Weekly account of class work:
For this week lesson, we started off the session with the “name game” again (where we had to call out another person’s name and walked towards them). Given that it was only the second session, we were still a little unfamiliar with one another but I think we managed to open up faster. For those who were a little more familiar with the faces and names, I could tell that they were opening up and speaking more confidently. I guess when we become more confident, we naturally open up our mouth more and speak a little brighter, bolder. This week, we played a new game – “Hunter, Fire, Earthquake” game which got us moving and running about. Through this game, not only did it got us running about and warming up our body, it also allowed us to know more about one another through observing each other playing style. Some individuals were quieter and played everything more safe while others got more aggressive as the game progressed.
After our warm up games, we proceeded to do some breathing exercises which included clenching our fists – then releasing it, taking in deep breath, holding it, and then releasing it (8-4-8), learning how to breathe from other parts of the body, rather than just solely from the chest.
How I felt while during the breathing exercises:
Given that this was one of the first few times we were doing the breathing exercises, I felt that it was quite a challenge given that I have never really carried out breathing exercises on my own. Furthermore, I have realised that I am someone that constantly breathe through my mouth, rather than nose. I feel that this is because I tend to suffer from block nose and sinus, which results in me having slight difficulty breathing through my nose. However through this breathing exercises, I felt that it forces me to breathe through my nose and helped me get used to it.
After this activity, we did an activity on walking posture and presentation. Claire had each of us to walk down the aisle that was made of our course mates standing on both side, before walking back and introducing ourselves at the end of the lane. The comment I got from Claire about my walking and standing posture was that I was quite comfortable with myself (that was really nice to know) but my left hand was stiffer compared to my right hand and hence it stuck closer to my body while I walked. This was probably due to the fact that I played softball and relied a lot on my right hand and hence it was a little more relaxed than my left. Another common comment the class received from Claire was that many people were not strong at their hip area. Hence this resulted in many of them to ‘collapse’ slightly to one side, or reflect signs of weakness in the lower back.
Takeaway from this class/Research findings:
The first takeaway was definitely knowing more about breathing and how significant it was in producing a good voice. Having good breathing techniques can definitely help in developing a good voice as it is important for our body, focus and concentration. Furthermore, good and deep breathing can help relieve nervous energy which will in turn help in the development of a stronger, more stable voice. This was witnessed in some of my course mates who were asked to present and then got a little nervous.
On top of that, I have learnt online that what many people do – “chest breathing” (which involves us breathing with our shoulders. We’re shallow “chest breathers”- stomach goes in and shoulders go up) was not the healthy way of breathing.
For the breathing exercise, I kept this few steps in mind (so that I can refer to in the future or to share it with others as well):
1) Exhale completely through the mouth first
2) Close the mouth and inhale quietly through your nose (mental count of 8).
3) Hold breath for a count of 4.
4) Exhale completely through the mouth for a count of 8.
5) This is considered one breath. Repeat the cycle for about 3-4 times.
Another takeaway I got from the class was how important good walking and standing posture was. Went online and managed to find out some simple directions to help me remember how to keep a good posture:
I think this is a good summary of how a good posture should be like. I intend on using this to help my younger sister correct her standing posture given that she tend to slouch and have very rounded shoulders. Hopefully I am able to impart some of the knowledge I have learnt to her and aid her in improving her standing posture.
