Our bodies are oh so smart. Our brains are too smart for their own good too sometimes. They like to talk to each other and make decisions that we’ve got no real awareness of.
I’d say this is usually a really good thing.
We don’t want to have to remind our body to digest our food or tell our heart to beat, right? A lot of things we can’t really be bothered with. We really haven’t got time for that.
Breathing comes pretty naturally too. Usually. Right?
This is where for actors, I’ve found, things can get a little tricky.
Take flight-or-fight as an example. Which is basically where our body kicks into survival mode during moments of acute stress. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very good thing we evolved with it, but in some moments it’s an unfortunate byproduct.
Acting requires us to experience a range of intense emotions. End of. No questions. Fact.
Now, that being said, have you ever played a character who goes through an intense moment? A stressful scene or encounter of heightened emotions be it anger, grief, fear, despair, etc?
If so…how did YOU feel once the moment was over?
Stressed? Heart racing? Exhausted?
I know I can personally speak to all three of these and more.
The 3 free & easy ways to aid your body I’ve got below all center around the same basic activity:
Breathing.
Ie: breathwork.
Cos, breathing is free, right? And usually easy. Well, these exercises are easy at least.
Breathing, it’s kind of important.
Breathwork has definitely sauntered it’s way into a great deal of headlines recently.
Wether it’s meditation, tape on your lips while sleeping, yoga or sports, how we breathe is kind of important.
I mean, if we don’t breathe we don’t do very well, do we?
So, why is breathwork important for actors?
How we breathe informs us of how we’re doing, right?
So, let’s say you’re playing an anxious character. You’ll prob speed up your breathing, intentionally or unintentionally. A character who is calm, cool and collected? Breathing deeper and slower can add to that demeanor.
I remember playing a character who had asthma years back. Now, mind you, I was only in that role for a few hours. But once I was at home, gig over, minding my own business AND having winded down…out of nowhere my body said to me:
“So, this is how we breathe now, yes?” And I proceeded to unconsciously breathe in a fast and shallow manner.
“No! No, no, no! Body, please don’t do that I can breathe just fine!” was my panicked response.
Acting can be dangerous people, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Seriously, I had to remind my body that I, in fact, didn’t have asthma.
And, honestly, that was a little worrying to realize.
Flat out terrifying actually.
Breathwork to the rescue!
I turned to something I learned through meditation that you may have heard of from all sorts of avenues:
Box breathing.
The goal of it is to get your breathing to return to its normal rhythm.
(Just for knowledge before I dive into this…when I speak of breathing in and/or exhaling, I do so through my nose. Both in and out. It’s what I’d recommend, but do what feels best for you…just fyi.)
Breathwork: box breathing
So, here’s how it’s done…
1: Breathe in deeply for a count of your choice (default tends to be 4)
2: Hold that breath for another count of 4/your chosen number (making sure to not tense your jaw or other parts of your body)
3: Exhale on a count of 4/your number.
Some add step 4: Of holding another count of 4/your number between breaths.
By repeating this cycle a few times it can help you shake off that awkward breathing pattern of your character.
Or a characters stressful, anxious or erratic mindset for that matter.
Life is chaotic enough as it is, stress is everywhere these days with how busy we keep our lives, right?
So, adding characters stresses to my own? Nope, no thank you!
Breathwork: body scan (squeezing version)
The flip side of bringing characters’ stressors home I’ve found also to be true…to bring our stressors and lives into that of our characters.
If you’ve had a rough day, you don’t want to bring that to your happy go lucky relaxed character you’re playing, do you?
Enter the body scan.
A body scan is a simple way to check in with your body. See what’s going on and give it some attention.
I use body scans as a tool before and after each performance as a way to help make sure I’m not bringing my daily outside stressors into my performance. It also helps to make sure I’m not bringing the stressors of the role I play back into my actual life.
A body scan is where you take a moment (or two or three) to yourself, either laying down or sitting, eyes closed or open, and turn your focus on your body.
Ask yourself how you’re breathing. Is it shallow and in your chest? Or is it relaxed, deep breaths from your diaphragm?
Where is the tension in your body? What’s tight, what doesn’t want to breathe, what’s holding you up, got you tied up in knots or refuses to give into the makeshift massage you just tried to give yourself?
Once you’ve located that spot, or two or three or however many, pick one to start.
As you take a deep breath in, squeeze that tension-filled part of your body till you can’t anymore (be mindful of muscle spasms and Charley horses, if you feel one coming on then stop!) hold this squeeze and your breath for a moment. Then as you exhale, release the squeezing tension at the same time.
You can repeat this as many times as you see fit. Then see how you’re feeling afterwards.
Breathwork: body scan (blue light version)
I like body scans, what can I say.
They’re quick, informative and you can vary em up depending on your needs.
So, I often use body scans for the principle of taking inventory of where my body is at the moment, but instead of using muscle contractions and all the squeezing like the example above, this next one has a gentler way of going about it.
Start off as you would any normal body scan, then find your places of tension. Once you’ve found them focus your attention on them and visualize a little blue ball of light hovering in that space in your body.
Of course, you can use whatever color light you fancy.
Next, take a deep breath in, and as you do, see that ball of light expand where you’re holding tension. As you exhale, see the light shrink.
Now, this may feel weird, but once you’ve got the ball of light going, try and breathe into that ball of light, help it expand.
Yep, try your best to breathe into that part of your body.
The ball of light is in your left big toe? Your right wrist? Your shoulders?
You’re an actor, right? 🙂 Use that imagination of yours and give it a go! Let your breath and little ball of light give attention to your tension and let it go. (Not now, Elsa, that was not me calling you.)
So, there ya go!
We pick up behaviors and patterns unconsciously all the time. And not just from our own daily lives, but sometimes aspects of the characters we play can travel home with us.
There are countless breathwork exercises out there. These are just my three easy constant go-to’s. With the focus on body and movement health and awareness, little tricks like these can help keep your body happier while you keep doing the wonderful acting you do!
