Basic Mindfulness Grounding Techniques for Performers Workshop

Stage fright, the “nervous pee,” imposter syndrome, anxiety. It’s hella real. We all experience various causes and conditions that contribute to energetic instability. Quite the inconvenience when we want to have a grounded baseline from which to offer our art on stage for our audience. Mindfulness is both a technique and a tool to have in our self-care toolkit to assist in cultivating a resonant relationship with our own nervous system and body. Incorporating the principles of a mindfulness meditation practice into our pre-performance, grounding rituals supports our effort toward managing balance amidst the chaos.

In this part lecture, part practice class, students will learn about the definitions and foundations of mindfulness, be walked through several basic grounding techniques, then be offered a short guided practice meditation, all through a trauma-sensitive approach. Students will receive an energetic-inventory exercise to help them better understand when and how to intentionally cultivate grounding practices into their pre-performance rituals. Students are encouraged to bring a comforting sensory object (such as a favorite hoodie, plushie or crystal) for the session along with analog or similarly accessible note-taking tools.

This 1-hour class session is facilitated by Deanna Sophia (Danger), who is a non-binary, queer, neurodivergent, IPV-survivor who teaches accessible, trauma-sensitive mindfulness and radical community wellBEing. They are completing a 2-year mindfulness meditation teaching certification, on scholarship, accredited by UC Berkeley.

https://www.showmeburlesque.com/en/show-me-workshops/