We all know that feeling – frozen in a moment, unable to move – muscles go tight and eyes wide. It can feel like everything freezes – or you suddenly get the impulse of a ninja cat and hot foot it out of there or catch that falling object.
Either way, it’s pretty hard to do anything else in either of these scenarios – have you tried to remember your own phone number (or your lines for a scene) whilst a tiger is standing in the corner? It’s unlikely, I know. It’s also unlikely there’s a tiger in the corner, but you get my drift.
We have the limbic system and amygdala to thank for this primal brain function. The Amygdala is an almond shaped set of Neurons, located in the brain’s medial temporal lobe. Think of it as being in the centre of your skull, between your ears and nestled each side of the brain stem. It’s part of your limbic system and it’s hard-wired from creation.
Often referred to as the fear or stress centre of our brain, it’s where our fear response is controlled. An overactive amygdala puts your brain and body into a fear response – fight/flight/freeze/survival. Leading to feelings of stress and anxiety. It is present in every mammal on Earth.
Does the thought of standing in front of an audience or audition panel fill you with fear? Your life may not be in danger, but to your limbic system, it doesn’t know the difference. Your heart rate raises, you may be short of breath, dry mouth, rigid body – all signs of fight or flight engagement in the brain, taking it out on our body and nervous system.
The feeling of anxiety is our body’s response to perceived threat, putting your nervous system into ‘high alert”. People can become so used to being on high alert from real or imagined threat, that stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) flood into your system. They wind up feeling emotional, irritable and exhausted with a body and brain that thinks it’s always in danger, at risk of inflammation and disease.
Kinesiology’s innate intelligence to get to the root of an issue – be it a deeply-rooted unconscious emotional response, nutritional stress, pathogen or spiritual block, can relieve the stress on your nervous system and switch that Amygdala response from fight or flight back to safety.
A mind, body and spirit in balance allows the space for growth, happiness and overall wellbeing.
As well as being our Melbourne Meisner and Acting With Passion teacher, Erica is also a qualified life coach, Kinesiologist and Sekhem Energy healer. You can read more about her by clicking the link below.
Reposted with permission from www.livingtruthfully.com.au
First, we better start with WHO. Sanford Meisner was an American teacher, actor and director. He was one of the founding members of The Group Theatre (along with Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg and Harold Clurman), all of whom went on to revolutionise actor training in the 20th Century.
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Perhaps you’ve done some repetition in an acting class but it was out of context? Or maybe you trained in the technique elsewhere? The classes may resemble each other, but often the style and rules around the technique of repetition are different. The only true expert in the Meisner Technique was Sanford Meisner and he died over 20 years ago.
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If this is the first time you’ve seen actors doing this exercise, you’re likely to be wondering how on earth Sanford Meisner’s repetition makes you a better actor. The repetition exercise is designed to get you out of your head, focused on your scene partner and responding truthfully.
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I get asked a lot about what’s different about the Meisner technique compared to others. People who have nothing to do with acting are often intrigued to even know that there are different techniques at all.
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Truth is the highest value in our work – not a big emotional outpour. Emotions don’t have a hierarchy in the technique and quiet, truthful moments are just as valuable as enraged outbursts. Feelings are just feelings. We don’t rate them as good/bad or better than any other.
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One of the reasons I believe this work is so transformational for an actor, is that in order for us to train you to be truthful in your acting, we need to get you out of your head – to disconnect your intellect so you can live truthfully in your work.
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The benefits of a practice like yoga, Feldenkrais - improving human life through better movement, sensation, posture and breathing - and Alexander technique - changing your habitual ways of moving to more efficient ways - are countless.
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In 1990, a documentary found its way to centre stage: "Sanford Meisner, The American Theater’s Best Kept Secret." The documentary is a series of interviews with his students and snippets from classes – with Robert Duvall, Sidney Pollack, Gregory Peck, Joanna Woodward, Mary Steenburgen, and Eli Wallach, amongst others.
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Scott Williams and his teaching quite literally changed my life. Having trained with Meisner himself he is in direct lineage and so adept at nudging your most authentic and deepest truth to shine through in your work. The technique is so powerful and with practice has transformed my whole approach to acting. Everything seems so much easier now and the feeling that anything can happen in the work is very exciting! Couldn’t recommend more!
Jamie Pigott
Actor
Populace, Outlaw/King, Elizabeth I
