notes to an actor about finding ways to continue a deep actor practice on tour:

One key when touring is safeguarding, whenever possible, private time and space. Plan ahead, call ahead and ask what rooms/spaces are available and what times... put it in your contract if you can, so that you can schedule in some practice WHEN POSSIBLE, which will not always be the case. 

Private accommodations when possible are key. You do not always need a studio as much as a room. Work can be done on a bed or in a space the size of a yoga mat.  When you don't have sound privacy - things like some mindfulness meditation, which takes no space and makes no sound! is good and then long walks... and ideally in places where some sound is possible- even if just real sighing... or FF'ing your text (making an F sound for every syllable, as that consonant requires air). Find nearby classes as well... and there are now gyms in most hotels. I used to carry a jump rope... but fitness is not the same as an actor workout that requires breath, sounding and emotional freedom/practice as well.

Find the parks nearby and schedule the walks and tell people you have an important meeting! (They don't need to know that it is with yourself and some trees and actor practice...)

but planning is key... do not rely on figuring it out when you get there...

make a strong commitment to yourself and your work as an actor LONG TERM and keep up your practice...!

the pay off will be worth it!

Notes to an actor asking about meditation

try movement meditation... (the slow walk we used in class, walk on a rope)

take 5 minutes to stand up from the floor, then 10, then 15... to 45 minutes

try using music... one song over and over, doesn't have to be 'meditative necessarily if you loop it or get some music intended for meditation.. 

try calligraphy... (write one important word over and over again)

try a mantra (saying something over and over)

a yantra (something you look at like a mandala- can be used as meditation – or any image/object you like

try holding a stone or any object and seeing it, feeling it for a long time....

there are lots of different kind of meditations...

every culture has used all of these above and many more in different forms-

make meditation fluid and fun and slowly add rigour

experiment!!

also make sure that your spine/heart/breath etc are really warm BEFORE you meditate (like a yoga class, which is ultimately getting you ready for stillness but our contemporary materialistic culture has turned it into fitness alone) HAVE FUN!

NOTES TO AN ACTOR RE: value of EMOTIONAL WORKOUT

actors have a very valuable excuse to literally make space in their lives to consciously, physically, vocally work with their emotions/feelings/thoughts in metaphor.... as you do this, you will uncover very valuable information about yourself that you can offer to your audiences- as they may not have the skills/time to do this kind of work- you can model it/hold it for them... the deeper you go, the more consciously you do it, the richer the gems that you mine will be that you can offer.

remember the simple things first

I really think the simplest things take the longest to learn. We use terms like-
get grounded, he's in his head, she's riding high, they were off the floor...

The simple act of breathing to stop adrenaline and feel gravity is so easy to do and therefore to forget to do. I asked my chiropractor what I could do to support the work she was doing... she said- if I tell you what you can do, you will think it is too simple- and you won't do it... I asked anyway

what?

Take time to breath and drink water.

And she is right, that is hard to do, because it is so simple.

'I (God) am closer to you than your life vein' says Baha'u'llah

This great gift- gravity- is right there, every moment and I take it for granted... the gift of my heart beating and the sensations in my entire body are right here with the floor... now, anytime I need it, I can feel the floor hold me- not an abstract idea, but real sensation of gravity... my best lover, my most trustworthy and supportive friend... it holds me unconditionally and I ignore it, I think I can handle things on my own... SUCH AN ILLUSION!!

So breath and feel the floor and then see what else is missing! Oh- and drink some water...

Work ethic for creators and actors

It is really hard to address work ethic with students. There are so many reasons why we can't seem to get to work or stick to the work. I am not sure where I learned the discipline that I have... was it watching my mother paint, even when there was no gallery hunting her down or buyers, having to do chores, regular music lessons, ... or am I just obsessed?

I swear that any success that I have had is simply my ability to stay in the studio and plan my life so that I can be alone in a space... and stay there. Not that I don't struggle with committing! But creating art has not been the hardest issue for me...

here are 10 things that I suggest to students:

1) investigate why you self sabotage? what scares you about success or failure?

2) Maybe you simply never learned how to work! If you never had to work hard at things when you were young, maybe you have to learn that now, rather than blaming yourself- just accept that no one ever taught you and get to work learning a new work ethic

3) Try to learn something really exciting but also REALLY hard... some people who learn fast and things come easy to them give up once they hit the hard part of the road later on...

4) Make a schedule and give it to someone who cares about you, or someone you pay if you can afford it, and ask them to make you accountable

5) Talk about what you are doing (or want to be doing !) to everyone you know... they will keep asking you how it's going!

6) Pay for regular studio/work space or hire someone to work with you -put some skin in the game 

7) Create a real deadline if the world does not create one for you (it most often does not) - call that person you admire and hire them to come see 15 minutes of finished material for a date in the future and pay them up front.

8) Apply for a festival BEFORE the piece is done... (that is what most of us do anyway!)

9) Ask yourself how you are working that isn't fun? if it is fun you will want to do it! HOW CAN YOU MAKE IT FUN? I do math puzzles in the studio to get me through rough moments!

BUT if it still isn't fun, maybe you are doing the wrong thing... what WOULD be really fun?

10) Maybe you need a bigger purpose - WHY are you doing it? If there is no burning reason- then you won't do it. I always work on something that scares me and many of the successful creators I know do the same... it has to mean something big and real... it is too hard to create otherwise... make it personal and make it useful.

As we actors like to say 'raise the stakes'