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Mindfulness Restores Body, Mind, and Spirit · The Aligned Actor

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Aligned Actor podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Amy Schlerb,
• 0:05
  your friendly internet mindfulness and mindset coach for actors
• 0:09
  and creative folks,
• 0:11
  those of us that have chosen a roller coaster type of career
• 0:15
  where we're in it for
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: the long haul,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: the marathon,
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: not the sprint.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we need to be finding ways to stick with that.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: And a big way that we do that is mindfulness.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: And recently around here, we've been talking about energy.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: A couple of weeks ago, I asked you what's on your plate.
• 0:34
  And then you looked at everything that you have going on in
• 0:37
  your life and even
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: everything that's just stressing you out in general.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then I asked in a different post, I asked, how do you fill your cup?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: And you made a list of all the various ways that you care for your body,
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: mind,
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: and spirit daily.
• 0:53
  And hopefully you've started putting that list into action and
• 0:57
  you've started to
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: see some actual results from that.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: You've started to regain some of your energy.
• 1:02
  You've started to have more energy in your life that you can
• 1:05
  pour into your
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: characters,
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: into your creative endeavors,
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: into whatever it is that you want to pour that energy into.
• 1:14
  And I really hope that you put mindfulness on that list because
• 1:18
  I am a mindfulness
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: practitioner,
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  SPEAKER_01: teacher,
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  SPEAKER_01: what have you,
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: because mindfulness is a way that you can care for your body,
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: your mind,
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: and your spirit all in one go.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's a trifecta of self care,
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Awesomeness.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: So as a reminder,
• 1:42
  mindfulness is a special way of paying attention to the present
• 1:45
  moment with a
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  SPEAKER_01: curious,
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  SPEAKER_01: kind,
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: and nonjudgmental attitude.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: So when we sit down for a mindfulness meditation,
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: we intentionally focus our attention on our breath.
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  SPEAKER_01: And when we do that,
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  our breath naturally becomes slower and it becomes deeper as we
• 2:06
  engage in the
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  SPEAKER_01: session.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And our slower breathing triggers the relaxation response in the body.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's physiological.
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  Our body starts to feel calmer and more relaxed as our breath
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  activates our
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: parasympathetic nervous system.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: You've probably heard of that.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's the rest and digest side of our nervous system.
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  SPEAKER_01: And our breath also,
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: in turn,
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: if that part is being activated,
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  SPEAKER_01: then the part that's being deactivated is the sympathetic nervous system,
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  SPEAKER_01: our fight or flight response,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: that stress response,
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: that feeling that there's a tiger that's chasing me,
• 2:46
  even though it's really an email or it's really doom scrolling
• 2:49
  that's chasing you.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: So when we trigger that relaxation response in our bodies,
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: That is how we care for our bodies with mindfulness.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Our mind also benefits from mindfulness because in each session,
• 3:09
  we improve our ability to focus in a specific way and to notice
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  in general.
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  And to do that,
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  both the focusing and the noticing with a curious,
• 3:21
  kind,
• 3:22
  nonjudgmental attitude.
• 3:24
  And each session cultivates these positive mindset traits more
• 3:29
  and more and more
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: and more and more.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: So it's easier for us to focus,
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  SPEAKER_01: We become more self and situationally aware.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: We approach ourselves and the world with more curiosity,
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  SPEAKER_01: more kindness,
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  SPEAKER_01: and less judgment of ourselves and less judgment of others in general.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: And this is how we care for our minds with mindfulness.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then finally,
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: the fact that we're caring for our bodies and our minds,
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  SPEAKER_01: mindfulness helps us care for our spirits.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Finding inner peace is good for our spirits and our souls.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's good for who we are as human beings.
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  SPEAKER_01: And additionally,
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  SPEAKER_01: a big idea in mindfulness is that we are not our thoughts,
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  SPEAKER_01: but rather we're the observer of our thoughts.
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  We're the ones watching our thoughts when we put ourselves into
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  that meditative,
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: that mindful meditative state.
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  SPEAKER_01: And in my opinion,
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: when we recognize that separation,
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  SPEAKER_01: oh,
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  SPEAKER_01: that's just a thought that I'm having.
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  SPEAKER_01: It might be true.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: It might not be true.
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  SPEAKER_01: It might be a belief.
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  SPEAKER_01: It might be something that was true before and now isn't true anymore.
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  SPEAKER_01: It might be something that I can change how I'm seeing it.
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  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
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  SPEAKER_01: Depends on what the thought is.
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  But when we can recognize that separation between the thought
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  and the observer,
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  SPEAKER_01: we recognize our spirit.
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  SPEAKER_01: We recognize that core of us that exists beyond our thoughts.
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  SPEAKER_01: We are the one experiencing the thought.
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  SPEAKER_01: Likewise, we're the one experiencing the emotion.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: I am not anxiety.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: I am not my anxiety.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: I am a human being experiencing anxiety as an example.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: This is how we care for our spirits with mindfulness.
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  So as I've been saying,
• 5:48
  mindfulness is the ultimate act of self-care for body,
• 5:52
  mind,
• 5:53
  and spirit.
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  SPEAKER_01: And that's really important for us as actors because
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: how do we act?
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  SPEAKER_01: We act with our bodies, our minds, and our spirits.
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  SPEAKER_01: So we need to be taking care of those parts of ourselves.
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  SPEAKER_01: That's our instrument.
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  That's the only way that we can communicate and get across
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  whatever we need to
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: express through our characters.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: So we need to take care of that
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: part of us, those three parts of us.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: And with mindfulness, we get to do that all at the same time.
• 6:32
  So let's practice right now so that we can get the benefits
• 6:39
  that I talked about so
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: that we can do this delicious,
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: wonderful act of self-care for our bodies,
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: minds,
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: and spirits.
• 6:47
  As always,
• 6:49
  if you're listening to this and you're driving to an audition,
• 6:53
  let's say,
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Please don't do this right now.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Don't close your eyes while you're,
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  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: going through LA traffic or traffic in some other place.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Come back to this.
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  It will be here for you when you have time to sit and practice
• 7:13
  mindfulness in that way.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're ready to practice with us right now,
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to invite you to find a comfortable position for your body.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And just start to tune into your breath.
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  SPEAKER_00: Notice the inhales and the exhales.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Notice that each inhale and each exhale is a little bit different.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: So in this way,
• 8:00
  you can get really curious about the physical experience of
• 8:06
  breathing and even
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: wonder at it in the same way that you might wonder at a snowflake and go,
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: each snowflake is different from every other snowflake.
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  SPEAKER_02: Each breath
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  SPEAKER_02: They all have similar characteristics, but no two breaths are alike.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: So noticing each sensation.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: Starting that conversation with your good friend, the breath.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: focusing your attention there,
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: your loving,
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: kind attention on what it is to be a human being right now,
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: in this moment,
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: breathing.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And as you breathe,
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: Go ahead and invite some more relaxation into your body.
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  Bring your awareness to the contact between your body and
• 9:47
  whatever surface is supporting you.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: And just notice what it feels like to be held today.
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  And something that I'm noticing is that noticing what it feels
• 10:17
  like to be held
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  SPEAKER_02: today by my chair is bringing up some emotions in me.
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  SPEAKER_02: And I'm not fighting those emotions.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not resisting those emotions.
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  SPEAKER_02: I'm just curious.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm allowing
• 10:40
  this feeling of being held and supported by an office chair
• 10:48
  from Staples to trigger
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: this emotional response within me.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_02: relief and support and a safe place to grieve.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm finding that very interesting.
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  SPEAKER_02: So whatever comes up for you in mindfulness meditation,
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: this is your invitation to just allow the feelings,
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: the sensations,
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: and just be curious about them.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: I know for myself where this feeling, this emotion is coming from.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's from the heaviness of the world.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just going to breathe with it.
• 12:28
  And if you're having an emotional experience while you meditate
• 12:32
  today,
• 12:34
  that's okay.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to invite you to allow that.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to invite you to be curious about that.
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  And if you're not noticing any particularly strong emotional
• 12:51
  reactions,
• 12:53
  that's okay too.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: Just stay with your breath.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: Notice the sensations.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: Notice the thoughts.
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  SPEAKER_02: Notice the emotions.
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  SPEAKER_02: But continually guide yourself back to your breath.
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  SPEAKER_00: and your experience of breathing.
• 13:27
  I could let this emotional experience carry me away into
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  thoughts and images and
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  SPEAKER_02: stories and fears,
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  SPEAKER_02: triggering other emotions perhaps.
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  SPEAKER_02: But right now in this mindfulness session,
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm choosing to just notice the physical sensations of this emotion,
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: what it feels like in my body while I breathe.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Just focusing on our breath and breathing.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I will let you know that I witnessed that feeling come on.
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  SPEAKER_02: I witnessed it peak and I witnessed it gently move out of my body.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what happens with our emotions when we don't resist them,
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: we don't block them,
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: we don't feed them with thoughts and stories and amp them up.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_02: We just witness and allow and breathe.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like I cared for my body in that moment,
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: allowing those sensations,
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: breathing with those sensations.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: I cared for my mind in that moment by allowing
• 16:04
  The thoughts or at least acknowledging the thoughts but staying
• 16:08
  focused on my breath.
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  Staying focused in a place that I knew would help to calm my
• 16:18
  body and my mind.
• 16:24
  Gently guiding myself back from stories and thoughts and things
• 16:31
  that my mind could
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: have run away with.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I cared for my spirit, recognizing I'm a human being.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I'm going to have a hard time.
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  And that emotion and all emotions and all thoughts and all
• 17:06
  sensations will come and
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: go as I witness them.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: So just staying with our breath, noticing and allowing what we notice
• 17:43
  knowing that we are nourishing our bodies our minds and our
• 17:49
  spirits and that in
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: doing so we nourish ourselves and our instruments as actors
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: Now as we come to the end of this unexpected but interesting mindfulness
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: meditation,
• 18:27
  I'm going to invite you to celebrate this act of self-care that
• 18:35
  you gave yourself
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: today.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: To say thank you to yourself for slowing down for a time,
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: for taking care of yourself in this way.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: for caring for your body, your mind, and your spirit.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: You did that.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Good job, you.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And now as you feel ready,
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: you can invite some gentle movement into your body,
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: making sure to move mindfully in whatever ways feel good for your body.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: And then whenever you're ready, you can open your eyes.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Whew.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: So that was unexpected.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: But honestly,
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was a really good,
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: hopefully you found that to be a valuable experience.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: I did as a practitioner.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um...
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: It was very interesting for me.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so hopefully it was interesting for you.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully that practice served you today on your mindfulness journey.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: I don't script these, by the way.
• 20:04
  It's not like I memorize some kind of monologue and I have
• 20:08
  basic,
• 20:09
  I have beats,
• 20:10
  right?
• 20:10
  Like everybody,
• 20:11
  you know,
• 20:11
  we know the beats of how these sessions are going to go.
• 20:15
  But I was not expecting to suddenly be witnessing an intense
• 20:20
  emotion and then talk
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: you through that live.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Not expected at all.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: But I found it really interesting and hopefully you did as well.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: And hopefully it didn't take away from your session,
• 20:35
  especially if you weren't experiencing any kind of intense
• 20:38
  emotion or you weren't
• 20:40
  noticing emotion in general and you were just sort of trying to
• 20:42
  stay with your
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: breath and then notice things and then come back to your breath.
• 20:46
  Hopefully you still were able to practice that even though you
• 20:49
  were listening to
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: me,
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: as I was going through my own journey of mindfulness.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: So yes, there we have it.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: And remember,
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: engaging in your practice,
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: as I've said,
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: throughout this time together,
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: it's a really powerful act of self-care that you just did for yourself.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Again,
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: it nourishes your body,
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: your mind,
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: your spirit,
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: and those effects are going to ripple out into the rest of your day,
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: your week,
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: your month,
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: your year,
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: your lifetimes.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I want you to continue your mindfulness practice.
• 21:29
  And to facilitate that,
• 21:32
  I've built up a really large library of mindfulness recordings.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to add this one.
• 21:38
  I think I've,
• 21:39
  I think I have a couple that I haven't added quite yet,
• 21:42
  but I'm adding them.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I also,
• 21:44
  you have the track obviously from today because it's in the
• 21:47
  post and you could also
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: just rewind this and,
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: listen to it.
• 21:51
  But if you go to my sub stack,
• 21:52
  there's actually just a clipped out recording of just the
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: what we did in the mindfulness session.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: But I also have some tracks in,
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: on the Substack in the article that are,
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: it links up to,
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's six practices that I've just pulled.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: They're varying lengths.
• 22:14
  and that way you are set to go with six recordings that you can
• 22:19
  start your practice
• 22:20
  with you can continue your practice with and if you choose to
• 22:24
  become a paid
• 22:24
  subscriber on my Substack you get access to the full aligned
• 22:29
  actor guided audio
• 22:31
  library and that has a ton of mindfulness meditations and
• 22:36
  counting because
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: I keep adding to it.
• 22:40
  And it also has focusing meditations where we focus on just
• 22:44
  specific ideas or themes basically.
• 22:49
  And then it also has a couple of NLP exercises,
• 22:52
  neuro-linguistic programming exercises.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's one about,
• 22:55
  there's one called perceptual positions where you take the
• 23:00
  position of yourself and
• 23:01
  it's about relationships so you take the position of yourself
• 23:04
  then you take the
• 23:05
  position of the other person that you're kind of kind of trying
• 23:09
  to explore this
• 23:10
  relationship uh about and then you take the position of a
• 23:14
  neutral observer and you
• 23:16
  get information from all of those different perspectives and
• 23:19
  then another one
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: called the visual switch switch no
• 23:23
  the visual swish where you rapidly switch swish in your brain
• 23:29
  between um a uh how
• 23:34
  do i put this i was not prepared to talk about this in as much
• 23:36
  detail um you
• 23:38
  rapidly switch between a i hesitate the word trigger image but
• 23:43
  like the last thing
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: you would see before you engage in a say bad habit
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: and an image of yourself without that habit,
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: like an avatar-type image,
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: like an ideal image of you.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: So let's say you were addicted to doomscrolling,
• 24:01
  and the last thing that you saw before you knew you were going
• 24:04
  to engage in that
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: habit was your finger over the Instagram button.
• 24:09
  You would rapidly switch between that and image that you hold
• 24:12
  in your brain of that.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: You'd rapidly switch to an image of yourself...
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: Playing a board game.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: But like a picture that you hold in your mind of someone who's like,
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: they don't have that issue anymore.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: They don't doom scroll.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: As an example.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: Again, was not prepared to necessarily talk as much as I did about that.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: But it felt like fun to do in the moment.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I did.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for joining me today.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you found this content helpful or inspiring,
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: I would be so honored if you'd leave a comment,
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: share it with a pal,
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: give a one-time donation on my Substack.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: There's a little button for you to do that.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you click through, you know, if you're on Substack,
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: Scroll down a little bit and you'll see a donation button there.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: You can also,
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: if you're on YouTube,
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: you can click through back to the Substack or on podcasts.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's like a full episode or episode website,
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: something like that,
• 25:09
  that then you can click through to the Substack and you can give
• 25:12
  a donation there.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Or also consider becoming a paid subscriber,
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: because again,
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: you get the full Aligned Actor audio library,
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: all of my various,
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: there's like over 70 audios that you can enjoy.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you also get paid, no, you get Zooms with me.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to do community Zooms.
• 25:33
  We do community Zooms where we get together and we practice
• 25:37
  mindfulness and we do
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: maybe some Q&A or just
• 25:41
  talk about the things that have come up on the Substack and it's
• 25:44
  a good time.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I would love to see you there and take care until next time.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.