{"id":568,"date":"2012-03-05T10:44:38","date_gmt":"2012-03-05T15:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholeperson.com\/wordpress\/?p=568"},"modified":"2012-03-05T10:44:38","modified_gmt":"2012-03-05T15:44:38","slug":"improv-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/improv-your-life","title":{"rendered":"Improv Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/store\/leigh-anne-jasheway-bryant.shtml\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"27\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/fun-five-minute-stress-breaks\/jasheway-small\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1051,701\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;9&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 20D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1202224890&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Leigh Anne Jasheway telling jokes\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small-1024x682.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-27\" title=\"Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant\" src=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small.jpg 1051w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>The word \u201cimprov\u201d scares people. To most, the idea of getting up in front of an audience and making up stuff on the spur of the moment seems like a form of torture instead of a fun way to pass a few hours while learning important life skills.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been incorporating improv games into my workshops for years without letting anyone know that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing (it\u2019s kind of like mixing spinach in with the mashed potatoes and not telling anyone). The participants always have fun and go away with important life skills. Last spring I started teaching an improv class for my local community college and can honestly say \u2013 as a person who laughs a lot already \u2013 that I\u2019ve never giggled, snorted, guffawed, and rolled on the floor laughing as much as I did during the two hours I spent teaching (and playing with) that class every week. The mean age of the class was around 58 and the \u201cstudents\u201d held nothing back and really enjoyed their 10-weeks of remembering how to be childlike.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than running screaming from improv, it might help to look at a definition. <em>Improv is the practice of acting and reacting, of making and creating, of being fully in the moment and with the people you are with. Improv helps us think and act on our feet, respond to changing circumstances, generate new and different ideas, become more flexible and spontaneous, and strengthen our sense of humor<\/em>. Now tell me that doesn\u2019t sound like something that would make your life better while reducing your stress!<\/p>\n<p>Even if you never take an improv class, here are some rules you can apply to your everyday life to have less stress and more fun:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Be playful, not competitive. Working and playing together is not only more productive than always trying to one-up the next person, it also improves your attitude towards those you work with.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Always pay complete attention to what is going on around you. Yes, that does mean you should put down your Smartphone and back away from your computer when you\u2019re engaging with another human being, whether in person or on the phone. Your mind cannot be in two places at one time any more than your body can.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Work with your intuition, your heart, and your emotions. Before making daily decisions, think about where they will lead and whether they\u2019ll make you and the people in your life happy or less so.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Take risks and become comfortable with being uncomfortable. By this I don\u2019t mean you should bungee jump naked from a motorcycle as you jump the Grand Canyon. What I do mean is that you should take more little risks in your everyday life. I\u2019ll give you an example: I can hold my own during karaoke, but when it comes to \u201creal\u201d singing, I know my limitations. I\u2019m breathy and often a little flat. That, however, did not stop me from recently writing and recording my first song. And I had the time of my life. Whenever we feel uncomfortable in a situation, we\u2019re being ruled by our ego, the part of our mind that tries to keep us from appearing foolish. But appearing foolish can be an amazingly freeing experience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Be truly involved in what\u2019s going on, rather than thinking about it like as outsider. Many of us live as if our lives are on hold. <em>When I get my doctorate\u2026 when I get married\u2026 when I buy my first house\u2026 when the aliens beam me aboard\u2026 then I can get on with my life<\/em>. Fully commit to every day, every moment, and you\u2019ll not only get more accomplished, you\u2019ll be more grateful for every step of the journey.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Use your entire body, not just your head. One of the reasons 5-year-olds laugh so much more than grown-ups is that they use their bodies for play. We adults tend to use our bodies to transport our heads around and complain about the trip. The more you can play every day (and no, jogging, while good for you, isn\u2019t considered \u201cplay\u201d), the more fun you\u2019ll have.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Accept and move forward.\u00a0 Rather than questioning every idea or suggestion made by others just because they weren\u2019t yours, join in and see what happens. Add your own touch, but don\u2019t destroy an idea just because it\u2019s not yours.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Eliminate excuses. Rather than whining, \u201cI feel stupid,\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019ll wait and let others try before I join in,\u201d just go for it. Or provide your own responses. \u201cI feel stupid.\u201d So? There are worse things in life.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d Maybe you will if you join in the activity and see what it\u2019s all about. \u201cI\u2019ll wait and let others try first.\u201d Would you say the same if they were giving away free money or donuts? I thought not!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And if you decide that perhaps an improv class may be just what you need to turn your life around, check out your local community college. Here in Eugene, my next class starts on September 29<sup>th<\/sup> and is offered through Lane Community College.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/store\/leigh-anne-jasheway-bryant.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant<\/a>, MPH, is a stress management and humor expert, comedy writer, stand-up comic, and comedy instructor\/coach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The word \u201cimprov\u201d scares people. To most, the idea of getting up in front of an audience and making up stuff on the spur of the moment seems like a form of torture instead of a fun way to pass a few hours while learning important life skills. I\u2019ve been incorporating improv games into my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[248,27,247,249,215,188,8],"class_list":["post-568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-games","tag-humor","tag-improv","tag-improv-class","tag-leigh-anne-jasheway","tag-life-skills","tag-wellness"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Improv Your Life  - The Wellness Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/improv-your-life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Improv Your Life  - The Wellness Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The word \u201cimprov\u201d scares people. 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