It feels like I began this journey in another life and another place, and I guess both those things are true. I started studying meditation and Dharma as a teenager, when I found the Christian church in which I was raised to be lacking. First starting within the Hindu tradition, then on to Buddhism and beyond. I eventually found my way back to the Christian understanding of meditation through the teachings of Thomas Merton and others but my journey while spiritual was always agnostic and areligious.

Whether you call it Dharma, Tao, Zen, Prayer, Method or Manual, all these concepts roughly translate to “a way” though they all have their flavors and nuances steeped in their cultures of origin. I started “Dharma Arts” with the intention to promote and educate the public on the benefits of Mindfulness and Meditation through use of the creative arts, such as Improvisational Theater, Spoken Word Poetry, Creative Writing, and other such endeavors where the goal is self-expression.

I am not a Zen Master, a Dharma Teacher, or a Yogi Guru trying to sell you on some form of self-help. What I am is a forever student, and a sometimes Improv Coach. Viola Spolin didn’t create her games only for the Theater and Short-form improv, they were meant to be broadly applicable methods for teaching and encouraging creativity through play and self-support. I would love to give back what I’ve learned to all ages, and ask that you join me on this study of self-expression as a way rather than an end.

My first experience in traditional improv (Whose Line style games and prompts) was actually at a workshop for English as a Second Language teachers while I was working in Japan in 2005. It doesn’t surprise me that improv training has been taken and used across all fields, Corporate, Academic and Entertainment, since the core of Improv is about detatched, open and clear communication, not just with colleagues and clients but also with your own self.

Tips for Improv

01 : Let your body lead your movement.

02 : Keep yourself out of it.

03 : Be open to your scene partner.

04 : See space as an object, even if that object is emptiness.