Blog Post #108 - The BEST Cyber Monday Deal - It's FREE!!!


         Welcome to the Holiday Season! Unfortunately, accompanying the Season, OFTEN, is stress and fatigue, not unlike being in a show, going to rehearsals, or even the audition process. Here, for your listening, “dancing”, singing, and hopefully, your emotional pleasure, are 5 EASY activities to DE-STRESS, and YES, ENERGIZE your Season, AND your performing.
5 Ways to Survive Holiday Stress and Help Your Singing/Acting and Performing:
1.   BREATHE! My advice to you is while you’re stopped at a traffic signal or standing in line at a store checkout, “Count to 10, and Do it Again”. I’ve talked about this before but I can’t emphasize enough how incredibly effective this technique can be. I used it to have one daughter, when I have to have MRIs, and when I don’t want to “Lose My Cool” and YELL at someone. I like to close my eyes but that’s not mandatory (especially if you’re driving)! Inhale to a count of 10, SLOWLY, and then, exhale SLOWLY, again, to a count of 10. The slower you breathe, the more productive and powerful this will be. After you’ve done this about 5 times, you will feel yourself MARKEDLY calmer. You’ve oxygenated your blood, lowered your blood pressure, and helped yourself possibly even ENJOY what you’re doing!
2.   PLAY MUSIC AND SING WITH IT! Yes, EVEN AT THE MALL. One of the POSITIVE results of cell phones, iPods, and blue tooth devices is that NO ONE will think it’s strange if you walk around talking or singing to yourself, and I GUARANTEE that doing this will relax you, and put you in a better mood. At the Holidays, stores play Christmas music. Even if you’re not Christian, you can enjoy songs like “White Christmas” or “Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, so TAKE ADVANTAGE of the opportunity!
3.   Sit Down Every 30-60 minutes, and REPEAT the First Two Exercises Above. Better than a Starbucks or the best Dark Chocolate Brownie is MUSIC and CLEAN AIR! Hey, I LOVE Peppermint Hot Chocolates and a great Brownie BUT not as much as I love to sing, and savor a fabulous performance of one of my favorite songs. Music is very healing, I don’t care WHO you are!
4.   Instead of Stressing Over What to Buy for Cousin Sam for Secret Santa, Calm Yourself by Thinking of THREE Things you ENJOY about this time of year, or about yourself, or even about Cousin Sam. Force a little POSITIVE thought into a less-than-fun situation and environment. Distracting yourself with a little affirmative thinking will almost always yield a cool idea, in this case for what to purchase for your “Unique” family member.
5.   EVERYDAY:
-       Perform ONE “Random Act of Kindness” for someone
-       Say “Hello”, “Good Morning”, or “Have a Nice Day” to, AT LEAST TWO people you don’t know
-       Hug THREE people, and I mean a REAL Hug
-       Smile at FOUR people, especially old people or children
-       Finally, Laugh FIVE times, even if it’s at your terrible parking job, and something silly you said or did.
Don’t take life SOOOO seriously! Dealing with stress is an essential component for performance, so get in a little practice during your Holiday shopping, traffic, parties, performances, and cooking. ENJOY the Holidays! Soon, we’ll start a whole new year with new possibilities, and fresh “Slates”.
         Thanks SO much for reading; sorry I haven’t posted in a while but be on the lookout for new posts very soon. I have a couple of wonderful, professional friends who have agreed to contribute practical, insightful posts about acting and voiceover auditioning, so watch for those very soon. Until then, please send me ANY comments, questions, or suggestions. If you have questions about me or my lessons, check out my website at www.SingitForward.net. I value each and every one of you, and look forward to seeing and hearing from you anytime you’re ready. Thanks for being a part of “Sing it Forward’s” Blog. Happy Holidays and remember, Sing it Forward!!!

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