Choosing a Topic
As a Music Education major, I opted for a short lesson on a topic that lays the foundation for good musical practice: Diaphragmatic Breathing. Breathing from your belly instead of your chest is something we are born knowing how to do. Over time, most of us deviate to more shallow breathing, only filling our chests with air. Diaphragmatic breathing fills your lungs with air fully from the bottom, or belly, upwards. Taking proper breaths enables better performance and calmer nerves.
Podcast Outline/Script
Notes:
- Record in my home office
- Record on my Logitech Blue Yeti X USB Microphone, attached to my MacBook
- Intro Sounds to by the Wind; Outro Sounds to be Sighs; Serene music during deep breathing
[0:00 – 0:15] Topic Intro, Intro Music, Importance
- “Welcome! Today we are doing a two-minute micro-session on the absolute ultimate hack for stress management and musical performance: diaphragmatic breathing. By breathing using only your chest, you are telling your brain to stay stressed. Let’s take 90 seconds to make one positive change that your body will thank you for.”
[0:15 – 0:45] Set-Up and First Point
- “Take a seat in a chair with your back straight and shoulders relaxed. Place your left hand on your chest and your right hand on your belly. The goal is for the left hand on your chest to not move at all. You should only feel the hand on your belly slowly moving back and forth with every breath.”
[0:45 – 1:45] Guided Practice Inhaling and Exhaling; Serene Sounds
- “First, close your eyes. Imagine you are pulling air all the way from your toes, filling your lungs from the bottom up. Breath with me in through your nose, from your toes, filling your lungs for a count of 4. Starting 1….2….3….4…. Imagine you are filling a balloon with your stomach pushing your right hand outward.”
- “Now, purse your lips slightly and exhale like you are extinguishing a candle, slow and steady. Exhale for 1….2….3….4…. deflating the balloon under your right hand all the way until no air remains. Allow the body to relax as you exhale. Again, feeling no movement from the left hand on your chest, only the right hand on your belly moving outward and inward with every breath.”
[1:45 – 2:00] Conclusion and Sign Off
- “I challenge every listener to breathe thoughtfully. Just 3 – 4 minutes of breathing exercises twice a day can calm nerves for a meeting, assist in sleeping, or for any anxious situation. I promise your body will thank you! Use your breathing exercises to take control of your breathing and health!”
- “Catch you next time on Mandy’s Digital Foray!”
My Process Thus Far
To start, I opted to use my Blue Yeti X microphone and Audio-technica ATH-M50x headphones. Both are highly rated for audio recording. Then, I chose GarageBand as my recording medium. Once all was plugged in, I opened GarageBand, chose a new project, chose classical vocals, changed my microphone input to the Blue Yeti mic, and started recording using my script. After several tries, I was finally happy with the resulting recording. I then selected and deleted the blank space at the beginning of the recording. Finally, I saved, compressed, and shared my file with OneDrive.