Mindfulness can feel intimidating. But what if presence didn’t require stillness? What if you could use improvisation to return to yourself?

For Denver Center for the Performing Arts teaching artist Heather Curran, improv and mindfulness are inseparable. “Improv is the practice of presence through play,” she says. “Mindfulness and meditation can be really daunting, but improv helps us face those fears and cultivates trust with self and others.” Drawing from Curran’s insights, here are five improv‑based mindfulness tips you can use anytime — not just onstage.

1. Accept What Is (Without Endorsing It)

We often hear “Yes, and” (the basic premise of improv) taught as blind positivity, but Curran reminds us that’s a misunderstanding. “’Yes, and’ is really about accepting what is and deciding to move it forward in productive ways,” she explains. “Accepting is not endorsing. It’s acknowledging what is happening instead of fighting it.”

Mindfulness begins the same way. Instead of resisting your emotions, or someone else’s reaction, take a beat to notice what’s present. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to agree with it. But acknowledging reality creates the tiny bit of space you need to choose your response rather than react out of habit.

Chaos Bloom Theater

2. Hold Space for Yourself First

“It’s uncomfortable to feel a feeling. We know how to tell a story about a feeling because it distances us,” Curran says. “The way we can show up for ourselves is by letting ourselves feel our feelings, instead of getting stuck in the story.” Instead of piling judgment on top of stress, practice pausing. Notice your reaction without forming an opinion. Putting a hand on your heart, taking a grounding breath, or even naming what you’re feeling out loud can help interrupt the spiral.

Curran also notes that “we all judge, it’s what our brains do.” The goal isn’t to eliminate judgment but to avoid judging the judgment. That extra layer of shame keeps us stuck; awareness frees us.

3. Listen Like an Improviser

Improvisers are trained to listen deeply so they can build the scene together. But Curran says we forget a crucial partner: ourselves. “A strong reaction is a really great cue that you need something from yourself,” she explains. “What we’re taught to do is to focus on the thing that upset us. When really the strong response is saying, ‘I don’t feel safe.’”

Try approaching your own inner reactions with curiosity:

• What is this feeling trying to tell me?
• What do I need? Rest? Space? Clarity?
• Is this about the moment, or about me feeling unsafe or overstimulated?

The more skillfully you listen inward, the better you’ll listen outward, to coworkers, loved ones, or anyone who shows up in your “scene.”

4. Share Focus: Balance the Hard with the Grounding

In improv, no single performer carries the whole story alone, and Curran believes the same should be true internally. “If we think about the movie Inside Out, those are all scene partners…fear, sadness, joy. How am I listening to each of them so that I’m not only focused on fear or dread?”

Mindfulness doesn’t mean ignoring hard things. It means balancing them with grounding ones. If you find yourself doom‑scrolling, tense, or flooded by negativity, redirect a bit of your focus toward what steadies you: a walk, a moment of joy, a breath, a comforting routine, or connection with someone safe.

This doesn’t erase the difficult emotion — it expands your capacity beside it.

Chaos Bloom Theatre

5. Choose Flexibility and Curiosity Over Certainty

“I only need a little information to construct an entire narrative,” Curran jokes. Instead of filling in the blanks or assuming the worst, try approaching situations like an improviser entering a new scene: open, flexible, and ready to discover.

“When you’re genuinely curious, you’re not in a fixed mindset,” Curran says. Flexibility helps interrupt assumptions, soften conflict, and keep conversations collaborative rather than combative.

Across both her mindfulness work and her improv career, Curran returns to a single anchor: Self‑awareness. “‘Yes, and’ has helped me look more clearly at what’s happening within me so I have more conscious choice for how I respond.”

Mindfulness doesn’t require perfect calm or perfect positivity, just practice. Improv reminds us we’re always co‑creating: with our emotions, with the world, and with one another. And every moment offers a chance to take a breath, accept what is, and choose the next beat.

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