Emotions, Emotions

Hi everyone!

It’s official; fall has come to New York City.  How do I know this?  It is because of the changing foliage, the Halloween displays on the steps of apartment buildings, or the copious amounts of people drinking pumpkin spice lattes?  No.  I know it’s fall because for the first time in months, I’ve had to wear a sweater and a coat each time I go outside.  Case in point, it was 44 degrees outside yesterday, and the highest temperature of the day was only 51 degrees.  But I’m not complaining.  I’d much rather it be chilly than grossly humid!

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get to what you all came here for.  I modeled in a class on Sunday that was undeniable one of the most fun modeling experiences I’ve ever had.  In many ways, I almost feel like it was more like an acting class than a modeling session.  Before the class officially began, the instructor took a moment to talk to the class about how different poses can convey different emotions.  He drew some quick sketches and pointed out the emotional impact each one had.  As he spoke, I kept thinking "Me, an actress, doing poses that are all emotionally driven and meant to represent strong feelings?  This is going to be great!" And great it was.

I've mentioned before that I prefer doing sessions that start with shorter poses.  Well, this class was nothing but short poses.  I started off by doing a series of poses that were only thirty seconds long.  Admittedly, I got a little crazy with these.  I balanced on one leg a few times, did a downward dog, and even did a standing pose while bending backwards.  Not only was this a fun way to explore what my body could do, but it really forced me to think on my feet as I changed positions.  Following a pattern of "pose, change, pose" thirty seconds at a time for twenty minutes was both a physical and mental challenge, and I loved every minute of it.

After these short poses, the instructor did something that was really interesting.  Instead of just asking me to find different postures for the remainder of the class, he provided some direction for me.  When I got back on the stand, he named an emotion for me to portray.  He used words like "joyful," "anguished," and "terrified" to help guide my poses.  This is where the session reminded me of my high school and college acting classes.  I thought about all the times directors or teachers would try exercises with their students that were meant to help us emote and show different feelings.  Flashback indeed!  To help the class and me to better capture the emotion he wanted, he also played a variety of music, ranging from Bob Marley to Evanesence to The Rocky Horror Picture Show ("Let's do the Time Warp again!!!")

I also learned a lot about how emotions really do affect your body's energy.  I found that it was much harder to hold the "sad" and "angry" poses, as opposed to the "happy"and "excited" ones.  You try furrowing your brow or standing hunched over with your mouth wide open for two minutes.  Trust me, you'll feel the tension sooner than you'd think.  I had never really bought into the idea that holding your body with a more positive energy could make you feel physically lighter.  But now that I've actually experience it for myself, I think I'm going to try harder to carry myself in a more uplifted way.

The class ended with an exploration of movement.  I did a series of poses for one minute each that emphasized different ways the body could move.  I did some walking gestures, seated to standing poses, and I even got to swing an imaginary baseball bat.  (Shout out to my dad for teaching me how to do this when I was a kid!)  I walked out feeling happy and recharged, which is always a great way to feel once a class ends.

With that, I think it's time for me to get some rest.  Thanks for sticking around, and be on the lookout for more posts from me.  I have something big planned for my next entry.

See you soon!