A Few Acting Exercises for Getting in Touch

I just finished a session a few minutes ago with two lovely actors.  And most of what I taught them just now is also perfect for not only getting in touch with your emotions but for attaining your true body size … whether you have to gain weight like my client Sally or want to lose weight like the rest of us.

As a matter of fact, I just used techniques like this to lose five pounds. I’m determined to get into my real body … whatever that is … whether it’s five or fifty pounds from now.  And I’m going to use some modified acting exercises to do it.  Stay tuned as we’re going to do a 30-Day Challenge in my NEW “Are You Weighting?” Facebook community.  Complete with Facebook LIVE videos with some of my fave processes.  As well as a dynamite structure to make you STOP “Weighting” and START Living …

So here’s a few exercises that I LOVE and do all the time …

TONING.  I learned this not in an acting class but at a retreat for eating disorder professionals; many of them cried when they did it and it’s a very simple but intense way of joining the voice and body.  And absolutely WON-derful for those, like Sally, who have to learn to speak up for themselves.

Simply stand in a comfortable position and slightly bend your knees a bit so you don’t lock up your body. Take a few meditation breaths … I like to breathe slowly in about 2/3rds of the way (if I breathe to fast and too deeply I shock my nerves and achieve exactly the opposite of deepening consciousness), then hold for two counts, then breathe slowly out.   Then you want to take in a deep breath and release it with a sighing, deep, guttural tone … get in touch with the sound of an animal that you feel a resonance with if that’ll help … roar like a lion or trumpet like an elephant for example.

Make the sound until all your breath is gone and you’re forced to take in another deep breath almost like a wave flowing out and ebbing in.  Then breathe out with another sound.  After four or five of these rounds, open your arms out to your sides and continue; this opens your body and helps you get more in touch with yourself.  Continue as long as you like. When you feel the urge to stop, it may be that you’re avoiding an emotional breakthrough, so take care that you do the exercise fully before stopping.

MINDFULNESS.  This simple exercise is the most powerful tool you may have for changing the way you eat … or changing anything in your life for that that matter.  When you slow down and begin to take in everything with all of your senses, then begin to reprogram your thoughts in a process similar to self-hypnosis, radical changes appear to happen.

Sit at the table where you eat and take a few meditation breaths … I like to breathe slowly in about 2/3rds of the way (if I breathe to fast and too deeply I shock my nerves and achieve exactly the opposite of deepening consciousness), then hold for two counts, then breathe slowly out.  Then slow your breathing even more for a few more breaths, inhaling on a count of four, holding for two, and exhaling on a count of eight.  All the while feeling yourself drift into a dreamy, drowsy, desirable state of mind. Close your eyes if you’d like.

Now think about food … and how you’re more drawn to your favorite delicious fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious foods.  Allow yourself to actually see them on the table if you can … or in your mind’s eye.  As you slowly breathe in and out, see yourself actually eating the food slowly, enjoying the flavor and texture on your tongue. Swirl the food around on your tongue … activate all your senses … what you see … the colors and contours … taste the complexity of the all the flavors … touch with your mouth, teeth, tongue, and lips … hear the crunch or mush … and finally smell the beautiful scent of the food.  Celebrate the all sensations … make your entire body a sensory magnet.  And don’t forget to keep breathing.

When you’ve done this with sensory food, now try the real thing at the table where you eat … a small plate of your favorite fruit or vegetable.  Slowly take in the real sensations of the real food … and begin to notice the sensation of fullness in your stomach.  And how it feels good and right to feel this way.  Notice how this feels different that eating things because you’re upset, bored, or for any other reason.  Notice how you’re happier eating for fullness instead of stuffing your feelings or overeating out of habit.  And how you’re now journeying towards your true weight.  And towards a happier, healthier life.

Now take a few moments to refocus on your breathing and return to a normal consciousness and rhythm.  Take your time to get up from the table and go about your day … with a consciousness of how relaxed and refreshed you now are.

DAILY PRACTICE.  It’s very important that you do something every day … even if you just practice the relaxing breaths I’ve described before a meal.  Actually, there has been some positive research about this practice and weight changes.  So take a few minutes to breathe before each meal and possibly do some suggestions about eating healthier food.  Up to you.  But it doesn’t take a lot to affect positive change if you do it every day.  Or every meal.  At the very least, you slow down and notice what you’re eating … one thing that mindless eaters don’t do.

Sally’s been doing this every day, and her eating and weight is beginning to normalize.  Along with her mind.  The reality is that, if you don’t feed your brain right, it’s just foggy.  Whether you don’t feed it enough or you anesthetize it by feeding it too much.  Think about it … what would your life be like if thoughts about food ceased to rent space in your head?  And if you ate until you felt your fullness and stopped.  WHAT A CONCEPT …

Leave Your Comments About Don’t Google your Emotions, Part Three Below

What would your life be like if thoughts about food ceased to rent space in your head?  What do you do, if anything, to regulate your food intake?  Is it working for you … or does it need some tweaking?