Most people think of improv as sketch comedy and entertainment. But what if I told you that improv started as a means to increase creativity and collaboration?

It makes a lot of sense because we human beings are innate players. One need only watch a child to understand this is true. We want to play. The reason we don’t is someone at some point told us it was time to get serious, to work hard and play less.

Yet play helps us learn and practice new skills in a way that is both fun and seemingly effortless. While we might think we are wasting time as we play, what we are actually doing is reprogramming our brain to think in new, more creative ways.

So how did it all start?

You might have heard of Viola Spolin. She is widely known for her part in creating improvised theatre education in North America. She worked in the fields of acting and social work and ran a program for groups of immigrant children and adults known as The Hull House in Chicago. Neva Boyd, her mentor, is...

These are impromptu writings based on improvised topics given by others in a live group setting. Interested in participating? Join my Reaching Higher Improv Community! Find out more here: https://www.awakken.com/improv

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You have 3 options.

First, take a bath, otherwise turn on music, or cut fresh flowers.

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What Do You Know about … ?

What do you know about the trees? Are they growing in due season, or are they dying a slow painful death from pollution and bugs eating away at them because they are they only creature able to survive this storm? Think carefully on this. It might be important.

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I Bet You’re a Bit Like Me

I bet you are a bit like me, you like the meadows, and nature, and the butterflies that fly overhead.  You like to feel the breeze on your face. The sound of the ocean waves. And you are at peace with it all, in your little haven on earth, wherever that may be. Life is lived right now. Enjoy it fully.

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On Roses …

Roses are red,...

An old rusty chain keeps us bound to sin, the past, and our old recycled thoughts. At a glance, we might think it is strong. Unbreakable. It has been there for so long, generation after generation, we might concede it is a chain we cannot break.

If it could be broken, we reason, someone would have broken it already.

Like the tattered elephant groomed for a life in the circus, we are broken. We have lost faith that we could ever break what binds us even if the chain were now only a small cord on a flimsy little stake in the ground.

We have grown stronger, wiser, and have increased in compassion, yet, we can never be free as long as the chain remains. We turn to others, hopeful they will break through what keeps us in bondage. But they do not. They cannot. If only they could free themselves, we think, then we too could free ourselves.

And what binds us remains.

Drugs, alcohol, attempted suicide, child abuse, shame, guilt, depression, it all remains intact because no one will take the...

Give yourself a raw boost of energy and get your chocolate fix too!

Ingredients
1 cup organic almond butter (or 1/2 cup almonds blended until creamy in 1/4 cup coconut oil)
½ cup organic fair trade cocoa powder
½ cup organic coconut flour
½ cup organic silvered almonds, or ground walnuts
1 cup raw honey
1 cup organic hemp seeds
¼ cup organic flax seeds, ground
½ cup organic pumpkin seeds, ground

Instructions
In a mixing bowl, combine the almond butter, honey, fair trade cocoa powder and coconut flour. Add in hemp seeds, ground pumpkin seeds, ground flax seeds and silvered almonds. Mix them together and let the mixture stand for 30 minutes. Next, roll the mix into little balls and store at room temperature.

Yield: 24 mini balls

Yum!