Because it restores everything that is slipping away from us in our distracted, mediated, complex and isolated world. Improv brings us back to connection, embodiment, community, play and civility. To actually being in our lives, mindfully.
And it’s just darn fun! When’s the last time you did something just for fun?
Long before theatre, music, poetry, and making pictures were the exclusive purview of a professional class of artists who had the “right” training, these activities belonged to all of us and served multiple functions within our cultures and communities. They provided beauty, preserved our history, allowed us to let down our guard, and strengthened relationships. In teaching non-performance improv we are in a sense returning theatre to its essential role in examining and expressing what it means to be human. Theatre, in general as an artform has the unique ability to influence and inform our everyday living because the medium itself is human experience. It’s about us. It is us.
Theatre happens in community. In the communal structure of improv, the basic principle is “yes and . . .” We are not just playing. We are playing with and for each other. When properly facilitated, it encourages us to develop the skills to be connected; to be present by listening, trusting and speaking up. As our connections deepen through play, our understanding of ourselves, others and the world can’t help but grow. In any given improv, we might be called on to be the mom, zombie, movie critic, or translator. Who knew we could step into all these roles? And if that’s possible, maybe we could expand our idea of ourselves beyond our work/family roles to include something we discover, intentionally. In playing with each other and accepting whatever circumstance we are given, who knows what we will find ourselves relating to? Coworkers who are angry, elated, sad, bored or nervous. We might find ourselves open and empathetic to qualities we normally block out or ignore in the people around us. As we continue to practice “yes and . . .” looking for opportunities to contribute or support to the overall storyline, we can begin to recognize and feel part of a larger trajectory, deepening that sense of being a small AND important part of our community or workplace. Anything is possible in an improv, along as we listen, trust and speak up. Anything.
But as they say, we have to be present to claim the prize. The prize of being fully engaged in our lives, with each other and in our work. Improv connects us to the experience of being present. It is always happening right now. We don’t know what is about to happen. That’s why it is so engaging and sometimes scary. The nowness of the improv experience links it to mindfulness. Training our minds through the practice of mindfulness is in fact a relational activity even when our eyes are closed and we are silent. We are relating to and becoming aware of our whole experience, moment by moment which includes our bodies, emotions and thoughts. As we start to become more present for ourselves, we start to become more available for others, open to innovative solutions and able to meet the challenges of day to day conflicts. Bringing the intentions of mindfulness practice to the playful activities of improv creates the bridge for these seemingly simple activities to be enriching and insightful. And bringing improv to mindfulness makes it easier to take these seemingly solitary practices and insights into our hectic lives.
The Fiercely Human workshops combine improv activities and mindfulness practices, not as an idea but as an experience. This creates a powerful learning environment and requires expert facilitation. It is one thing to know how to do an improv or practice mindfulness, another thing to be able to teach others the techniques but it is yet another thing to facilitate learning those elusive and essential human abilities known as emotional intelligence. Everyone knows we need self-awareness, empathy, and creative thinking to get along and to get ahead. But how to develop them? It’s not enough to know our personality type, or pretend to listen to our colleagues. We have to practice the skills of being human with a fierceness that goes against the grain of our contemporary culture.
In a world that feels contracted and overwhelming and speedy and aggressive all at the same time, more technology, do-lists and work, work, work doesn’t feel like the solution. It feels like more of the same. We need something different like maybe some good old-fashioned play time so we can slow down, laugh and be together just for the fun of it.
To find out more about the Fiercely Human Workshops and Training, contact Liz.
