It interfered with my breathing

Its surpose to come up from your diaphram dont know how many stomake muscles you use for that but you say you reached down and gotthe people in the bak to hear you so you already have done it!.

While the abdominal muscles do come into play. it is not like olympic power lifting. With practice your body will find a work around to correct any loss of power you may be experiencing vocally. Here are two exercises you can use to get your flow back: Lie flat on your back on the floor with your feet and calves up on a small chair or foot stool. Your hips should be very close to the stool or chair. While lying in this position take a fairly heavy book such as a dictionary and rest it on your soft abdomen below the ribs. Breathe in while focusing on lifting the book as high as possible. Do not continue to push if it is painful, just to the point of mild discomfort. Hold the breath and the book up for a count of three then let it back down, as low as possible while breathing out. Repeat this five times breathing in as slowly as possible and out as slowly as possible. You can add a single note to the out breath if you want to get the feel of singing with diaphragmatic pressure. Now do it five times as quickly as possible expelling the breath with a Hah! much like a martial artist would. Next, stand with feet shoulder width apart hands resting at sides and breathe in and out deeply. Focus on filling the abdomen with breath to the navel, breathe out, next fill to the rib cage, breathe out, next to fill to the shoulders, breathe out, then to the top of your throat, or jawline, breathe out, lastly breathe in deeply filling the abdomen all the way to the top of the head. Repeat. Of course oxygen only goes into the lungs, but that image is not helpful to most of us. Sometimes I have students imagine themselves as clear galss measuring cups with lines at each of these breath centers. Try these and here is the test. Take a deep breath and exhale, breathe in again and with your eye on a clock, time how long you can expell your breath on a single note. At first it may not be much. Practice these excersises and then sing twenty minutes each day four days a week and try the timing again after two weeks. You will notice marked improvement, if you follow the instructions correctly, guaranteed. The goal, as singers, should be to develop the best voice you or I are capable of, not to be something we are not. The world is full of Ethel Mermans, and Tina Turners who are not world famous singers because someone told them their voice did not fit the box,and they believed it, and yet both of these ladies have enjoyed world wide fame as singers.

I doubt he did it to INTENTIONALLY ruin your singing career - its probably just they way they did it when he went to med school. I think you are projecting in this case. Now that you went to a stupid so called church that gave you so much guilt - that was bad, but this time I really think it wasn't "to make sure to kill a potential singing career because I had been immoral before I was married".

suspenseful I really think that with a few exercises every day you can indeed strengthen your stomach muscles. I think most every woman who has had any kind of surgery on your abdomen has had some muscles cut but they do come back at once given a few abdominal exercises. Unlike my shoulder joint , I fractured my shoulder several years back and had to have a shoulder joint replacement. I did not get back all the use of my left arm although I had extensive physical therapy. I really did w ork hard at it but no not all my muscles will move when I wish them to. however I have not had any problems with my abdominal muscles at all. Work on your stomach muscles and they will respond, there are mild exercises that strengthen your tummy muscles and they really do work. I can now breath with my tummy muscles much better so it should help your singing as well. good luck and God bless.

That's pretty awful. Sounds like instead of being a doctor, your doctor was trying to play God...

I think you are able to re-train the muscles that you do have. If I had time in a studio with you then I would be able to help... All I can say is to bring your side abdominals into play. you want to push from the bottom of your lungs, not with your stomach necessarily... Good luck. I hope this is helpful.