A while ago (like, over six months ago) I put out a call to the DC improv community asking how improv contributed to their self care.
Part of my motivation for picking this particular topic at the time was that I was personally in dire need of some self care. I was working at a job I hated and couldn’t see a way out of. I’d just decided to leave WIT’s Harold program, and I felt guilty about it. I was trying to juggle indie teams, work, friends, running this site, and—oh yeah—my relationship with my amazing girlfriend of three years whose main complaint is that she doesn’t see me enough.
Long story short, I was doing too much—and arguably still am. But going to practices and performing in shows was one of the few things I was doing where I could block out everything else and just play.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed how doing improv affected me, either. After seeing me perform in a High-Fivers show, my girlfriend’s first comment was, “Wow, you’re so happy when you’re doing this.” And although I’m sure she didn’t mean it this way, I imagine that seeing me messing around with abandon was a stark contrast to my typical demeanor at the time, which I’d generously describe as stressed the fuck out and (sometimes) crying about it.
When I reached out to the improv community to ask how they thought improv helped them take care of themselves, I think I was partially asking because I wondered if there were people who were getting the same benefits from it as me.
And it turns out there were!
How does improv contribute to self care?
A number of improvisers wrote in to elaborate on how improv helped them get through tough times as commonplace as a hard day at work and as serious as the loss of a friend. In many instances, people talked about how skills they learned in improv carried over into everyday life, helping them deal with issues and situations offstage and outside of the classroom.
Check out some of their thoughts—and tap into some ways you can start using the power of improv to indulge in your own self care.
1. Improv makes you laugh
This first way improv contributes to self care is a bit of a no-brainer. Improv is largely performed comedically, so of course it makes you laugh. But let’s go ahead and look at why laughing is good for you.
Laughter contributes not only to your mental health, but also to your physical and emotional health. It helps your body relax, relieves stress, and decreases any feelings of defensiveness you might be experiencing.
From her own experience, improviser Tandra Turner describes improv as “a release” and “an outlet.” She also sees it as “an opportunity not just to laugh but to engage in silly, from-the-belly laughter, which is the best kind of laughing.”
Self care tip: Go laugh at some improv, whether you’re performing or watching or both. Remember that, as a performer on the back line, you’re allowed to laugh at what’s happening in the show, even as you’re trying to pay attention and track information.
Don’t lose the idea that improv is fun, no matter how far into your improv career you are or which side of the stage you find yourself on.
2. Improv helps you make friends outside the office
I think it’s safe to assume that many of us in DC could use a break from thinking about work, which often means you could also use a break from colleagues.
Half the reason I decided to start taking improv classes was to meet new people. When I first moved to DC, my only friends were the people on my team at work, and I already spent eight hours a day with them. Plus, they all lived in many Metro stops away, so hanging out on weekends was especially inconvenient for me.
Improviser Marina Fang was in a similar situation: “I have a demanding job, and a lot of my friends before starting improv were work friends or people in a similar line of work, which is particularly common in DC. With improv, it’s nice to have friends with whom I don’t have to talk about work all the time, which further helps me with self care.”
Self care tip: Sign up for an improv class and start making new friends! Or if you’re not ready to commit to a full six to eight weeks of classes—or if the cost of a class is too prohibitive—look for free or low-cost workshops. The workshop will only last for a few hours, but the friendships you make could last a lifetime!
3. Improv introduces you to (and helps you become part of) a great community
Speaking of friends, improvisers are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Though I don’t have any scientific research to back me up on this, improvisers are generally friendly, funny, and supportive people. It’s just part of the training.
Shawn Rubbin considers improv a form of self care specifically because of “the incredibly supportive nature of the improv community, including classmates, teachers, TAs, and audience members.”
Improviser Adam Rosenthal thinks improvisers are so nice because “at its core, much like all performances, improv feels like it’s about trust and honesty. But with improv specifically, there’s a bit more emphasis on both.” The sheer fact that you’re given permission to make things up on the spot with people who are there to support you creates a “feeling of openness” and an opportunity to “give yourself entirely into a moment makes a lot of those walls you’ve built between other people—and yourself—disappear.”
Self care tip: Don’t stop at simply meeting a handful of not-office-friends! Throw yourself into a community of supportive, hilarious people who are literally trained to be supportive and hilarious for several hours at a time. Outside of classes, try going to different jams. See shows with classmates and stick around afterwards to talk about what you saw.
Be supportive and hilarious yourself and see how much fun you’ll have regardless of whether you’re in an improv show or class.
4. Improv helps you learn how to fail and take risks
Given the fact that you’ll be surrounded by supportive people, it just makes sense that you’ll eventually get comfortable “messing up” around your fellow improvisers. In fact, any decent intro to improv class includes an opening speech about how there are no mistakes in improv. In fact, improv takes this concept so far that “mistakes” are reclassified as “gifts” you give to your scene partners.
Quite a few improvisers cited this philosophy as a way that improv helps them take risks and learn to see the silver lining in any “mistakes” they might make.
Improviser Caroline Howe says she is “super hard on myself, always wondering what I did right and what I could do better.” But by doing improv, she says, she feels like “there really are no mistakes, and [it] gives me the opportunity to find something good in every show, and never get too attached to what I did ‘wrong.'”
This ability to let go of mistakes helps improviser Felicia Barnes “increase [her] resilience and build confidence” outside of improv classes and performances.
Self care tip: Improviser Marina Fang describes improv classes as “judgment-free zones, where failure is perfectly acceptable (and in some ways, encouraged as a source of good-natured humor).” The next time you’re in class or at practice, challenge yourself to make an improv move that you typically think of as being “outside of your range.” Use a weird voice. Be more physical. Do some very focused object work.
Even if your move doesn’t go as planned, I’m sure your improv teammates will support the heck out of you.
After practicing not judging your actions (or the actions of others) and accepting your mistakes for several hours each week, you’ll likely start to expand that to your life outside the improv classroom.
You might also find that you feel more comfortable placing yourself in difficult or challenging situations that you’d never imagined yourself in before. The world could be your oyster, all because of improv. Wouldn’t that be so nice?
5. Improv encourages you to practice kindness toward yourself
When you’re able to take risks and brush off mistakes—or simply forgive yourself for them—you’ll probably find that you’re generally much nicer to yourself.
Improviser Angela Karpieniak says, “I think finding improv has decreased my anxiety and boosted my confidence.” She cites finding a supportive community as being a benefit of practicing improv, but she also thinks regularly improvising gives her a structured way to take care of herself: “My weekly practices are times I am taking for myself to be able to practice saying ‘yes’ and improve on a skill that is separate from my job.”
Improviser Shawn Rubbin agrees: “I generally feel encouraged and confident to be exactly who I am because my unique life experiences inform every choice I make. That’s exceptionally satisfying, uplifting, and empowering!”
Self care tip: Learn how to say “yes” to yourself by learning how to say “yes, and” to others. Apply things you learn in improv, like accepting the reality of a situation and making decisions about what comes next, to your non-improv life and see what happens.
6. Improv helps you stop overthinking and start focusing on the moment you’re in
Saying yes in improv often involves saying no to everything happening outside of in improv scene or exercise. This focus on…well…focusing is probably the way that improv most contributes to my own self care. Chalk it up to the fact that I have a Type A personality, that I’m the oldest sibling, or that I’m a Capricorn, but I’m a major planner and overthinker.
Fortunately for my mental health, planning and overthinking are forbidden in improv. And a lot of other people find these improv rules beneficial, too.
“My anxiety is a culmination of many catastrophic thoughts—’What if this happens?’—to the umpteenth degree,” says improviser Alex Waddell. However, improv helps him combat those feelings of anxiety: “Improv requires being in the moment so much that it’s impossible for me to have those world-ending thoughts. I have to accept what’s happening in that instance and add a piece of myself to it. That’s where the anxiety dissipates and the fun begins.”
Improviser Felicia Barnes also says that improv helps her stay in the moment. “I’m a planner by nature. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve rehearsed or arguments I’ve anticipated counters for far in advance of any potential conflict,” she says, “I did that because I was afraid I wouldn’t have the words in the moment. Improv shows me that I can react in the moment and stick with myself and my ‘deal.’”
Improv can even be an antidote to the modern news cycle, as improviser Geoff Corey attests: “To be in an improv show, you need to be entirely focused on what’s happening in the scene, and your role in supporting it. You have no time to think about horrifying news (in the world or in your personal life) because as soon as your thoughts wander, you’ve missed critical information.”
Self care tip: If overthinking, overplanning, and over-worrying are issues you’re experiencing, challenge yourself to live in the moment of a scene. If you find yourself spacing out, give yourself a gentle reminder to focus only the scene you’re in (or the scene in front of you if you’re on the back line).
I can’t think of a better argument for improv as self care than the one Geoff Corey puts forward: “[Improv] forces you to focus on what’s happening right now, freeing your mind of anything that’s weighing you down, depressing your soul, or breaking your heart. And it just so happens that what’s happening right now, is making you smile.”
However, I do want to take a moment to acknowledge that clinical anxiety is real. If you feel like you’re experiencing symptoms of anxiety, consider seeking professional help and checking out a variety of ways to cope with your feelings.
7. It can help take your mind off of darker times
Improv can even help keep your mind in the present if you’re dealing with a particularly dark or sad life event.
Tandra Turner says that, although she didn’t initially see improv as an act of self care, it’s seen her through some of her “darkest days,” including the death of a good friend. Before an improv practice, Turner recounts feeling down. However, after the practice, she remembers, “things were still the same, but I had so much joy, was hopeful, and had a more positive perspective.”
Improviser Wyatt Unger describes an improv practice he attended as “a vacation from my loss.” He was able to spend two hours “exploring characters with completely different problems.” He was able to “explore the rage [he] felt inside, the sadness, the disconnection, and the happiness that still existed” in a safe space.
Self care tip: In a similar vein as self care method #3, improv gives you a chance to explore different emotions—or maybe even feel different ones—by portraying different characters in a variety of scenarios. It also gives you a chance to take your mind off a situation that’s causing you any emotional distress.
However, remember that professional grief counseling is an option you might also want to explore.
As Wyatt Unger says, “Improv helped me understand that I am going to be okay. That while it is hard now, it won’t always be. I can still laugh, cry, and love.” By taking a moment for yourself outside of your feelings of grief and loss, you can start to heal.
8. It helps you tap into your feelings and the feelings of others
While improv can do wonders to help you get out of your own head if that’s something you want or need, it can also help you do the opposite. Through character work and learning to portray different emotions, you can explore your own feelings and start to understand how others experience those feelings.
As improviser Ayala Pourat puts it, “Improv creates greater awareness and exploration of others and ourselves” because it helps us “learn about different communication styles and how to emote and make ourselves heard. Improv is constantly getting to emote.”
Improviser Caroline Howe cites JC Calcerano’s character class as an experience that “really enabled me to tell both my characters’ truths and my own.” Through exploring different characters and emotions, Howe felt better able “to express [her] own needs and boundaries by emphasizing how important it was for [her] characters to do so.”
Howe says being able to explore these emotions in a safe space also helped her access her own ability to access and express a range of emotions: “I used to avoid sharing any ‘negative’ emotions, because I took on wanting to make other people feel really great all the time. Coaches and improv teachers told me that I wasn’t creating realistic characters in scenes when I did just that, and I realized how unhealthy I was being with myself and others.”
However, comedian Iulia Gheorghiu points out that this constant emoting “can be very emotionally draining if you are playing around in a world in which you feel uneasy or shut out.” She recommends “finding good people and friends in the improv community outside of classes” so you feel supported, safe, respected, and heard when exploring the emotions of different characters.
Self care tip: Find people who have your back and challenge yourself to explore a difficult emotion—or an emotion you typically don’t express—through improv. Talk to your classmates or teammates about this exploration so you can all be on the same page about working on emotional range. After running through these emotional exercises, reflect on how they made you feel and anything you discovered about yourself and others along the way.
Take care of yourself with improv
Improv isn’t, of course, the only form of self care that exists. And as improviser John Heiser points out, although improv can feel therapeutic, it shouldn’t be considered a substitute for professional mental health services if you feel like they would help.
But according to different members of the improv community, improv can definitely be a powerful form of self care if you’re willing to try it out. Breaking down your inhibitions, making silly things up on the spot, paying attention to what’s happening in the moment, and exploring a range of emotions and characters can be fun, healing, and cathartic.
I think improviser Adam Rosenthal puts it best, so I’ll leave you with his words: “Improv is self care because it removes all of these blockades to being a good partner to yourself.”
So be kind to yourself this week: go do some improv.
Want to learn more about how to get more involved in the improv scene?
- Want to start an improv group of your own? We have tips for that.
- Want to understand The Harold, the most ubiquitous improv form we can think of? We have a breakdown of that.
- Want to know how to support sober improvisers who have decided to care for themselves by avoiding drinking? We have advice for that.
