Rhythm, voice and body language (BLICK-08-EN)

Rhythm, voice and body language

group work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzpHrqYratk

For this method, you need a sound system with which you can play music towards the end of this exercise sequence.

5 minutes

The method described here is a sequence of interlocking exercises. At the beginning of this method, the aim is for the participants to become active. They start by tapping their own bodies. Barbara Schwiglhofer, who described this method, pays attention to the activation level of each group at the beginning. If the participants are still a little tired at the beginning, she starts the exercise in a sitting position. The participants tap their bodies while sitting and thus become more alert and are better able to take part in the further exercises, which then take place while walking.

The method described here is very much about mindfulness. Many stress-related illnesses can be treated through mindfulness exercises. But the most important thing is that mindfulness increases well-being and quality of life.

The concept of mindfulness originally comes from Buddhist philosophy. In Buddhism, mindfulness is typically cultivated through formal meditation practices, for example sitting meditation, walking meditation or mindful movement. This involves consciously experiencing bodily sensations, emotions or thoughts in the given moment and allowing these bodily sensations, emotions or thoughts to come and go.

It is important for practitioners to meet these inner reactions with curiosity and openness. This also means accepting negative thoughts as such without attaching further importance to them. If one's attention wanders, it is already a great success if one notices this fact. Because by noticing this, you already step out of thoughts that are running automatically and can find your way back to mindfulness.

Mindfulness exercises are increasingly finding their way into stress reduction programmes.

One of the first Western-adapted mindfulness-based programmes is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). The method was developed in the late 1970s by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Through this method/action, these benefits are achieved:

• Achieving awareness of expressiveness and voice
• Achieving awareness of one's own body language
• Coming into harmony through the confluence of body and voice
• Expanding one's own repertoire of actions through a more flexible approach to one's own emotional expression
• Being able to make contact playfully and without fear
• Breaking through and expanding one's own patterns of movement and speech (courage to be embarrassed, courage to be beautiful)

Step 1

The beginning of this exercise can be done sitting or standing. The participants stand or sit in a circle and begin to lovingly tap their own bodies. Mindfulness is required! While they are tapping on different parts of their body, they gradually try to get into a common tapping rhythm as a group, the so-called group beat.

Step 2

Now proverbs are given, which the participants say rhythmically while continuing to tap their bodies to the group beat.

"The early bird gets the worm!"

The idea is to get the whole body swinging. The body should become tactilely perceptible.

Now the word gold is emphasised while speaking; the emphasis is accompanied by an arm movement. This accentuation is about grasping space, perceiving the space around us and taking possession of it. And again it is also about mindfulness: we stay with ourselves, but send this one word into the space with this arm movement.

Step 3

Now it is about getting in touch with the other group members. Through eye contact we establish a connection and now send this one emphasised word of the proverb to the other person with an arm movement. It is about making big movements outwards and making contact with other people.

Step 4

Now the participants fall silent and stop tapping. Instead, they are now given the task of walking around the room. This step also requires mindfulness, because the group has to find a common walking pace that everyone can join in with. The tactile impulses come from the feet that touch the floor while walking.

This finding a new common rhythm can sometimes take a while; the participants have to re-orientate themselves, because now the walking speed is the new group beat.

• How are the others walking?
• How am I walking?

Very often it happens that the participants start walking in a left-hand circle. But that is not the task! Each participant should find his or her own way through the room.

Step 5

In this step, the previously used proverb is integrated into the walking pace. The participants speak while walking and adjust their walking speed to the rhythm of the speech.

They can choose the word they want to emphasise. As they walk, they should try out using their voice and a gesture to emphasise this word.

Step 6

Now emotions come into play. The group leader introduces different figures or characters. The participants take on the role of these characters and, while walking, repeat the proverb as this character. Here are a few examples of such characters:

• a strict head teacher
• the happy child at the playground
• a grandmother proclaiming wisdom
• a teenager who does not want to tell his mother that he has done something (embarrassing),
• someone announcing the latest sensation.

Alternatively, the group leader can just name these emotions without giving a corresponding role: aggressive, enthusiastic, shy, etc.

Step 7

Now music is played that has a medium walking tempo. Barbara Schwighogfer always chooses the piano accompaniment to the song "May the road bring us together". This piano piece can be found on the youtube channel "2sing" and in the description of this exercise in the field "Materials".

The participants can choose the people and the gestures while moving to the music.

Step 8

The participants stop walking while the music continues in the background. Each person remains on their own and there is no need to interact with others. Now the participants have the task of gradually making a gesture that was previously made big smaller. Instead of great theatricality, the participants' gestures become smaller and smaller and more casual until they become gestures that fit into everyday language. In the end, each participant has found a small gesture. They are now small hand movements that you actually make when you speak.

At the end of this exercise, the participants can present their small gestures to the other participants while saying the proverb.

What everyone can observe is that the language and the body are now fully present while making the gesture

Barbara Schwiglhofer

https://cliniclowns.at/clowns/

http://www.bis-pinkafeld.at/lehrende-sob/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K01A2O1ydn4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVFMo1GlTF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzpHrqYratk

I am a rhytmicist, singer and trainer for breathing and voice training. I also used to work as an acting coach and as a speech coach at a drama school. I work with children, young people, older people and with impaired people. I am currently working in adult education as a trainer for activation and creative design.

And I have also been a clinic clown for 20 years. Being a clown means the greatest freedom for me. Because a clown doesn't have to know everything! It's nice not to take life quite so seriously. Clowning has certainly been a great liberation for me personally. Laughter simply helps!

Where all these areas flow together for me is the theme of rhythm.

Music, Performing Arts

English, German