One great trick to body movement awareness

There’s a lot of things in life we do that we’re unaware of. Our brains can only process so much at a time, right?

Have you ever been driving to work or home, someplace you know well, and suddenly it’s as though you’ve woken up and you’re already there?

You’re not alone.

Good ol’ autopilot.

Sometimes helpful, other times terrifying.

Our bodies are pretty big fans of autopilot.

We don’t have to remember to take each breath, tell our heart to beat or if we’re walking, work out the mechanics of each step we take. This then leads to other habits, sometimes inconvenient, to say the least, when we perform. 

Yep, I’m talking about happy, constantly moving feet, among other things.

Over the years, I’ve seen some more subtle ones: a head tilt, single-arm twitch, and the classic slouch.

These aren’t necessarily bad things. They’re the what makes you, you things. 

All I’m really looking to highlight in this post is body awareness. Being clued into your body makes it possible to choose to incorporate it or not. 

So, how does one become aware of their movement? 

But hang on, first let me share something with you…

My head tilt

My ah-ha moment of realizing the impact movement has on our performances was back when I was in acting conservatory many moons ago. 

Body awareness was not exactly my thing at the time.

So, we were given an exercise to stand completely still and deliver our monologue. The objective was to demonstrate the complex and connected relationship between body and mind. 

Without delving into a long story, when it was my turn, I got up in front of my peers, stood (what I believed) to be utterly still and in a neutral state.

I ran through the monologue once (I believe I’d chosen Benedict from Much Ado About Nothing) and felt rather good about myself.

No grand gestures…barely moved a muscle.

It mostly felt odd, but a moment or two felt rather natural. 

My mentor then asked me if I knew that I tilted my head slightly to the right.

I, of course, had no clue.

He then had another student stand behind me to hold my head straight. 

I then ran through my monologue again.

Instead, I should clarify…I attempted to run through my monologue. 

The smallest adjustment to what was my default…

THREW

ME

OFF

LIKE

NOTHING

ELSE!

Seriously, I couldn’t get through my monologue.

Like it was erased from my brain.

And that was the moment I realized movement work would be a cornerstone of my craft.

So, how can you become more aware of your movement ways?

Record yourself

The easiest way to become more aware of your movement is to get your camera, phone, iPad, any device that will take a video and record yourself. 

I know, I know, statistically speaking, as an actor, you hate watching yourself perform but hey, trust me, it works.

And for the record, I HATE watching myself on tape. I realize hate is a strong word, but it’s the right one to use here.

Now, watching a tape of yourself is not to beat yourself up because you move a certain way, or you can tell your posture isn’t as good as it was.

It’s to acknowledge where you’re at and what quirks make you, you.

Because once you’re aware, you can move on to mitigate or amp up said movement quirks.

So, put on your analytical thinking cap and get recording!

One last thing

For my friends out there with wandering feet, ya know, when you get on stage or set, and you’re feet want to keep moving?

Hey happy feet friend, *waves*

This is for you:

Find another friend and have them hold your feet down while you go through a monologue or scene. Your feet will want to move and then butt up against the resistance. It’ll feel strange but worth the exercise.

Because, honestly, when you’ve done something for so long, you just need to become aware of it to work on it. 

If you don’t have a friend conveniently available, try putting something heavy on your feet. Not too heavy, mind you, but something heavy enough makes it challenging to move your feet unconsciously. Books work, surround yourself with rocks or cinder blocks, get creative but don’t hurt yourself. 🙂

Here’s to body awareness!

May it empower you and inform your performances.