Whether you're at an open call or a final callback, auditions can be the most stressful part of our job as actors.

But we all have to do them.

So how do we deal with the constant pressure to perform at our very best, when our adrenaline is racing at a mile a minute? How do we manage to keep calm when we're jammed into a crowded holding room?

I've probably attended about 40 auditions in NYC or so over the last few weeks (height of audition season, y'all). I've been among the overwhelming lines and crowds of folks outside Ripley-Grier Studios doing exactly what I'm doing, getting up at 5 in the morning and loading up audition bags filled to the brim with headshots, resumes, dresses, heels, hair straighteners and curling irons, makeup, audition binders, Laducas and the occasional Lululemon. I run into old friends and new, I sing some music or read some sides for a couple of minutes, and then the next day... I do it all over again.

It's taken me long enough, but I've finally discovered the one thing I can do to save my sanity.

Meditation.

I have always had a hard time maintaining focus when trying to meditate. However, my life changed when a good friend introduced me to the app Insight Timer.

I need you guys to check this thing out!!!

Home to more than 3,700,000 meditators, Insight Timer is rated as the top free meditation app on the Android and IOS stores.

Free features on the app include

- 8,000 guided meditations
- 1,000 music tracks
- 1,600 meditation teachers and 500 Topics
- 5,000 discussion groups
- Stats and milestones for tracking your progress
- Device syncing
- Integration with Apple Health

I've found that Insight Timer has more free content for your perusal than any other meditation app. This app is designed to reduce anxiety, achieve higher levels of self-love and compassion, and calm a busy mind.

Insight also includes a worldwide community of mediators. Leave your profile on private, or share your activity with friends and meditate with others around the world.

I use Insight Timer when I am waiting in the holding room. Through the app, I typically chose a guided mediation or a soothing track to listen to. Something about listening and meditating along really centers my energy before walking in to an audition.

With new recordings arriving each day, there's everything from basic breath work and mindfulness practices, to beautiful ambient sounds, creative visualization and hypnotherapy, Yoga Nidra, and spiritual talks.

The app also has a timer, hence the name Insight Timer, that tracks how long you have been meditating. I love seeing the charts logging my practice and progress over time.

Get to your audition early and can't seem to stay focused? You can pick how much time you have to listen and the app will suggest tracks for the allotted time. Turn on a track, choose how much time you need, and take a moment for yourself.

Find this helpful? Be sure to check out the Actor Aesthetic podcast on Apple Podcasts and Google Play. New episodes every Monday!

xoxo