Anxiety removes me from the present. Nerves and fear are the body’s self-defence mode, but sometimes self-preservation gets carried away and anxiety disorder kicks in. And I’ve found one of the best methods for training my mind to live in the here-and-now is theatre.
Through my work in improvisation, devised theatre, and stage and film acting, I’ve gained insight into my own anxiety struggle. Five basic tenets of acting can be directly applied to coping with anxiety.
1. Mindful Listening
Part of the coping process entails hearing my own thoughts and listening to my body language. As an actress, I am required to pay attention to the script, not only to pick up on cues, but also to engage in reacting. A good actor doesn’t just act; a good actor reacts. A strong performance is filled with on-stage chemistry, which banks on interactive, attentive listening that pulls the actor into the here and now.
2. Group Mind
The most beautiful state of mind I have ever achieved in life has not been in moments of self-meditation, but rather in the rare, honed skill of ‘group mind’. Group mind shifts the focus from individuals to the troupe as a whole. Like meditation, it relies on inner focus but goes a step further by equally relying on external focus.
It seems counterintuitive to suggest this is even possible, but the amount of directed attention projected into group mind – until it reaches a level as natural as one’s breathing pattern – draws me away from myself. When I am focused on my own inhalations, making them rhythmically collide with my fellow actors, there is no room for worry and negative thoughts.
3. Character Work
In order to be convincing as an actor, performers create a background story. I research one if it is a biographical character; I create one if it is a fictional character. The focus is shifted from my personal world to the inner world of my character. This is the reality that invades my mind, and again, there is no room for fear or anxiety.
4. Awareness
Acting requires being aware of my character and my surroundings. It employs analysis of the situation at hand and responding accordingly. Many times, my thoughts and fears are projections into the future linked to something in my past. While my fight or flight mode is only kicking in to protect me, assessing the reality offers proof that my fears are only perceived.
5. Acceptance and Commitment
From what the director tells me to do to what the playwright has written, acceptance and commitment play a dominant role in my work. They are also integral in an anxiety struggle. As worrisome thoughts start entering my mind, suppressing them only causes them to bubble up more forcefully later. Similarly, refusing to acknowledge direction in a play creates disharmony—and likely just leads to the same notes over and over again.
Acceptance and commitment are also important with fellow actors. Stifling worrisome, albeit self-preserving, thoughts sucks the life out of me, much as in a scene. Inevitably, the problem just heightens. But noticing their existence (acceptance) and choosing to focus on the original non-invasive thought instead (commitment) helps me avoid remaining stagnant. Under the spotlight, I step out of my shoes, body and mind. For a few hours at least, I am free of my anxiety. The stage is not a microcosm of the world around me; it becomes my reality.
This is an edited version of an article originally published on HowlRound. Read the original article.
