Stephen Nachmanovitch is an improvisational musician, and long-time teacher of improvisational arts. His 2019 book, The Art of Is, explores how we can use principles and practices of improv in our everyday lives.
As a long-time student (and occasional performer) of improv, I have first-hand knowledge of how these principles can enrich our experience and create opportunities for exploration, growth, and fun. What I didn't realize until reading The Art of Is is that improv can help us weave community, fight injustice, stay the course in the face of great odds, and heal ourselves and our planet.
In this episode, Stephen and I improvise a conversation (that's the only way to do it!) that explores some fundamental understandings of human potential. I come at it with an interest in how we can apply improv to be healthier in our everyday lives.
For example, many of my clients resist meal planning because they insist on spontaneity; the outcome, too often, of that spontaneity is unfortunate food choices made in the heat of the moment. Stephen highlights the Japanese tea ceremony as a delicate and robust balance of the intricately planned (the ritual) and the spontaneous (attention to the unique present circumstances).
We talk about how in improv, as in life, mistakes are opportunities for learning, and for new possibilities for action and connection.
And since the mantra of improvisational theater is “Yes, and…”, we explore how you can maintain an improvisational mindset when you refuse an offer – whether a piece of cheesecake, or as in the story of Shotaku and the Paper Sword of the Heart, a physical assault. Stephen helps us understand “how to refuse while remembering who you are.”
We cover the subtle art and science of cybernetics – essentially, course correcting through the interplay of a goal and attention to feedback. This is crucial in musical improvisation, especially on analog instruments like the violin, where there are infinite notes between the notes, and the fingers are always sliding, searching for accuracy. This relates to the challenge of self-regulation that all of us face as we navigate a world rife with unhealthy temptations. Stephen uses the metaphor of driving a car, constantly adjusting our steering, and not beating ourselves up for the myriad “mistakes” that we continually correct.
We explore the lessons of some of the heroes of The Art of Is, including Herbert Zipper, a holocaust survivor who wrote music for and conducted a clandestine orchestra at Buchenwald concentration camp, and John Cage, who composed a musical piece with a duration of 639 years.
We end the conversation with some concrete suggestions for bringing the benefits of improv to life, including practicing breathing in the supermarket, performing 1-minute pieces, and drawing a picture and then throwing it away in an artistic fashion.
Links
The Art of Is, by Stephen Nachmanovitch
Free Play, by Stephen Nachmanovitch
Stephen's latest album: A Hermitage of Thrushes (improvisations with birds)
Searching for Sugarman – documentary
Csardas performance (not by me – the note that I could never hit comes it at 1:01)
Never Give Up – documentary about Herbert Zipper
John Cage, “As Slow As Possible” performance – 4 minutes worth, anyway
The Long Now Foundation
Hun Huur Tu Concert
Dr Howie Jacobson
This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).
My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.
Here are three gigs that I do:
1. Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation
I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.
At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.
My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.
2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance
I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.
We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.
The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.
3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams
I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.
So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.
You CAN Change Other People!
Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.
What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.
Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.
Music
The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.
It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.
You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.
Gratitudes
Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.
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