Got Stress? Get Creative!
My favorite daily practice is to smile when I feel one of those feelings (stressed, upset, overwhelmed, anxious…) I immediately feel better and am able to respond effectively to what is in front of me (like car going too slow when I’m in a hurry or someone being rude/unthoughtful/difficult).
I learned this during my training over the years in performance and improv… learning to creatively respond to what’s coming at me/being offered by the world with acceptance and openness. And, as a therapist I have seen how creatively responding verses automatically reacting out of anger, fear, stress, frustration, etc can help clients as well as me.
In these uncertain times of increasingly complicated demands on our time and skills, with a world in economic crisis, (etc - we can all add to list of pressures we need to manage…) it is important to remember that we are creators of our moment-to-moment, day-to-day lives, not just recipients of life.
So what to do? Well, in addition to what we all know to do (and sometimes actually do) like breathing, slowing down, asking for support, remembering to have fun, exercising and getting rest, etc., I invite you to relate to your life as on-ongoing performance – scenes you and we are creating as part of the broader play of life.
How to do this? Practice the tenets of improv. Below you will find a hand out for stress workshops I conduct.
What, Why and How….
WHAT (Did you say improv? What does that have to do with stress?! Keep reading)
Using tools of improvisation and performance, you will have an opportunity to play, de-stress and have fun
WHY (Well, do you GOT STRESS????)
- Increase skills in responding successfully and creatively to stress in our lives
- Enhance communication, ability to ask for help, conflict resolution capacities
- Encourage flexibility and learning to respond versus react
- Slowing down and accepting what is in order to move forward effectively
HOW (Some Rules of Improv)
- Creating together without looking good or knowing how
- Make the other look good!
- Take chances
- Having fun and being silly
- Relate to life as scenes in the play of life
- “Take two” and other performances
- Can we take two? Start over?
- How are we doing? Can we stop and do this differently?
- Listen, Accept, Build
- Yes-And versus No-But
- Accepting Offers
These last two tips ---Yes And vs. No But (i..e., instead of negating, arguing, doing right/wrong talk, try to build with what is offered to you) and Accepting Offers ( i.e., try to built with someone’s action or statement versus seeing it as problem to change or fix) --are critically important to managing…better yet…playing with stress successfully.
This is also way of life that creates joy , richness, and super relationships—try it out for yourself and clients and let me know what gets created!
On to the next scene…
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