Does your mind race with these post-audition thoughts?
- When will I get the results?
- What did they think of me?
- I should have done ….. more
- I stumbled / forgot some lines! Did they notice when I messed up … that bit?
I’m no stranger when it comes to dealing with the post audition anxiety that starts to creep its way into my thoughts right after walking out of the audition hall.
In college I had to audition several times throughout the semester and every time I dealt with the anxiety afterwards. It wasn’t until I learned to embrace these 5 techniques that helped me to let go and truly embrace my confidence and abilities as an artist that I started to take control of my anxious thoughts and actually look forward to my post audition rituals.
1. Emotional Awareness
One of the most important things you need to do after an audition is cultivate emotional awareness. This helps you separate the over analyzing thoughts into a more realistic perspective. Think of your main objections for the audition:
What was the character’s goal in the monologue?
What story did you want to tell with your performance?
And most importantly, what was your intention for the audition day?
Maybe it was to be present, let your intuition guide you, or be open to new possibilities. Whatever you choose, reflect on your answers and what you want to improve on post-audition and consider writing it down in an audition journal, or speaking to someone you trust.
2. Avoid that emotional hangover
As actors, it’s our job to understand the human experience, to “live” through a characters story, no matter how it may differ from ours. It’s a rewarding career, but this can take a lot out of us emotionally. After giving an audition your all, it’s normal to leave feeling emotionally drained. This is why having a cool down ritual in place, helps to relax your muscles and regroup after an emotional scene. Creating a playlist is an easy way of cooling down because music is proven to be effective for relaxation and stress management. Going for a walk, sitting by the fire with a good book, the list is endless and entirely up to you on the right activity for a perfect de-stressor.
3. Don’t tell everyone
It’s easy when you’re excited about something to want to tell everyone. But that comes with its own baggage because everyone brings their opinions and judgements into your decisions. It can also be disheartening to break the news if you ended up not getting the role or if the role just ended up not being right for you. Instead, keeping a close support group of a few people you trust the most is a more productive way to share your exciting possible acting opportunities.
4. Find a passion outside of the craft
Acting is a demanding career, but if you don’t have different passions or hobbies outside of your craft, it’s impossible to truly give your mind a break post audition. Having a passion outside of acting ( or any job) is proven to make us better at in our careers, and has proven to boost our creativity, spirituality, and overall mental and physical well being!
5. Practice impermanence
Change isn’t just a fact of life we have to accept and work with. To feel the pain of impermanence and loss can be a profoundly beautiful reminder of what it means to exist.
Norman Fischer
In its most simplistic terms, impermanence is defined as : when you recognize and stop tying to control the uncontrollable. It is based off of several several different religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism.
When you decide to embrace a life of impermanence, you will break free not only from post-audition anxiety, but also of all the uncontrollable issues that rise up in your life. I know this is definitely easier said than done, but even realizing this and making a conscious effort to practice impermanence helps you to become centered in your everyday life.
So, what does your perfect post audition ritual look like? Let me know below!
Until next time,