64 year old! This is in fact what normal is and this is what we should be commonly seeing in our society. It just goes to show how much we are taking on in our lives and bodies that is not natural. How awesome is it that Chris turned all this around from his late fifties. A true inspiring change – thanks Chris for being yet another great marker of how it is to grow older gracefully and vitally.
‘Just imagine having a 45kg sack strapped to your back and carrying that on stage every time you had to sing and perform’ – It’s so interesting that we choose to live with excess weight for so long and don’t realise the extent of the effect of it on our lives and daily activities (or we do realise it and choose not to change it!). Even just carrying an extra 4 or 5kgs I’ve found does have a heavy and draining effect on the body.
Your weight loss alone would have been cause for great celebration, but what felt truly joyful in reading what you shared, Chris, was how things have changed for you in the way that you sing. From a dependency on Fisherman’s Friends where you felt there were limitations with your voice without the Friends, to a feeling of limitless possibilities, an angelic flow to your voice, which is now being truly supported through the way you’re choosing to care for yourself. From a feeling of slight constraint to unhindered freedom. Very beautiful.
The quality of this man’s workshops as he continually chooses ‘to let go of a lot of stuff” is awesome. Highly recommended and potentially life changing.
What a beautiful inspirational sharing of your life and your changes and weight loss to feeling so alive and joyful again. This is written with such fun and honesty it is very refreshing and amazing to read . All from the simple advice to try stoping eating gluten and dairy and a bit more and where it has got you and the lightness and transformation in your life with all of you.
Chris, this is so lovely to read, ‘the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.’ I can feel how this is true for all of us for all of our work – having natural energy and vitality instead of keeping going on caffeine or sugar feels much more healthy and suitable and fun!
I loved reading your blog, Chris, thank you. Your choice to adjust your diet became a catalyst for a lot of ‘letting go’ which prompted me to question …. how much stuff do we choose to hold on to, what are we carrying around that doesn’t belong and are we aware of how it is truly affecting us?
Amazing how we use all sorts of things to keep going and self-medicate rather than looking at the real cause of the issue. Full credit to you here Chris for really making changes to your lifestyle, starting from the inside out, rather than just continuing to manage your symptoms.
I love how you simply being you allowed the less nourishing food choices to drop away naturally and in doing so your body is regaining its natural weight and its true expression.
Great blog – addiction to Fishermans Friends is a new one for me, as I had no idea they could be used in such a way. The lozenge is very strong so makes me wonder what the long term side effects of this would have been having on your throat and your body, especially in the quantities you speak of.
It may seem like a pretty harmless addiction to be addicted to Fisherman’s friends, but if they are being used as a crutch and you can’t do without them then there is something that is being buried and repressed. How amazing to unleash your natural beautiful voice from underneath a ton of sweets!
It really is amazing how making a few changes in our diet can result in such big change.
FORTY FIVE KILOS! Wow Chris, that is like carry another person around on your back. This is an immense letting go and at 64 you look and feel amazing. There is a lot to say about going gluten and dairy free. I followed the same advice and the lifestyle changes that have unfolded from the moment I decided to give it a go have been astonishing. What a joy to be able to say “that the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.” You are an incredible example of what can happen when we just say ‘yes’ to the most simple of suggestions.
Something worth discovering that the ” best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.”, which applies to the whole body really as we are our bodies best friend when we allow ourselves to express who we truly are.
It is all about constructing a way that works for us. That way includes elements of our own choice that harm us and a counter to them. The question really is what does it mean that it works for us? And what are the profound implications of it? It means that to allow us to be consistent at a certain level/stage, etc. where we settle at the expense of going higher/deeper by changing the elements we choose to be part of our life.
‘This was all a very natural evolution’ – Great blog Chris. When returning to a diet free of all the gluten, dairy and other additives, it felt like a natural evolution, it opens up further reflection around why we ever change our eating habits in the first place and not stay with what feels true.
“Along the way, I also took off 45kg of weight. I can barely lift 20kg nowadays.” Having also lost a large amount of weight I have come to realise that that weight was in truth the physical manifestation of unresolved emotional hurts. As I addressed these so my way of living changed and the excess weight dissolved away and not only did I become physically lighter but even more so did I in my whole being.
Having known you when you were 10 ton !!! and now at the weight you are, and looking the best I have ever seen you is very inspiring and quite the miracle. Due to your commitment to your self and your weight loss your audience is now blessed with your angelic quality of being. Great example of how we effect the all.
I’ve carried a 30kg pack for a few weeks while trekking – I was super fit at the time and yet my shoulders complained bitterly and it was exhausting stuff. Sure I started getting used to it as my body adapted (compounding my spine and knees along the way), but it was that memory of the first 6 miles that remains with me. So the pressure of an extra 45kg all the time – that is an immense burden, and must feel amazing to be closer to a natural weight.
Our bodies are amazing. The un-thinkable things we think-up to do to them… and like the battery bunny that just keeps going till it collapses. Why, do we allow these detrimental actions on our self? We can unpeel over time the skin the world now sees what we can feel we have done to our bodies with disregard. This journey is well worth reaching the destination, and that is the person we have been hiding from ourself and the world.
Chris, many of us experience a slow unfolding as we strip away layers of ‘stuff’ that no longer serve us, be it food we eat, fluids we drink, harmful life style choices or negative self images,. Discarding these layers connects us to the true person within, deepens our understanding of self and allows an appreciation of ourselves as the precious beings we truly are. It is joyful to simply accept and love ourselves as we are, and know nothing else is needed..
…..”and that the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.” Great point and very true Chris, when ever I am not truly being me, my voice is weaker and not very clear and my expression is greatly reduced, which shows how much we can alter and lessen our bodies, by not staying true to ourselves.
It’s amazing the amount of weight that just falls off when we choose to refrain from gluten and dairy, I lost 13kgs when I changed to gluten and dairy free without eating any less. I have to admit though that sometimes I could murder a hunk of french bread with ham, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and mayo on it.
It was lovely to hear your appreciation of your self-loving choices Chris, and your blog shows how things we rely on so heavily can just drop away once we start to become aware of how they are substitutes for the true loving support we can give ourselves.
“…the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.” Hey Chris that’s so true, the quality of our voice does reflect who we are – I know when I am connected with myself my voice has a rich deep quality, but if I’m feeling unsure of myself it will express through a higher register and often people can’t hear me if I am not speaking with authority.
Its amazing really how we can trick ourselves thinking we need something to make us feel better, when all along everything we ever need to feel enough is right under our nose.
Every addiction is only built on the false belief that we have no other choice, trapped in the mind, and if we can let go of this belief magic can happen, a plethora of possibilities become available to us and weight drops from our shoulders and in that we even can let go of Fisherman’s Friends
You look amazing Chris, the sparkle in your eyes, and the glow on your skin and the smile on your face says it all. Your lifestyle choices are inspiring and confirms how incredible you can look and feel when you make loving choices to listen to your body and makes choices to support it in every way.
Great sharing, thanks Chris.
“Along the way, I also took off 45kg of weight. I can barely lift 20kg nowadays – just imagine having a 45kg sack strapped to your back and carrying that on stage every time you had to sing and perform” – Chris this is extraordinary, and joyfully astonishing that you let go of such weight through the choice to start living the truth of who you are.
What a great example of how one self loving choice leads to the next, and the next, and the next, until you realise life has very much changed in its quality.
This is quite something. I wonder if the lozenges are good at numbing the throat, making it easier to sing something that may otherwise hurt to sing?
I love your sense of humour Chris – such a playful way to look at life. Very inspiring too as so many people simply would have dug their heels in and said no I’m still having this or that!
Inside each and every one of us lives an angel as pure and pristine as the day we were born. And while each of us may choose to live in a way that obscures such divinity from our sight and adopt behaviours that shroud the emanation of this light, the beauty of our song never dwindles nor dies but simply keeps singing as we uncover our true self that lays buried beneath the layers of mud we have hidden this angel beneath. Very inspiring Chris James. It is never too late to start the excavation process!
lovely Liane.
It’s the standing up on stage that I find so amazing, to have the confidence and the self awareness to be in front of so many people and not only sing, but lead them in activities too. I can imagine how great it would be for everyone attending your course or workshops or performances to experience the true power of your voice.
I also feel the truth of how my body being my closest friend is the greatest support in any situation in life, as the truth of life comes first from what we support it within. What an inspiring reflection Chris.
Sounds like a pretty darn awesome way of living to me.
It’s awesome how small steps can lead to big changes. By removing things that don’t serve us from our diets, for example, we allow ourselves to be more of ourselves.
Gorgeous, when we choose to live all that we are we can let go of the addictions. The things we needed to let ourself not feel the hurts that play up in life.
It really is a celebration when we can return to our natural selves without the crutches, shedding our comforts and in the process accepting and appreciating the light we bring, and may I say Chris, so beautiful to share with us all.
Love it Chris, this is a great testimony to what a few changes in lifestyle choices can mean and how they can beneficially affect just about everything in our life. Taking responsibility for everything we ingest is a great starting point. Very inspiring.
Beautiful blog and beautiful photo – you look and feel amazing Chris. Something that I picked up on when reading “I was addicted to these, famously so, to the point where students and participants at my expression courses and retreats would find bigger and bigger boxes of these potent little things to give me.” is how we can be fooled into thinking we are being generous and kind by giving someone a gift of something they really ‘love’. The truth is we are unwittingly aiding and abetting their habit or addiction. There is always more to everything if we are prepared to look a little deeper.
I remember the era of fisherman’s friends and wow were they strong. The changes you have made Chris are confirmed in this lovely photo of you. It is remarkable how when we truly connect to our bodies we start to let go of any of the false props to keep us going,
That’s an amazing story, we are taught that we have to exercise our voice and all these other things but nobody really talks about health and well being and your voice being connected, we hear about smoking being not good for it but all health is connected to our body, I know when I am run down or being unhealthy my voice is one of the first things to go. If you think about the extra weight you were carrying, that has got to put a strain on your body and in turn your voice. Thanks for sharing your story Chris!
Chris this is such a beautiful sharing and being so open as is your voice! You are an inspiration showing how our lifestyle choices can impact on our bodies, hindering our full expression…and those little ‘things’ we use to prop us such as your ‘Fishermen’s friends’, funny name really, i wouldn’t say they have been a friend but a foe…lets not blame the little buggers, its how we use them or as a matter of fact, it can be anything, such as coffee to get us started for the day, that is to our destruct. I’ve seen you over the years, and your voice and power that emanates out is definitely heaven sent and has become so powerful, incredibly loving, inspiring hundreds to allow their expressions from voice to ‘come out’…
And the range your voice can go Chris is beautiful to hear and feel. It’s so interesting all the little addictions and safety net measures that just drop away when we choose ourselves and make changes that support us.
Inspiring Chris, it has been amazing watching your transformation and the choices you continue to make.
This is a rather significant revelation you are sharing here Chris. Not only do these behaviours and ways of living affect how we are in ourselves and our voice, but it equally has a significant impact on our environment. We have more obesity than ever before and equally more strain on our food resources than ever before. It shows that if we all were more connected to who we truly are, the entire planet equally benefits as we need less of its resources to live.
I love it. It is crazy what we try to cover up with our addictions and how much there is to uncover just by making little life style choices.
Wauw amazing sharing and transformation Chris. It is strange when I think about it to need something from outside of our bodies to be able to do something that is natural for our bodies like singing. Yet as I hear your story it is normal for many singers! So it could be either people pushing their voices over their natural limit thus needing more stimulation or smoothening in this case and/or people just not loving and being themselves for needing it from the outside.
I’ve heard before singers mention how they avoid dairy to keep their vocal chords clean and clear. I would question that if dairy has that much of an effect on our throat, then what is occurring in the rest of our body when we consume such a sticky unnatural substance.
A beautiful sharing Chris and a great example of a true letting go of those things – little and big – that prop us up to keep us going in life yet really do not serve us at all.
What an amazing man you are Chris and what an incredible journey you are on. Keep blessing us with your amazing voice and beautiful being.
It is quite interesting the things that we can become addicted to and think we can’t live without. Things that we cannot ever imagine not being part of our life, like seriously!
BUT… change can happen and we are the ones who can either make it happen or not and once we have kicked an old habit and pattern of behaviour we realise that we are so so so much more without it. I can think of a few examples of this in my life. Having horses in my life is one, smoking another, eating cheese is another…
Oh yes, the addictions that are not known as addictions because they are so ‘normal’ and ‘harmless’ because most people are practicing them; it is when we start listening to the body and become honest about how we feel that we can recognize behaviors, habits, foods etc to be addictions as we use them to medicate us in some way to avoid certain feelings or sensations that disturb us continuing our life-style. Compared to those agreed on addictions like drug abuse, alcohol etc the ones you describe may appear to be harmless or considered even ridiculous but it is the quality you gained from giving up the addictions that prove their severeness; it is us who need to wake up to realize what true quality in health and life-style are to honestly and truthfully discern what harms and what doesn´t our body and being.
How many things do we hold onto that we don’t really need? Food, people, emotions, hurts, other people’s stuff, issues at work, anything really. They make us heavy, physically blocking and filing up pockets of space and clarity in our bodies.
What I have noticed is that over time my voice has changed as I let go of hurts, as I understand and learn from situations in life rather than reacting and avoiding what I am feeling about the situation or myself. It’s gotten to the point now where I can tell in my own voice if there’s a clarity and strength or if there’s reaction because that voice sounds and feels like a little girl’s voice.
I love this blog – made me laugh out loud when you described the potency of fishermen’s friends – my mum used to eat them and I remember being disgusted by their taste! But its funny how we do develop this habits and addictions that we often don’t even notice are becoming a crutch. For me, a friend of mine brought to my attention that I was chewing gum A LOT – it has become a habit, something to do and keep my mind and mouth occupied, almost a way of relieving tension/anxiousness. When i become aware of this I decided to stop chewing it and see what would happen – It was amazing because at first I would reach for it but I began to feel that I was less hungry and not so hyped up on the sugar, and more able to focus when my mind wasn’t constantly split between two things.
What a journey Chris, thanks for sharing – a more real, true and tender you is appearing. A You that don’t need the layers of protection no matter what they may have looked or tasted like.
This is a beautiful sharing Chris and probably most people have addiction either with food or with something different. You took your time for this process but in the end it feels so light. Truly inspiring.
Absolutely love this blog Chris, French baguettes, butter and Brie cheese preferably in equal quantities made me laugh! It’s amazing what simply drops away or doesn’t become appealing anymore when chosen to be more self loving!
Yes, self-love is the antidote to addictions.
Wow Chris what a story! It’s crazy how we can go along with trends at the expense of truly listening to our bodies. When as you now know, listening to our bodies can be the best support of all.
It’s amazing that we rely on something external to bring us a sense of ourselves – in this case – relying on something so you could sing. When we remove our need for anything at all – we realise how limitless we truly are and that the substances we thought we needed to be us only restricted what was there all along.
We are our best friends if we honour what our bodies are truly communicating to us. To see the joy emanating from these eyes and cheeks is confirmation indeed that we have a natural rhythm that can support us in life.
It is so much easier to sing when you are connected to yourself too.
I have a similar thing going on with almonds. But what I am realising is that is actually not about the food, it is what I am not willing to let go of and what I am not wanting to feel. So it’s inspiring to here your story Chris.
Amazingly beautiful – and the angelic nature of us beats any alluring little (or big) pill any time of the day. Pure inspiration Chris, Love it!
I love how you have shared that you found your own rhythmical way of living that actually supported your body and your music. This is also what I have found in my life, even though I don’t play music, the rhythmical flow of my life now holds me steady in the stream of life, and supports me to go deeper, to clear what is there for me to keep going deeper, and all the while becoming more rhythmical. It is a beautiful dance. A dance with the stars, the universe, God, myself, and all of life.
I weigh about 45Kg and I was thinking as I was reading your lovely blog Chris that it would be like you carrying me around every moment of your life. It is amazing what can happen to our lives when we make different choices.
Reading stories like yours about stopping eating gluten and dairy really questions how much they affect our bodies. Personally I lived with constant asthma and sinus, both of which I no longer have from giving up gluten and dairy. Is t possible that if these foods caused so much mucus in my respiratory system, that they could also cause the same in other systems in our bodies? Is it possible they are irritants to our bodies, and could be behind many symptoms that we see as ‘normal’?
It is inspiring to know how much we can change about ourselves by making a few simple changes to our diet and lifestyle in general. The saying ‘you are what you eat’ certainly rings true here. The simpler our lives are in every aspect, the clearer we become as there is less ‘stuff’ cluttering up our bodies, and hence we can bring more of who we are to whatever it is we do.
I have recently read that certain mental health issues are linked to gluten in the diet. I know I feel heaps better since cutting out gluten from my diet. I would always feel sleepy after eating bread. My energy levels are much higher now and my skin much clearer.
A beautiful and lighthearted sharing Chris, thank you.
How amazing to read that letting go of Gluten and Dairy in your daily eating habits actually brought an unexpected change to the vocal range of your voice.
“Well, the first thing that happened was that I gained at least another half an octave of vocal range. Of course there was a bit of ‘letting go’ that had to happen as I had some smaller addictions (not as bad as the Fisherman’s Friends) like French baguettes, butter, and Brie cheese… preferably all together, in equal quantities”.
I enjoyed reading this blog Chris. I too have noticed that making different choices will naturally result in particular addictions just falling away.
Wow, Chris you have let go of a lot of stuff, it’s incredible to see and feel the change in you and in your music over the past few years. You are one very inspirational man.
Thank you for sharing your story with us Chris. I feel there wouldn’t be many of us that could claim to not have some addiction in our lives. It may not be hard drugs, alcohol or cigarettes but it is bound to be something!
Eating the food that our bodies have clearly shown it does not cope with. When we look back to how many of us have totally ignored the warning signs our bodies have put out for us to see and feel and still we usually learn the hard way!
It’s amazing how something as seemingly innocuous as Fisherman’s Friends can have such a hold over our life. I remember becoming aware of how I panicked if I couldn’t find my lip balm and wondered how on earth I could live without it! I still have not let go of all my attachments but I am gradually finding myself becoming less dependent as I learn to trust myself more from the inside out.
It is amazing what we use to ‘keep going’ and often they aren’t the obvious self mediation of alcohol, drugs, smoking, work, sex etc they can be very subtle ways we deviate from simply being us like being polite, nice, accommodating, pleasing, angry, stubborn, anything that we do that is not a true expression is often a habit that we picked up long ago that we just keep on doing as we don’t consciously choose another way to live and express, it sounds(haha) like you have nailed that one!
Chris I can’t get over this line: ‘That was just to try giving up gluten and dairy in my diet. Well, the first thing that happened was that I gained at least another half an octave of vocal range.’ That is absolutely astonishing that changing your diet changes your vocal range and allows you essentially to express more, there is clearly a lot to be said for taking great care of our bodies, our diet and the way we live.
Thank you, Chris. It is amazing what we will do to keep going…however a great healing process begins once we choose to honour the body and no longer override it. You are an inspiring example of this deeper commitment to love.
Thanks Chris I love your honesty about how your lifestyle choices led to an ‘addiction’ to support it that just fell away when you started exploring how to be a friend to your own body by truly being you.
Absolutely gorgeous Chris. What a transformation. It must feel like a huge relief to not have to rely on the assistance of Fisherman’s friends, and to now be fully enjoying your natural voice in an effortless way. All singers take note!
This is really awesome Chris. Alcohol, smoking and fisherman’s friends (although I’ve never heard of them before this blog!) are obviously an accepted part of every performer’s lifestyle and often seen as part of the career, particularly drinking alcohol, so it’s inspiring that you put your body and wellbeing ahead of those things and chose to let go of so much too!
I used to get allergic rhinitis constantly; it was like living with a permanent cold. I also had continuous bloating and whilst the doctors said it was something I would just have to live with I wasn’t prepared to accept that, so I went to a naturopath who recommended that I came of gluten, dairy and sugar. This meant a complete overhaul of what I was eating and drinking, but the results were so worth it. Very quickly a lifetime of a runny nose completely stopped, my stomach sorted itself out and I became more energised, healthy and fitter. Chris, I am really with you on the benefits of cutting out gluten and dairy from my diet!
I used to suck these too Chris all the time at work – they were my replacement for chewing gum to keep my breath fresh at work, or so I thought. After a while I realised I was using them a lot to keep me going as well – and that I needed them to get through my day. Once I realised they were in control of me, I knew I had to ditch them, which took a while longer but did happen thanks to taking my care of myself and deepening my connection with my body. It is interesting how when we start taking care of ourselves in one area, that this supports changes somewhere else.
Looking into our individual histories there are so many – often subtle – addictions, that we feel we ‘need’ to get through our day. Can’t get going without coffee, needing alcohol to wind down in the evenings etc. “Along the way, lots of other lifestyle choices opened up to me that I also had never considered”. For me too – I appreciate the Way of the Livingness every day for giving me an opportunity to review my choices – and feel so much more vitality for the changes.
“… the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.” There is no greater friend that anyone can have at anytime, though often we need a friend to help us realise this.
Beautiful Chris, thanks for sharing this. I have been to one of your workshops and have felt the amazingness of you and your voice, you feel joyful and vital and you are a true role model having made many loving changes in your life.
I love your sense of humour … very funny ‘Of course there was a bit of ‘letting go’ that had to happen as I had some smaller addictions (not as bad as the Fisherman’s Friends) like French baguettes, butter, and Brie cheese… preferably all together, in equal quantities.’ I know Fishermans Friends they are really strong … feel like they are blowing your head off! Gosh it is truly amazing what happens when you change your diet to support the body more I would have never have thought by giving up gluten and diary this could affect your voice by gaining ‘at least another half an octave of vocal range’. Thats incredible!!!! And it is so lovely to hear generally how much lovelier you feel carrying less weight and enjoying your voice more when singing. Beautifull.
This blog shows the endless effects that not living true to who you are can have. The food we choose to eat affects our health but because the diet we consume has often begun within our family of origin, we neglect to detect the extreme influences it has and how it can dull our connection to ourselves. Sometimes it is not until we try something different that we expose the extent to which some of our choices have meant that we truly are living much less. Thanks Chris.
Life is a bit like a snowball that gets bigger and heavier the further you roll it along. We add things to our life as we roll through it, not always things that are good for us. The things we do need to shed could melt away over time, only if we chose to stop pushing the ball.
Oh those little, and seemingly harmless, addictions that we come to consider as normal but there is no way they are. But what great advice you received from your friend, life and body changing in fact, with half an octave to add to your already angelic voice as a most wonderful by product; very, very inspirational.
Addictions can be overt or subtle. Both stem from a inner feeling of not being good enough and manifests in a need to use outside substances to fill an emptiness or perceived lack. Your example Chris shows that addictive habits can be cured, not necessarily trying to stop something, but simply starting to take care of and love ourselves and when we do this consistently dependency on a substance or activity simply falls away.
Lovely to read your confessions of a singer Chris and very supportive for all those budding singers out there. The fact that you are 64 and have the most amazing angelic voice is the proof of all the lifestyle choices you made, and you don’t look 64. And no doubt you have many many years still to sing with living in such a way of deep respect for your body and your voice.
Thanks Chris. Letting go of ‘stuff’ and simplifying what we eat and how we choose to live is like a long overdue oil change in a car that allows the engine to sing sweeter.
It is a great realisation when you naturally kick habits. A great point to appreciate where you now are.
Yes it is great to appreciate Luke because some habits don’t belong to who we truly are and when we truly release them it gets replaced with a loving gesture or habit that makes our life ever so lovely.
Amazing Chris, I’ve never heard of fisherman’s friends before. It is incredible how you managed to let go of your addiction through making loving choices that supported you, your body and your voice. What is unheard of is how you also lost 45kg so effortlessly, without going on a strict diet or program, just from simply listening your body and being open to let go of foods that were not supportive. If our food choices can affect us so much, suppressing us from expressing who we are, then this makes you wonder what else we’re choosing that is preventing us from feeling amazing, vital and living with great health and allowing our full expression to flow out.
If we were to actually allow our full unbridled expression out then we would be taken to a psych ward. I’m not joking, we would, that’s how far from our true expression we’re all living.
Awesome Chris, it is amazing when we shed things that were part of our lifestyle and find the extreme benefits of doing so and are left wondering why we ever did them in the first place. Your old heart must be extremely thankful you are not carrying that 45kg sack on your back not to mention your knees and most other parts of your body.
Absolutely, Kev – and super cool that it was all done without a fad diet or through some kind of weight loss programme. All very natural!
It’s incredible how much lifestyle choices can have an affect on our whole health and wellbeing, including relationships. Giving up gluten and dairy has tremendous health benefits. I have found the same, not with regards to singing but feeling lighter in my body, losing weight, no bloating, no irritable bowel syndrome, no heart/chest pain – lots has changed just from that one lifestyle choice to no longer eat gluten and dairy. Just yesterday I was speaking with a colleague about the benefits that I have found from not eating gluten and dairy as she was speaking about wanting to lose weight.
Chris great story I’m sure so many of us have our little things that we are “addicted” to items that we just can’t quite imagine living without yet what you share is perhaps these addictions are actually holding back way more than we think!
So true, when we think of giving up our little comforts, we may go into ‘never, I love it so much’. However to truly reflect upon what exactly we love and to connect to our body to see if it loves it truly, often if we are really honest we would have to say ‘not really’ ….
I would say from listening to my own voice speak, that what I eat has a big effect on the clarity of the tone and range of my voice. So to sing this would be much more pronounced. Anyhow, giving up dairy and gluten and two of the most simple effective ways for anyone to improve their health in my opinion and from personal experience of having done so.
‘…the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.’ I love this line, and feel it applies to us all, whoever we are and whatever we do. There is no substitute for being oneself. And when you think about it, is there really any other option that could be considered authentic? No. If we’re not truly being ourselves, we must be being something or someone else.
Hmmm, methinks the Fisherman’s ‘Friend’ might be something of a misnomer. There’s not a lot that’s friendly about a substance that’s regularly abused to push through limitations or otherwise encourage the overriding of other of the body’s impulses… such as the need to move away from harming foods like dairy and gluten. ‘Foe’ would be a better descriptor.
How we take care of ourselves is reflected in our voice. It is joyful to reconnect back to yourself, in your body and discover your best friend was with you all along … no fishing or fishermen required!
It’s amazing the length that we will go to, to continue to do things in a way that’s not true. We become experts at just what and when to take. What really stands out with these habits is how protective we get, and how they escalate step by step – one dose is never enough. Your words inspire me Chris to look again at what these things are for me, and to know there is a place of harmony waiting if I just let go.
Thanks Chris, your article offers positive encouragement for those wanting to eliminate unhealthy eating choices.
Yes it does, and such an inspiration for others to see what is possible with just some adjustments.
This is such a brilliant and enjoyable article to read. Lots of laughs, beautiful observation, plenty of wisdom. We should spread it around!
Hello Chris,
Thank you for this minty fresh blog! You have a wonderful and forthright way of expressing yourself in your conversations, in your singing and in your writing. So beautiful to hear how things unfolded for you and how it is not about trying out different things to keep up going with what we love doing, but rather it is about us connecting more deeply with ourselves that then brings more of our natural qualities and strengths to the fore. This is certainly something I can keep working on, for it is a forever unfolding process. Wonderful reminder – Thank you!
What a great and simple blog to remind us of the ways we can kick habits that we think are supporting us to get through the day be it in the work or home environment. A simple throat lozenger leading to weight loss and letting go of the old ways and bringing vitality back. A humbling read. Thank you!
Amazing and transformational Chris, what a joy it is to just let go of things and feel the lightness in the body and expression; completely love the ending of the fisherman as a friend ; )
…..the ending of the fishermen’s as a friend. In me arises the question how many friends like this do we have in our life? If I look more closely there are many, some are more hidden some obvious. Great sharing Chris.
As an ex smoker I recognise the feeling of a cigarette being a friend. It might sound odd to some but it’s a common feeling. Having a cigarette was something that I did when I felt good and also when I felt bad. Cigarettes were there for me whenever I needed or wanted them, they gave me a ‘lift’ that I welcomed at work and at home and they provided me with a little guaranteed something for myself. I used them as a reward for doing something that I didn’t want to do and looked forward to them during my work breaks. Of course cigarettes are not a friend at all but there is a consciousness that makes us feel that they are.
Gorgeous Chris, you truly are an inspiration for the real deal of letting go of anything that keeps us in the ball and chain of our own making. And the sheer joy that we exhude as a result.
So true, Chris’ face and radiant smile speak volume of the joy doesn’t it? And this is possible for everyone – how awesome.
It is amazing how a small change can have a ripple effect, ending up transforming an entire life completely. I mean, how a simple choice to try stopping eating gluten and dairy can lead to ‘being truly me’ – that’s extraordinary.
And it is such an empowering experience too Fumiyo. When I gave up dairy at least now 30 years ago or so, the immediate effect was that I hardly got any colds anymore, no more sore throats. It supported me in bringing my children up dairy free – the gluten however came much later. And when I found out how I felt after not eating gluten for 3 months – I knew I would never go back to eating that either. My body and my vitality show these little adjustments and it feels awesome to have a body that is not clogged up with these gluey and gooey foods 😉
Love the simplicity of this blog Chris – it just goes to show, we often look at the most complex ways to address our issues of health or don’t even stop to consider that there is ‘another’ way other than the way we are dealing with it, when in fact, – simple choices such as the one you made here – giving up gluten and dairy – had a profound effect, not only on your singing, but your general health and well-being.
We can trick ourselves into thinking we need something, or that this thing is doing us good and so we then ignore seeing that maybe we are a little bit obsessive about that certain thing and need to ask ourselves why we are making that choice. It’s great that you share your loving choices Chris and how they are supporting you so very beautifully, as this can inspire so many.
This is awesome Chris. I am amazed by the way the things we eat, drink and inhale show up in our voice. It’s as though our voice energetically conveys all of our choices, no wonder I have often found it difficult to hear the sound of my voice when it is recorded.
This is beautiful, Chris, having known you all of those 14 years it has been a delight to watch the transformation and to experience the clarity of your voice now. I love your last line, ‘and that the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.’
Keep being you Chris James as your voice blesses us all! It’s amazing the difference simple lifestyle choices can make. Mind you, the thought of giving up dairy before I gave up dairy felt monumental, but now the thought of cheese has no appeal what so ever.
Extraordinary – I had no idea that singers use performance enhancing drugs like Fisherman’s friends! Do those with the highest consumption win all the prizes? And do we need an official inquiry here?
Yes this was news to me too and I felt it was to do with having to do with pushing the voice out to hit those notes and what it does to the throat – so amazing to read how it can become so effortless.
The changes Chris has made are extraordinary – and none of it feels like a huge effort; yes, it requires awareness, responsibility and a loving discipline but the outcomes speak for themselves.
Yes this was news to me too and I felt it was to do with having to push the voice out to hit those notes and what it does to the throat – so amazing to read how it can become so effortless.
I agree Gabriel, maybe the packet should come with a health warning…especially for singers:)
You are an inspiration Chris James. Thank you for all you bring.
Going to the root of our habits and not focusing on the habit itself brings understanding. With that understanding we can make different choices and those habits can seem to melt away.
‘.. the best friend for my voice was simply me being truly me.’ Whether it’s Fisherman’s Friends or any other false support Chris James, this comment sums up your wisdom and is an inspiration for all. Being afraid of myself has been my biggest roadblock!
I totally agree Bernadette. We can find any number of ways to distract ourselves from being who we truly are and we can go to all sorts of lengths to do it. Chris is indeed an inspiration, showing us what is possible when we choose to let go of what actually holds us back from being ourselves.
Thank you Chris for sharing your intimate story about your fisherman friends .. Actually that is what more than that.. So cool you have found your way now with singing and enjoying yourself. To no longer feel that you need something to be someone or something, but to just be and sing and enjoy yourself. Magnificent!
I can’t believe you are 64 years young!! You look amazing, so full of vitality and cheekiness. Just goes to show how some simple lifestyle choices like giving up dairy and gluten can change your life and have such a profound effect on your voice. Who’d have thought.
Inspiring reading Chris. The motto I got from your story is that when you take the time to build a more natural way with you and your body, the results can be quite phenomenal and the need for outside ‘props’ to aid you drop away as you step into your own natural power and grace. Nice one.
Sarah great summation, whilst the path there may also be challenging as we’ve relied on those props the end result is well worth it.
Yes the end is worth every step taking towards it. I found that too – the result of how I felt physically, mentally and emotionally outweighs any of these clogging foods and I am so grateful for having made those changes many years ago now. And- I don’t miss them at all 🙂
The natural way that is shared is the marker of living that we know is no new but what we have chosen not to live so long. Thank you for sharing your willingness to return to your natural way of being.
How amazing Chris how this began by giving up gluten and dairy and feeling the difference in that, particularly in how your voice range extended. What you’ve described feels like the process of stripping away all the things that were not part of you, that you’d taken on to allow you to feel the true you within.
What is fascinating is we are brought up to think we have to go out and attain things or knowledge to make us complete or whole yet we have everything we could ever want or need and much more already within. So as you have described we simply need to strip those layers away and boom its all there. And things like gluten and dairy simply add to keeping us away from deeply feeling our connection within.
I have noticed that over the years the more we strip away what no longer serves ourselves or others allows a huge level of tension to leave the body and offer more quality in connections.
That is a big amount of weight that you have let go of Chris… I can’t imagine and don’t really want to imagine how hard it would be to carry around an extra 20kg with me all the time. I bet your body is loving you for the choices you have made. So much less strain on your organs and skeletal system!