S1: E13: The Tempo of the Trans Community

Hey, Cis!

Hey, Cis; Hey, who?

Cis = latin preface for 'on the same side as.

Cisgender is someone whose gender identity aligns with their sex as assigned at birth.

Cisgender is someone who has the ability to make the world safer, brighter and more inclusive for trans people young and old. Cisgender is someone who needs to be an intentional part of the conversation -- so let's talk.

Kastin Bradley is creating safe space for the queer community to explore their vocal chords, their voices and form a new connection with their voice. And it's happening at Trans-formative Voices starting now.

"If they're feeling any dysphoria from it; if they're doing hormone replacement therapy and their voice is affected or not affected," Kastin tells Hey, Cis! how this new program provides a safe space to learn how to take care of your voice.

Did you know, there are healthy ways to change the way you communicate... and non-healthy ways?

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It's not all about tone and pitch -- there is cadence and even sentence structure.

Did I go up at the end of that sentence? What does that say about who I am?...

This week we're joined by Kastin Bradley, a music therapist at Find Your Voice Music Therapy. Together with Isaac, who holds a degree in linguistics, and Cynthia... who just likes to talk,

we break down some of the binary standards around the way we're "air quote"... "supposed to communicate"... "un-air quote".

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Kastin uses they/she pronouns and identifies as non-binary.

Born in PEI, they went to Acadia university where they studied Music Therapy. They're now living in Halifax and loving it.

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So what is music therapy all about?

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Kastin describes it as the use of music and elements of music in order to attain non-musical goals. In this instance, music therapy is used to help you learn how to communicate more efficiently, or rewire your brain around memory and communication. It's a non-traditional therapy.

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'It can be really challenging to talk about what you're feeling...but it can be really less threatening to be handed a drum,' laughs Kastin as they describe their non-threatening and accessible approach to curated music therapy.

'Our voice is a very individualized aspect of ourselves. It portrays who you are, it can inflect mood and communication...I'm really excited about my program to start,' says Bradley, referring to Trans-formative Voices, a virtual program launching this month, supporting trans and non-binary people in a gender affirming way.

What does Trans-Formative Voices involve?

• virtual bi-weekly 1 hour meeting
• vocal warm-ups
• breathing exercises
• throat help
• how to care for your voice to avoid damage
• finding comfort range around vocals and more...

Cis-sexism is the idea everyone is cisgender and/or the idea that everyone wants to be cisgender or that being cisgender is better than any other way of 'being'.

'Not everybody wants to be male or female and there's so much room in between to find a comfort zone,' shares Kastin. That comfort zone can be how you find comfort in how you talk.

'I just really want to strive to provide a space and the resources for everyone to explore themselves, to explore their voice, to find what feels comfortable for them to not feel like they have to fit into any certain box,' says Kastin.

Hey, Cis! is a beyond binary conversation in being a better human.

We are about current affairs and gender-based issues affecting trans and non-binary youth, students and adults within our Maritime community.

We take on difficult topics; (and this week it is a difficult topic), breaking us out of the binary, smashing stigma and fostering greater connection between our cisgender community and trans, gender creative and non-binary community.

#mentalhealth #musictherapy #lgbtq #transgender #transhealth #inclusionmatters

Produced and edited in-house.

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