”I place the participants in a circle on the floor in the middle of the room, lying on their backs with their heads in the center of the their arms at their side, in star formation. As I speak, I move around the formation, and take a step with each new image. I circle until the end of the meditation. First I have them relax, breathe, and suggest relaxation images starting at the top of their heads, going down. I tell them first that they are lying on the ground, the soil is moist and takes the contour of their body, that it becomes a template for their form.  With closed eyes, I have them check every part of their bodies for any tension or knots, and tell them to ‘shed their macramé suits’.  The checking is descending from the top of the skull gradually down to the feet and the toes. Once the toes have been reached, I improvise the rest of this meditation. Relax and enjoy!” – Rachel Rosenthal, from her book “The DbD Experience: Chance Knows What It’s Doing”

Rachel Rosenthal, a winner of OBIE, Rockefeller, Getty, NEA and CAA Awards, among others, is an interdisciplinary performer and theatre artist who has toured her works internationally since 1975. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1999. She currently teaches her signature brand of improvisational theatre (Doing by Doing) and directs the fully-improvised TOHUBOHU! Extreme Theatre Ensemble at her Los Angeles studio ESPACE DBD.

© 2012 Rachel Rosenthal