How acting techniques lead to freedom and the power of now.

I was trained as an actress in Method Acting by Hayes Gordon and performed in many plays at both the Ensemble and Studios Repertory Theater. Method Acting teaches actors that their emotions have to be totally authentic to create the most 'real' illusion and there were several techniques we were given to achieve this.

As actors (method actors in particular) you learn there is an art to suffering. What I discovered was that when you know this art to suffering you also discover the art to living in the present moment just as Eckhart Tolle teaches.

Let me explain . . . .

So there'd I'd be in the wings, using technique #37 'Sense Memory' and recalling a painful moment in my past -

No matter what thoughts we're thinking, or what character we imagine ourselves to be in life, or which of the many emotions are present there is one thing that is always present - and that is the blank slate of conscious awareness.

I know many people who've worked very hard to get in touch with the present moment to 'be in the now'. The art of course is to stop everything but that sage advice often leaves listeners puzzled and frustrated. What do they need to stop in order to be in the 'here and now'?

Well actually, we are always here in the now - and- it is a natural function of the mind to enter various thought processes that seemingly take us away from the here and now.

So its extremely useful to know WHAT those thought processes or trance states are that the mind enters so that you can be conscious of them, awake to them and experience the freedom of the 'here and now' regardless of what your mind is doing.

Some people attempt to be in the here and now all the time believing that makes them a more enlightened somebody!

But everyone is a blank slate and no blank state is better or worse than any one else's blank state. And no one's blank slate is more spiritual than anyone else's blank slate (however much certain gurus want to convince you otherwise) Not even Buddha's blank slate was any better which is why there is the saying "Even if the Buddha appears in front of you kill him".

But back to acting -

One of the techniques was called 'As if'. It could be used in many scenarios

As if . . . something horrible were to happen in the future.

As if . . . something awful happened in the past.

We'd call upon imaginary possibilities ( good or bad) to induce an emotional response. So as an actor I might be imagining a possible scenario where I am confronted by a snake if my character needed to look scared.

Don't you sometimes imagine frightening things happening in the future and act upon them as if they're real? This thought process can seem so real we even have a physical response which isn't particularly beneficial (unless your an actor) and it can inform our actions in life in ways that can be limiting.

As actors, we also learnt to use triggers to induce an emotional response. If I'm having to kiss an actor who I don't particularly like I could carry a photo in my pocket of my actual lover. Then as I turn to kiss the actor, I recall or touch the photo in my pocket - my facial features soften with love, my body responds to my actual lover and the audience believes I'm in love with the character on stage. So that's a happy trigger and response scenario, but we also used unhappy triggers. Photos of people who induced crying or anger or trinkets or tokens that reminded us of unhappy events.

In life we're always bumping into triggers then having a response. The more we understand this cause and effect action happening in life, the freer we become because we're no longer on the inside responding unconsciously but we're awake to the process and this awakeness gives us choice.

Actors can put these triggers and responses to good use but for the rest of us we need to be awake to this cause and effect conditioning that happens automatically. The good news is that we can use these same triggers to lead us into the here and now, into the awareness of the blank slate where we experience peace and freedom.

(However, sigh . . . I've seen some teachers who declare themselves to be more spiritually enlightened because they say they have more ''in the here and the now' moments than anyone else. But the 'here and now' response is still a response!!)

The upside of knowing about our blank slate is that we can each experience glorious moments of freedom and peace because that blank slate which we all have is not only always present but it gives us an empty platform upon which we can play.

Playing allows us to break conditioned responses as well as break free from the idea we have a fixed identity.

The more we play, the more those rigid concepts of who we are break loose and the more obvious the blank slate becomes because that is the natural state of being we always return to.

I've encouraged enneagram students to act out the different personality responses as a way to break free of their own conditioning. One woman who was afraid of flying pretended she was an 8 while she was on the plane. It broke the conditioned response of fear and she had a good time. She also realized that she wasn't a number who would only ever have the same responses throughout her life.

Enneagram students can play at acting out the different fixations to their own and so can you. Or you could use the techniques that actors use. We used to use all sorts of different triggers to induce different attitudes and characters. Sexy underwear (for a sexy character), ugly underwear( if you were playing a frump), clothing styles, animal imagery, psychological gestures, hair styles, identifying yourself as an object or type of plant (a character who is like a clinging vine acts very differently to someone identifying themselves as a solid oak tree).

This might sound like crazy stuff to do but the alternative could very well be never breaking free of automatic, limiting and unconscious responses. So am I seriously suggesting you change your underwear? Well not really but I am suggesting that in those moments when you feel your own response is limiting you, you can then try on different responses to break free of the limitation. And I suggest playing lightly. Changing the odd response here and there is all you may need.

Circles of awareness - another freeing acting technique?

Bear with me . . . .

Try this on. Become aware of only yourself in this moment. Let your mind take in your physical senses . . . maybe you have a few aches and pains. Let your mind become aware of any thoughts you're having . . maybe you've been having problems. Let them be present. Now expand your conscious awareness to encompass the room you're in and anyone else who is present. Feel their presence. Now expand your awareness outwards to include the building you're in, now the suburb. Now let your consciousness expand even further out to the city, the country, the universe . . . keep it expanding outwards.

Notice how any problems you may have been having feel smaller and smaller and less significant or less of a problem. The more we take our awareness outwards the freer we feel, the more expansive we feel, the happier we are.

We can always play with these circles of awareness at any time in our lives and its highly recommended to do so during stressful times. Doing this helps us break free from the some of the problems our mind is spinning on and brings us to the present moment. From here we can see things freshly. From here we can see if the problem is real or not and if it's something we need to fix we may see a solution we couldn't see before.

As an actor or teacher when you expand your awareness to encompass everyone it feels like you've become one with the audience. This is a delicious experience. When you're acting it holds the audience in the spell of the story. When you're teaching and you hold the participants in this expanded circle of awareness it creates an environment whereby everyone feels nurtured and included.

There are some illusions that arise though from this and I was glad I was an actor before I was a teacher. When you're on any sort of a stage there is the illusion that you're special and if you happen to be teaching, students can project that you're more spiritual than they are because of the energy that comes from being on a stage.

Some teachers though believe this energy emanates from them and that it's their own special spiritual energy that they're transmitting to their students. Performing and teaching does create an incredible energy force and had I not had the experience of acting I too could have fallen for the illusion.

As you realize that the blank slate is at the core of everyone (and when I say blank slate I mean free aware consciousness) it sounds downright silly to hear people say one persons consciousness is holier than anyone else's. I mention this because I've seen this illusion creating many problems for people as they try to emulate the teachers when they're already perfect as they are and they're mistaking the magic that arises from stage energy for a power they feel isn't within themselves.

The power doesn't belong to anyone. It's the magic of the stage and the magic from everyone's presence.

Ah dear . . . here I am acting my little heart out all those years ago