12 May Thomas Uses Improv to Reduce Anxiety and Find Common Ground
Two years ago my wife and I moved from Oregon to Minnesota and felt out of our element. In some ways Minneapolis is very similar to parts of Oregon – especially Portland. But the prospect of moving somewhere new is always challenging and full of what-if moments. My wife was the first one to suggest that we take improv classes together, so it started out as a joint venture. I’ve since taken Everyday Improv 1 and 2 two times each for extra practice.
From my time in the managing anxiety class, I’ve been working on using improv skills to lessen the effect of anxiety taking ahold of me. I think that as we grow older it’s easy for us to either normalize and suppress our generalized anxiety or become more easily triggered by the little things. There was a time in my life when I was very reactive and would get really heated when I got anxious. I didn’t want that to be me anymore so I made a conscious decision to take steps to change. Doing improv has been one of the first steps toward that goal. For example, I have family members with different political leanings than me who I used to have a really hard time engaging with. Now that I’ve incorporated improv into my life, it has become easier for me to get less anxious and find common ground with them. I often think about how I can do my part to bridge the gap this country is in. And one way to do that I’ve found is to see other people’s differing opinions as gifts that I can learn from. It’s the difference in tone between having a conversation and an argument. I know I may not be able to convince others to share my opinion, but we can certainly come to understand one another better.
I will say that the initial period of trying something new is always intimidating, but is always easier than you think once you get going. It’s always been that way for me for a lot of things. I usually try volunteering to go first to jump-in an improv exercise and get comfortable in those growing pains. Improv is so much fun to me and I can definitely see it as something I want to continue developing in my life. I don’t think that there’s an age at which doing improv is ever too late. I’m 67 years old, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Thomas B. Zell, Current BNW SU Student in Managing Anxiety with Improv Skills Elective Course
Be Brave. Do Improv.