Improv comedy is a lot like Vipassana meditation. It teaches you to be in the moment, to listen to the sensations in your body, and to be aware of the reactions of the mind. In improv you learn to go with the flow: something comes to you, and you let it go.
In Vipassana, you're observing the improvisation of your own mind, while learning to detach from the identity behind it. Because thoughts are a lot like clouds. They come and they go. Sometimes they're soft, sometimes they're loud.
Stories versus sensations
Without the ability to observe the sensations of the body objectively, we miss out on much of the depth of human experience. Without observing sensations, we get stuck in stories. It's the stories of the mind that tell us we're not worthy.
It's the sensations of the body that tell us we are alive. We feel sad. We feel insecure. We feel afraid. But it's also the sensations of the body that tell us we feel peace. We feel joy, we feel ecstasy, we feel bliss.
In Vipassana there is no imagination, no visualization, no controlling the breath. Just observe. Observe the arising of reality in each passing moment.
What improv adds
This is what improv teaches us: to be present with the players on our team, to notice the impulses that arise within us, and to choose which of those impulses to act on.
The song depends not on the artist, but on the moment.
So embrace the present moment like an old friend and a new friend, all in one, and realize that both friends are you. In improv you work as one. What you put out gets reflected back to you. By seeing your fellow players as you, and you as your fellow players, you can reach a state of harmony. And in that harmony, great joy.
Let's keep observing the present moment without judgment, but with curiosity, with love, and with pureness of heart. Keep yes-and-ing in life. Because life, well, it yes-ands you back.
Try it yourself in the Improv Games Lab: play New Choice, Yes And and more right in your browser.
