Opinion with Deborah Middleton

In the last few years, mindfulness has become something of a buzzword, with numerous studies showing the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions in healthcare and education. But mindfulness also has a part to play in the theatre. At the University of Huddersfield's Mindfulness and Performance Project, researchers are exploring connections between Buddhist and yogic-derived mindfulness practices and actor training.

Mindfulness is usually described as a way of paying attention to the present moment with a non-judgmental attitude. Cultivating mindfulness is, at its simplest, a means of developing concentration and the ability to withstand distractions – fundamental capacities for the actor. Stanislavski's own distractedness onstage in a production of Uncle Vanya is reported to have been the catalyst for his work on strengthening the actor's creative concentration. Both yoga and Buddhism provided him with psychophysical strategies that influenced the development of techniques such as the Circles of Attention.