Hello again!

How has your journey with authentic expression been unfolding? I’ve been thinking of you as you explore your expression patterns and work with those barriers that might have been holding your voice back. I’m so excited to dive into this week’s exploration with you!

As we enter our third week together, we’re going to explore something I find absolutely magical – the diverse channels through which your authentic voice can flow and how it naturally evolves over time. This week is all about discovering new pathways for expression and honouring the growing edge of your beautiful, unique voice.

Your Voice Can Flow Through Many Channels

Have you ever struggled to express something important through words, only to discover it flows easily through movement or art? Or perhaps you’ve noticed that writing comes naturally, but speaking the same thoughts feels challenging?

This is something I see often in my work with clients – we each have channels through which our authentic expression flows more naturally. And when we discover these channels, it can feel like finally finding the right key for a lock we’ve been struggling with for years.

I remember working with a client – let’s call him Michael – who had always struggled to express his deeper emotions through words. During one session, I invited him to try drawing while we talked, and suddenly emotions he couldn’t name began flowing onto the page in colours and shapes. This visual channel became a bridge to his verbal expression, eventually allowing him to find words for feelings that had previously felt inexpressible.

The beautiful truth is that your authentic voice isn’t limited to a single form – it can flow through countless channels, each offering unique advantages and accessing different aspects of your expression.

Discovering Your Expression Channels

Let’s explore some of the many channels through which your authentic voice might find its flow:

Verbal Channels

These include speaking in conversation, public speaking, storytelling, teaching, or singing. Your spoken voice carries not just words but tone, rhythm, pace, and energy that convey your authentic expression.

Written Channels

Your authentic voice might flow through journaling, creative writing, poetry, essays, or even thoughtful emails and messages. Writing gives us time to find our words and can sometimes bypass the self-consciousness that verbal expression triggers.

Physical Channels

Movement, dance, gestures, facial expressions, and even how you carry yourself physically can all be powerful channels for authentic expression. Sometimes our bodies can express what our words cannot.

Creative Channels

Visual art, music, cooking, gardening, design, crafts – any creative act can become a channel for authentic expression when approached with intention and presence.

Digital Channels

In our connected world, social media posts, blogs, audio recordings, video content, and other digital forms offer unique ways to share your authentic voice with others.

Most of us default to certain channels based on comfort, experience, or perceived skill. But authentic expression often flourishes when we explore diverse channels, especially those we might not initially consider “our strengths.” I’ve seen people who consider themselves “not creative” discover profound expression through collage-making, and self-described “terrible writers” find their authentic voice flowing beautifully through poetry.

Channel Exploration Practice

I’d love to invite you to try this simple practice this week:

1. Choose a form of expression you rarely use – something outside your comfort zone
2. Approach it with playful curiosity, not concern about skill or outcome
3. Express something meaningful to you through this unfamiliar channel
4. Notice how the channel affects your expression – what emerges that might not have through your usual channels?
5. Reflect on what aspects of your voice become more accessible through this new channel

The goal isn’t mastery but discovery – finding new pathways for your authentic voice to emerge. Sometimes our most profound expressions come through unexpected channels, precisely because they bypass our habitual filters and judgments.

Emotional Voice: Giving Voice to All Your Feelings

Each emotion has its own voice, its own creative energy. When we honour all our emotional expressions, our creative voice becomes more authentic and whole.

Yet many of us have learned to express certain emotions freely while suppressing others. For some, joy and enthusiasm flow easily while anger or grief remain unexpressed. For others, criticism or frustration find voice while tenderness or vulnerability stay hidden.

Authentic expression embraces your full emotional spectrum. Just as an orchestra needs both the bright, high notes and the deep, resonant ones to create full, rich music, your authentic voice needs access to your complete emotional range.

Emotional Voice Practice

This practice has helped many of my clients access emotional expressions that had been long suppressed:

1. Choose an emotion you’re experiencing (or one you typically find difficult to express)
2. Find a colour that represents this emotion for you
3. Express this emotion through colour – draw, paint, collage, or simply imagine it
4. Add movement that feels aligned with this emotion
5. Add sound that gives it voice – this could be humming, speaking, singing, or any vocal expression
6. Notice how this multi-sensory approach deepens your expression

This practice bypasses analytical thinking to access more direct emotional expression. The combination of colour, movement, and sound creates a holistic pathway for emotions that might otherwise remain unexpressed.

I remember a client who had always struggled to express anger appropriately. Through this practice, she discovered that anger for her was a fiery red that wanted to move in strong, pushing gestures and emerge vocally as deep, powerful sounds. This multi-sensory understanding transformed her relationship with anger from something frightening to something she could express with both power and control.

Vocal Evolution: How Your Voice Grows and Changes

Your voice isn’t static – it evolves, deepens, and expands as you grow. Just as a musician’s sound develops over time, your authentic expression develops unique qualities through consistent practice and life experience.

This evolution is both natural and intentional. While your voice naturally changes through life experience, you can also consciously foster its development.

Tracking Your Vocal Evolution

Take a moment to reflect on how your expression has evolved:

• How has your voice changed over the past year? Five years? Decade?
• What new dimensions have emerged in your expression?
• Where has your voice become more confident or clear?
• What unique signature has developed in your creative expression?
• What growing edge is currently emerging in your voice?

This reflection helps you recognize the dynamic nature of authentic expression and honours the journey your voice has already taken. Many of us don’t give ourselves credit for how our expression has already evolved – taking time to acknowledge this growth can be deeply affirming.

Intentional Voice Evolution

While natural growth happens through life experience, you can also intentionally foster specific qualities in your expression:

1. Identify a quality you’d like to develop in your authentic expression – perhaps more directness, vulnerability, playfulness, or technical precision
2. Find examples that embody this quality – people, writings, or art that demonstrate this expressive element in ways that resonate with you
3. Practice small expressions with this quality in low-stakes situations where you feel comfortable experimenting
4. Seek feedback from trusted sources who will honestly reflect what they hear
5. Integrate gradually into your natural expression, allowing this quality to blend with your authentic voice rather than forcing an artificial change

Remember that evolution is different from imitation. The goal isn’t to sound like someone else but to expand your own authentic range.

A client once told me she wanted to develop more warmth in her professional expression, which tended to be quite direct and analytical. Rather than trying to completely change her style (which would have felt inauthentic), she began intentionally incorporating small elements of warmth – a personal opening in emails, acknowledging feelings in meetings, and expressing appreciation more specifically. Over time, these elements integrated naturally with her direct style, creating an evolved voice that remained authentic while incorporating the new quality she valued.

Your Expression Legacy

As we near the end of our third week together, I’d like to invite you to consider something meaningful – the legacy of your voice. Every time you express authentically, you create impact that extends far beyond that single moment.

Think about the voices that have influenced your life – perhaps a teacher whose words still guide you, a parent whose expressions of love shaped your understanding of relationships, an author whose writing opened new worlds to you, or a friend whose authentic sharing helped you accept parts of yourself.

Your voice creates similar ripples:

• Personal impact: Your expression shapes your own growth and wellbeing, helping you integrate your experiences and connect with your truth
• Relational impact: Your authentic voice affects your connections with others, creating space for deeper understanding and intimacy
• Community impact: Your expression contributes to collective conversations, perhaps shifting perspectives or offering new possibilities
• Legacy impact: Your voice might influence others in ways that continue long after the moment of expression, even beyond your awareness

 

Legacy Reflection Questions

Consider these dimensions of your expression legacy:

• How has authentic expression shaped your own life journey?
• How might your voice create space for others to express more authentically?
• What truth do you uniquely offer the world?
• What ripple effects might your voice create that you may never even see?

This reflection isn’t about creating pressure to have a “big impact” but rather recognizing the meaningful influence authentic expression can have – often in ways we never fully see.

Your Week 3 Challenge

This week, I invite you to commit to exploring at least two new channels for your authentic expression. Choose channels that feel unfamiliar or even slightly uncomfortable – this stretching often reveals new dimensions of your voice.

For each channel:

1. Express something meaningful (not just technical practice)
2. Notice what aspects of your voice emerge more easily through this channel
3. Consider how this channel might complement your more familiar expressions
4. Reflect on any insights about your authentic voice this exploration reveals

Remember, this isn’t about mastery or creating “good” art/writing/music – it’s about discovery and expanding the pathways through which your authentic voice can flow.

As you move through this week, notice with gentle awareness:

• Which channels access different aspects of your authentic voice?
• How does emotional expression vary across different channels?
• What new qualities are currently evolving in your expression?

These observations will deepen your understanding of your voice’s potential and evolution.

Join the Journey

I’m loving this exploration with you! Throughout this week, I’ll be sharing daily practices on social media to support your channel exploration and voice evolution. Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn for regular inspiration and practical exercises.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with different expression channels. What surprising channels have revealed new dimensions of your voice? How has your expression evolved over time? Comment below or reach out directly to share your journey.

Remember: Your authentic expression isn’t limited to a single form – it can flow through many channels and continue evolving throughout your life. The joy is in the exploration and discovery of all the ways your unique voice can find its way into the world.

With warmth and belief in your ever-evolving voice,

Gemma-Lee

About the Author:

Gemma-Lee Harvey is a Holistic Counsellor and Lifestyle Coach based on Australia’s Sunshine Coast. With a diverse background spanning psychology, business, counselling, and coaching, she creates a nurturing space for exploring one’s full potential. Her gentle yet practical approach kindles the transformative spirit within, guiding individuals through life’s challenges as they rise through empowerment.

Contact:

🌐 www.phynixbydesign.com.au
☎ 07 5493 6742
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