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No Mic Hogs in Mindfulness Meditation · The Aligned Actor

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  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the Aligned Actor Podcast.
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  I'm Amy Schloerb,
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  your friendly fellow actor and mindfulness and mindset coach.
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  And this is the podcast where I share practical mindfulness
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  tools and mindset
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  SPEAKER_00: shifts to help us all thrive in our full actor lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because as we all know, actor life can be a real son of a B.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's full of ups and downs.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's got twists,
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  SPEAKER_00: it's got turns,
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  SPEAKER_00: they're sometimes full on loop-de-loops,
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  SPEAKER_00: just like life,
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  SPEAKER_00: yet more stressful even,
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  SPEAKER_00: I would say.
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  And the only way that we will survive long term in this
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  profession I'm going to
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  turn up my brightness all the way on my screen so I look even
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  better Anyway,
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  the only way that we will survive long term in this profession
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  is if we are taking
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  care of ourselves and finding effective ways to handle all of
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  the stress that the
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  SPEAKER_00: entertainment industry can throw our way
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  We're doing a deep dive series on the podcast right now on
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  mindfulness because
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  mindfulness can really act as a balm for all of the trials and
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  tribulations of
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  SPEAKER_00: actor life.
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  SPEAKER_00: In this episode,
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  we are going to really break down what's happening in a formal
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  mindfulness session
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  SPEAKER_00: so that you can find out and just see how simple the process actually is.
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  And hopefully this helps to demystify mindfulness meditation
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  for you and make it
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  SPEAKER_00: feel even more accessible.
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  SPEAKER_00: So in the simplest terms, mindfulness is about focusing and noticing.
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  We practice formal mindfulness meditation by focusing on the
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  sensation of our breath.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then with our breath as our anchor,
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  SPEAKER_00: we notice whatever is happening in our present moment,
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  SPEAKER_00: both internally and externally.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we do all of this with a general attitude of kind curiosity.
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  SPEAKER_00: So internally, you might notice thoughts, thoughts about the future,
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  I wonder how much traffic there's going to be today Thoughts
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  about the past I can't
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  believe I messed up that one line on that audition Thoughts
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  about the present I
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  really wish that that leaf blower would stop You might notice
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  moods or emotions and
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  perhaps those might be associated with the thoughts that you're
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  thinking You might
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  be experiencing dread about the traffic or worrying that you
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  might be late for an
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  SPEAKER_00: audition or for work
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  You might be experiencing and feeling shame or self-doubt about
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  that audition and
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  SPEAKER_00: whatever happened in it.
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  SPEAKER_00: You might be feeling a lot of irritation at that leaf blower.
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  SPEAKER_00: And you might also internally notice body sensations.
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  SPEAKER_00: So you might notice tension in your neck and shoulders.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or you might notice an itch on your elbow.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you notice your tummy is rumbling because you skipped breakfast.
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  And externally,
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  you might notice pretty much anything that your five senses can
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  perceive.
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  So you might notice the sound of an airplane going overhead or
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  the sight of a
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  SPEAKER_00: candle if you're choosing to use that as a focus object.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or if you have your eyes closed,
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  SPEAKER_00: you might just notice changes in light and shadow as you're practicing.
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  You might notice the feel of your clothing on your skin or the
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  smell of the lotion
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  SPEAKER_00: that you put on your hands or the smell of the room around you.
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  And you might notice the leftover taste of coffee or lunch that
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  you just had All of
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  those things that your five senses are picking up on So as
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  we're focusing on our
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  breath in mindfulness meditation There's potentially a lot of
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  things trying to get
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  and keep our attention And that's fine That's just what's
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  present for us in that
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  SPEAKER_00: moment
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  And the trick though with mindfulness meditation is to notice
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  whatever is present
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  in that moment without allowing anything to completely take
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  over our mind and cause
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  SPEAKER_00: our focus to completely drop from our breath.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when that happens,
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  it's as if a thought or a mood or a sensation or a sense
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  perception has claimed
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  SPEAKER_00: center stage of our mind
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  SPEAKER_00: It's hogging the microphone and it is not sharing the spotlight.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this is going to happen.
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  SPEAKER_00: It happens to all of us.
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  SPEAKER_00: It happens to me.
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  And I've been practicing mindfulness meditation for a pretty
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  long time now.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it's no big deal.
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  There will be times during a mindfulness session when a thought
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  or a sensation or
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  SPEAKER_00: whatever will completely hijack our attention.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our mind wanders completely away from the present moment.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when we notice that,
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  all we have to do is gently guide our focus back to our
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  experience of breathing.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the key word there is gently.
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  So I want you to think of your wandering mind like an excited
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  actor who's just won an award.
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  So they're caught up in the moment and they're so eager to
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  thank everyone that
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  SPEAKER_00: they've ever met.
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  But if we let them stay up on that stage for too long and say
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  everything they've
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  SPEAKER_00: ever wanted to say and thank everybody that they can possibly think of,
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  SPEAKER_00: we're going to be here all night long.
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  They've had their moment of acknowledgement and it's time to
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  get the show back on track.
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  SPEAKER_00: But
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  SPEAKER_00: In all those award shows,
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  have you ever seen two burly security guards come out and grab
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  an actor roughly and
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  SPEAKER_00: haul them off stage?
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  Does the crowd berate them if they've gone on just like a
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  little bit too long?
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  SPEAKER_00: Do they start yelling like, get off the stage!
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  SPEAKER_00: I didn't really like your picture anyway!
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  SPEAKER_00: You're ruining the show!
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  SPEAKER_00: Nope.
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  SPEAKER_00: None of that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Of course that doesn't happen.
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  SPEAKER_00: What does happen is very gently the orchestra begins to play
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  SPEAKER_00: Alerting the actor to wrap it up.
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  SPEAKER_00: And if the actor continues much longer,
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  SPEAKER_00: eventually their mic volume just fades out and the MC continues the show.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's simple, it's gentle, and it's very effective.
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  And that's the level of gentleness that I want you to use with
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  your wandering mind
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  SPEAKER_00: in mindfulness meditation.
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  SPEAKER_00: So at various times throughout your mindfulness session,
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  your mind is going to get caught up in thoughts or emotions or
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  sensations.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna go to the past or it's gonna go to the future.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's just gonna happen.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when that happens, there is absolutely no need to beat yourself up.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can just gently fade the mic on that distraction,
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  SPEAKER_00: whatever it is,
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  SPEAKER_00: and gently bring up the mic on your breath.
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  SPEAKER_00: So even if your mind is chaotic AF and it wanders a lot.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, what if I take that audition?
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm so worried.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I should call my agent and see if maybe I can get another shot.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm having thoughts about that audition, but that's in the past.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let me come back to my breath.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm so tense.
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  SPEAKER_00: I just can't relax.
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  SPEAKER_00: I want to meditate, but I can't relax.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm really struggling with this tension.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let me just come back to my breath.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that leaf blower is just so annoying.
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  SPEAKER_00: I wish they would go away.
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  SPEAKER_00: I am hearing a sound that I perceive as unpleasant, to say the least.
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  SPEAKER_00: But let me come back to my experience of breathing.
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  Rinse and repeat over and over and over and over throughout the
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  session a thousand
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  SPEAKER_00: times if needed.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that is exactly what we are going to practice in the next episode.
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  So thank you so much for joining me today I hope that you found
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  this content
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  helpful and inspiring wherever you found it if you found it on
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  YouTube or on
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  podcast or here on Substack I hope that you liked it and if you
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  did I would be so
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  honored if you would leave a comment letting me know what you
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  liked if you have any
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  questions I can answer those for you in comments and then you
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  could also share it
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  with your actor pals because I think more people should learn
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  about mindfulness and
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  SPEAKER_00: learn how valuable it is and how much it can help
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  soothe and fortify our actor nervous system so that we can
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  handle whatever the
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  entertainment industry throws our way so I would love it if you
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  could share it with
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  as many actors as you can and also if you could check out my
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  offerings below on the
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  Substack article I have some things there for you some things
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  are free some things
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  are very low cost and you can check those out so thank you so
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  much and I'll see you
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  SPEAKER_00: next time bye