What we do in our lives, we do in our work.  This is great because how we respond to our world is what makes us unique and that is what makes us interesting to watch!  But it’s a double edged sword.  What makes us unique doesn’t necessarily make us more effective communicators nor does it help us to empathize more deeply with others.

Actors learn by observing the behavior of others.  But we must also become more keenly aware of ourselves and the things we do without thinking.   Our mental and physical habits develop over many years, often as defenses to shield our emerging selves from a world in which we feel small or powerless.  Around the time of puberty, in response to our newly developing bodies, otherwise buoyant, adventurous girls and boys start to withdraw physically, protecting their hearts and genitals.  It’s sad to watch a daring tomboy become a wallflower and some, unfortunately, never reclaim their beautiful boldness. 

The early protective strategies we adopt often serve us well in the short term and we get by.  But when we grow up these strategies kick in even when they are no longer needed because they have become the way we deal with things.  When our habits prevent us from engaging fully, we unwittingly rob ourselves of our own ability to choose to be present.  When you shake someone’s hand for the first time, for example, do you stand a bit taller? Does your breathing become shallower?  Does your chest or jaw tense just a little?  Do you hold your breath while you clasp hands?  Is your tension more on yourself than who you’re meeting?

Whether you’re washing dishes, waiting for the subway or in line for coffee at Starbucks, begin to notice where your subtle habitual tensions are.  Then try something new.

Breathe. Breath is life. Accept, release and allow. 

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Accept the tension is there.  Don’t judge it, it’s an interesting discovery! Release the tension by breathing into it and allow yourself to feel whatever comes up as a result. Doing this frees you to explore choices other than your habit and to feel what it’s like to be someone else.  Someone who makes different choices than you usually do.

Just as surely as they’re in your life, habits and their tension are in your acting work too.  To use the earlier handshake example, if your habit is to tense up meeting people for the first time that tension will be in your voice and body when you walk onstage in front of an audience and your focus will be more on your entrance than where you’re going and what you want .  Knowledge is power. Knowing you don’t have to protect yourself, that your tension is unnecessary and nothing bad will happen to you if you simply accept, release, allow, breathe and speak, is powerful.

When we are free to completely embody the words and images in our text without fear, habit or tension, we open ourselves to the experience of what it’s like to breathe and see the world as someone else might.  Try it.  Change your life.  Change your work.  Where do you hold your tension? 

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All my best,

Philip

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Philip Hernandez is a respected acting teacher and singing coach in NYC. He is also the only actor in Broadway history to play both Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert in Les Miserables. He created principal roles in Broadway’s Kiss of the Spiderwoman and Paul Simon’s The Capeman. You may also know him from his many television appearances: The Blacklist, Gotham, Blue Bloods, The Path, Bull, Nurse Jackie, Elementary, Person of Interest, Law and Order, Hostages and Damages to name a few. For information about acting lessons CLICK HERE or singing lessons CLICK HERE. 

Follow him on twitter @philip24601, on Instagram @philip24601 and on Facebook at @philip24601.