Banquet Preparations!

Note: this exercise will work best with a women’s choir or soprano/alto sectional.
Banquet is tonight, and you need to get ready! You bend down to rummage through your drawer for the nail polish that matches your dress. You found it. Stand up and sigh. You quickly open the bottle and paint your nails. Blow on them to dry them with deep, long breaths. Close the nail polish and put it away. Now you go to the closet and reach up to the top to bring down the shoe box for your banquet shoes. The box is empty. “Oh no!” You breathe quickly using your diaphragm as you begin to panic. “Where could they be?” You crouch and look under your bed. Not there. You walk across the room and open your dresser drawers from the top down. Not there either. Next you decide to look under your roommate’s bed. Yuck there’s green fuzzy stuff under there! “Eeewwwww” Sigh, “It’s only a scarf.” But you still have no shoes. Just then you remember, you used those shoes as bookends because you couldn’t find any at Walmart. You jump up and reach high to grab the shoes from the shelf. Bend down to put them on, and you’re almost ready to go!

Cosmic!

You and your friends are having an adventure tonight. ("ADVENTURE!" you call...) You are at the bowling alley! You slip on your bowling shoes and tie them. Then you stand up and walk over to select your ball. First, you try a 15-lb ball- it weighs you down. "Too heavy!" Then you try a 12 lb ball. "Just right!" you exclaim, holding up your ball joyously. You walk towards your lane- only to see that a lazy worker has left a cardboard stock box in your path. "Oh no! A box!" You cry. You kick the box out of your way. At your lane, you set down your ball and shake out your arms and turn from side to side to get ready. You pick up your ball and roll it down the lane! Unfortunately, you are not warmed up yet, and your ball goes in the gutter. "Oh no!" You sigh. You imitate the machine that picks up the pins. "VVVV"- stretch down, hold- "VVVVVV" stand back up. You pick up your ball and try again- this time you get them all! (imitate the pins getting hit) You raise your arms. "Hooray!" you cry. "I'm getting better!" You do a little happy dance and sit down until your next turn.

Graduation day!!

It is finally time to graduate!! You are al decked out in your slightly uncomfortable graduation gown, and you are ready to walk down the aisle and recieve your diploma. You take a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves. You ben down and tie your shoes and make sure that they will not slip off while you are infront of everyone. You look slowly to your left, and then to your right, and you have a sudden realization that you may not see many of these people ever again. You sigh deeply, quite sad at the thought. But the moment quickly passes and you are once again excited. you hop up and down, barely able to hold all of the joy in. Your name is called! "Oh no" you wisper, and carefully walk to the podium to recieve your diploma. To your relief you do not trip. You are so exited, you call "Hooray!" in front of everyone, and you laugh quite loudly. As the ceremony comes to an end, you begin to hug the friends around you. As you are leaving, you lift your head and hands to heaven and say, "Thank you God for all that You have done!" It is indeed a bitter-sweet thing to be done with school.

Cranky Old Bull

Imagine you are a cow happily grazing in a pasture. You are chewing your cud for a 3rd time, when you here someone scream in the distance. You swallow your cud (again) and slowly turn your head to the right, and slowly to the left. Seeing that the noise was only the farmer's daughter being chased by her brother, you decide to trudge away from your spot to get some shade from the sun. Under the tree, there is another cow named Bessie. You decide to say hello to her. "Hello, Bessie!" She doesn't seem to hear you, so you say it louder. "Hello, Bessie!" When the cow turns its head, you realize that it is not Bessie at all, but the cranky old bull of the herd! "Oh no!" you yell, and the cranky bull starts to chase you away fromt his tree. Once a safe distance from the tree and the bull, you conclude that it is time for dinner, and lower your head into the fresh grass for a meal.

The befriended bloom

You are gently swaying, the tip of a branch on a savory pear tree...You have been cold and barren all winter (Brrr...), but at last the brilliant sun has broken through the wintry clouds and melted away the last remnants of their snow (Sigh!) All of the moisture from the wintry melt along with the rays from the glowing sun provides you with the means to bloom... as a tiny bud you peak forth and take a deep breath of the calm, clear air, and sigh for joy. Food from the earth and the sky provides you with much needed sustenance, and very soon you begin to stretch upwards into the warm air, as gentle white petals, swaying comfortably in the springy breeze. A friendly bumbelbee buzzez along (buzzzz), tickling you dutifully, causing you to burst out with iresistable laughter! Your striped little friend has now provided you with the pollen needed to transform you into a succulant, juicy pear! (mmmmm)

A Trip to D.C.

It is Saturday morning and you have just arrived in Washington D.C. for a weekend getaway. You get out of the van and stretch because you have been sitting for a long time. You reach down to your toes and then up to the sky. You shake out your jitters and let out a huge sigh. "At last! We're here!" you cry. You immediately set out for your journey of sight-seeing and experience a variety of things during the day. You come to a pool of water by the World War II Memorial and squat down to feel the water. It is cold and you say, "Brrrr..." Next you visit the Washington Monument and put your hands up in the air, pretending to hold the monument up for a picture. You continue walking, for what seems like hours, until you come to a gate in front of the white house. You wave and call out "Hello Mr. President," because this is the closest you've ever been to his house. You spot a nearby tree and climb it to try and see better. By this time, you have been walking for a majority of the day, so you jump down from the tree, stretch again, and sit down for a rest, anticipating the many things yet to see.

Puppy meets Kitty

Today puppy is going to explore the great outdoors
Imagine yourself a puppy taking in the outdoor
wonder. You sniff the air smelling a mixture of the surrounding greenery. You sniff the ground smelling the dirt. Hmm... what's this? The ground smells strange, you follow the smell with great curiosity. It leads you to some bushes, you bend low and peer in the bushes and see two yellow eyes and hear a strange "hisssss" (like a cat). Then a frightened furry ball flashes past you, you spring after it in excitement thinking "oh! A new toy!". After chasing the cat in a few circles it then runs up a tree. You likewise attempt to climb the tree standing as high as you can and scratching at the tree..but alas to no avail. So you bark at the kitty trying to tell it to me down. At that moment a whiff of bacon comes to you from the kitchen window.. You suddenly forget the cat and trot back to the house to get a snack..
The End

A Day In The Life of a Band Member

You are all very good singers. Today we are going to imagine you are all excellent instrumentalists as well! You are going to audition to be in the marching band. To relax yourself, you take a deep breath, long and slow. Then you exhale just as slowly so you feel calm. You band instructor points to the drums. You hold your drumsticks at waist height and tap out a perfect rhythm using your wrists and arms. It is important that you be able to march while you play, so you start marching and continue throughout the rest of your audition. Next you take the huge cymbols and crash them together several times. Now the band director points to the wind section. You pick up a piccilo, expand your lungs, and blow out just enough air to play the perfect pitch for your director. (Don't stop marching!) You go to the brass section and find a trombone. You take a deep breath again and let out all your air by buzzing your lips on the mouthpiece. You move the slide out as far as it will go and then back in again several times to play different pitches. Finally, your band director says you are done. Your audition is over so you touch your toes to stretch out your legs from all that marching. You stand up slowly because you are a little hesitant to hear what your band director says. As you stand, you are given the thumbs up sign! You throw your hands in the air, cry "Oh Yes!" and then sigh in relief. Your audition is over, and you are happy!

What a mess!!

Imagine that you are laying in your bed at 8 o’clock one morning sleeping, when the phone rings. (IMITATE THE PHONE) "Who could that be?" you ask. Your room mate, who is awakened as well, answers the phone and tells you that it is Dr. Kauffman asking for you. You take the phone and say, "Hello?" You hear him respond saying, "Do you know you have a class with me right now?" Bewildered by this realization, you exclaim, "OH NO! I will be right there." You hang up the phone and scurry around the room to get ready. You raise your arms to see if you need to shower. (SNIFF EACH ARMPIT) You decide that you are good for today, and get dressed, putting on a pair of pants, a shirt and shoes. You then look around your room and realize that it is a mess that, if not altered, will result in a point from your RA. In a desperate attempt to order the room, you gather up large quantities of clothing and other various artifacts in your arms and stuff them inside of your closet. You run and get the vacuum cleaner to cleanse your floor of the filth that had long lain beneath your belongings. (IMITATE THE VACUUM CLEANER WITH A "VVVV" SOUND) You decide that it is clean enough, and you grab your things as you bolt out the door and on to class.

Let's go fly a kite!

You wake up from a good night's rest (nice and late in the morning), sit up, stretch, and yawn. You open your window and discover that all the snow has melted. You stick your head out, and feel a warm spring wind. "It's lovely out!" you call. You close your window, jump down from your bunk bed, and slip on your shoes. You decide you will fly a kite today! You open your closet door, lean over and stretch into the back corner of your messy pile, and pull out your kite. You put it under your arm and run outside. Outside, you take a deep breath and smell the new flowers sprouting up. Exhale on a sigh. You trudge up to the top of a hill behind your house. When you finally reach the top, you raise your arms in victory- you have conquered the slope! "Hooray!" You shake out your hands and arms in preparation. You hold the reel on your kite, let out a length of string, and run to get your kite flying. The wind is fairly strong now, and a good blow takes your kite high into the sky- you let out more string and hold on to the reel as the whind takes your kite faaaar to the right, then faaaaar to the left. Suddenly, an unexpected, strong gust sweeps your kite- and your reel- right out of your hands! Your kite is now stuck in a tree! "Oh no!" You cry. You jog over to the tree and climb up, limb by limb, to find that your kite now has a hole ripped in it. You sit in a limb and shrug. "Oh well!" You say. You untangle your wounded kite and jump down from the tree to make your way back home where brunch is waiting for you. (Mmmm.)

Rain, rain, go away!

Imagine that you are a drop of rain that is falling from the sky! Stretch as high as you can (standing on your tippy toes and wiggling your fingers!!) and make a siren sound, making sure your sound is well placed in the mask! As your body is falling very slowly into a sqwatting, you allow your sound to fall as well, going all the way down to a low voice-frying sound. As you join the other drops in the stream on the ground, you stand up slowly, and spread your arms and legs as far apart from each other as possible. You sigh, because it feels so good to stretch and flow with the water. You bring your arms and legs bck together again, and allow your head to fall gently to the right side, and then roll it getnly to the left side. You take a deep breath and hold it deep inside of you. You make a bubbly noise (bu bu bu bu) to relax your face and lips. You sigh again, as you trickle down the side walk. You look around just in time to see a young boy come and jump in the stream! (Jump up and down!) "OH NO!" you cry, and shake your entire body as the boy has caused many ripples in the water. You then laugh a deep laugh (being sure to engage your diaphragm) because you have brought a little joy to this boy.

I suppose the rain can stay for a while!

Hot chocolate and the 4th of July

It is cold snowy day in July, and you have just finished digging out your car. You take the last bit of snow you have on your shovel and hurl it as far as you can. You stretch your arms and sigh, for that was hard work. You walk back inside your house, take off your boots and coat, and put on your slippers. It is very cold outside, so you decide to make some hot chocolate. The mugs are on the top shelf, so you stretch as high as you can to reach one. "Oh no!" you say, "they are missing!" Thinking hard about where the mugs could be, you remember that you put them on the bottom shelf instead. So you squat down, and retrieve a mug. While the hot chocolate is warming up, you realize that you would like to read the paper while enjoying your beverage. The paper is outside at the end of your driveway, so you make a quick run for it, still in your slippers. You get back inside the house and shiver. "Brrrrrrr" you say. Your hot chocolate is now finished, so you settle in your most comfortable chair and read about what is going on this weekend for the 4th of July celebrations.

Tuesday Morning

It is the day after a snowstorm and you know you need to go to work. You bend down to put on your winter boots and tie them tightly. Then you put on your heavy winter coat and zip it snugly. You put on your toasty gloves and walk out the door. Maintenance has thoughtfully provided a shovel, which you grab as you walk down the road to your car. As you get to your car you have to step quite high because there is a foot and a half of snow on the ground. “Yay for winter boots!” you say because your feet stay dry. You take the shovel and clear a path in back of your car. Three, two, one more shovelful should do it. Now you get in the car to start it. “Oh no!” you say, you can’t see out the windows! You grab your trusty snow brush and go outside. You reach up high to brush the snow off the top of the windshield down. Then you walk to the other side of the car and use your other arm to wipe off the other side of the windshield. You sigh, now you, and your car, are ready for work.

Fire! Or Not...

It is nighttime and you are snuggled up in your warm bed. You're very relaxed, your whole body feeling limp. You can feel your stomach rising and falling as you take slow, deep breaths. You gradually drift into a deep sleep when suddenly the fire alarm goes off! You jump out of bed and exclaim, "Oh no!" You frantically feel around for your shoes (it is very dark) until you locate both of them. You put them on and run out of your room. Remembering that all doors and windows must be shut, you run back to your room, quickly shut your window (which was slightly open because yesterday an extension cord was running into it from the softball game), shut your door, and then head for the outside. You forgot your coat, so you shiver as you walk outside and say, "Brrrrr....." You are concerned that your dorm is going to burn down until you see a mighty handsome security guard approaching. You call to him, "Help us!" He comes nearer, checks the dorm, and then announces that there is no fire. Someone had just burnt some toast. You throw your hands up in the air and exclaim, "Not again!" You head back inside, take your shoes off, and get back in bed. You yawn, let out a sigh, and once again drift back into a deep sleep.

Puppy in new home

Today you are a puppy who has just been adopted into a new home. You have just awoken from your nap and you stretch your front paws and your back paws and give a great big yawn. Then you smell something yummy “sniff sniff, sniff sniff sniff”. It is time to explore and find out where this smell is coming from, so you trot out the nearest room and sniff “sniff sniff sniff”, but to your dismay it is the laundry room and you get a nose full of the smell of dirty clothes. You give a disgusted sneeze. Then you trot off once again in search of food. Finally you find your way into the kitchen where the cook is cooking bacon on the stove. You lift your nose up and take deep breaths. Then you try to look like a very good dog, (chin up, good posture, attentive and caring eyes). But the cook pays you no heed, so... you let out some pitiful whimpers. ...Still no response. Finally you stand up as tall as you can, front paws in the air and whimper and maybe even jump a little if you don't loose your balance. This time she sees you and has compassion tossing you a piece of bacon which you gladly catch before it hits the ground. You think “I think this puppy is going to like it's new home...”
The End.

A New Creation

Imagine that you are a long, wriggly caterpiller. You wiggle happily along, munching bits of leaf. When you exhaust one leaf, you stretch out your front legs to make your way to the next one. "Mmmm, tasty..." You start feeling sleepy, so you slip into your homemade cocoon, relax, and sigh contentedly. You hang your head and fall asleep. After some time (you don't know how long), you wake up to the bright sun. You raise your arms and head out to feel the warmth, and realize- oh my!- that you are now equipped with a beautiful pair of colorful wings! You roll your shoulders backwards and forwards a few times to get a sense of your new wings. You tentatively hold them out, floating at your sides, and with a bold step, you begin to flap! You soar now, not from leaf to leaf, but from flower to flower. A caterpillar on a nearby leaf calls to you, "Don't you miss being one of us?" You call back, "Oh no! I most certainly do not!" You happily fly on, knowing that you are a new creation.

Rock Climbing!

It is a beautiful day outside, and you have decided to go rock climbing to exert some of your energy! You get to the face of the clift you are going to climb, and you stretch your torso from side to side. You then stretch your neck slowly, because the last thing you want is to get a cramp 50 feet in the air! You reach down and take your harness out of your bag. You put it on, pulling your legs up high and putting them through the leg holes. You tighten the harness around your waist, and you shake out your hands. You are now ready to climb! You reach as high as you can with your right arm. You then reach as high as you can with your left arm. "That feels so good!" You call and laugh heartily, feeling your diaphragm working hard. You climb for a while, and finally you reach the top. You get up and over the ledge. As you do, you realize you had so much fun that you call to the mountains "Oh No! I am addicted!" You lift your face to the sky, stretch your arms out wide, take a deep breath of mountain fresh air, and sigh a very happy, very energized sigh.

Unwind

Imagine you are a business man just getting home from work. You open the door to your house and call out “Hi honey! I’m home!” Then you take off your tie and toss it away. You roll your neck and sign. Then you pad into the kitchen and take a big whiff of dinner. MMMMMMMmmmmmmm. You walk into the living room and bend down to pick up the newspaper off the floor and stick it under your arm. Then you look to the left and the right. “Honey, where’s the remote?” She answers that it is in the kitchen. You walk back to the kitchen and, unable to resist, open the oven just to see what is for dinner. “MMMMMeatloaf. MMMMMy favorite!” Then you walk back into the living room, turn on the TV and settle into your favorite recliner (Have students imagine as they stand) open the paper and promptly fall asleep. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Longing for sleep and a short post

Is is late at night and you are exhausted, you yawn...you suddenly remember that you must blog for your class! "Oh No!" you say, conscious of the core vowel, the drossless, golden "ah"... You lament, heaping over in your chair as if you saw a hole in the floor leading to a peaceful land over Jordan. But, you don't see any hole in the floor, you are just tired, and you must pound out a short post so you gently and raise your torso and then your head, unwilling to tax your rest-ready muscles. You stretch, and sigh, then stick out your tongue because the coolness of the air in your room is a relief to the hot stickiness within your tired mouth.
You quickly pound out a short post, saunter into the bathroom, brush your teeth, then return to your room and climb into bed to sleep all night. Ahhh...
goodnight!

It is a very busy Thursday on campus and you have just rushed into your room after a long day of classes. You have an hour or so before work tonight, so you flop into your chair at your desk in a slouched position. Your roommate, who has already been done with classes for 3 hours, says "That is not very good posture." You are too tired to argue so you raise yourself to where your back is straight and your diaphragm is not being crunched. You open up your itunes and start listening to your favorite band. You raise your arms in the air, for you are very excited to be finished with classes. "Alleluia!" you yell. Putting your arms down, you take a deep breath in to begin singing along with your band, and your roommate says "Don't you dare." Disappointed, you let out your breath with a hiss. You realize then that you are very tired, sighing and putting your head down on your desk. An hour later you are awakened by your roommate. "Don't you have to be at work?" she asks. "O no!" you yell, and you pull on your shoes and run out of the door.