Breathing for Concentration and Focus
Breathing for Concentration and Focus is a guided breathing exercise that pairs breath control with mental attention techniques. Players direct their awareness to specific body parts or sensations while maintaining steady rhythmic breathing. The exercise quiets mental chatter and prepares performers for sustained, present-tense engagement.
Worth Reading
See all books →
112 Acting Games
Gavin Levy
Mask Improvisation for Actor Training and Performance
the compelling image
Sears A. Eldredge
Improvisation for the Theater
A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques
Viola Spolin
Theater Games for the Lone Actor
Viola Spolin
Theater Games for Rehearsal
Viola Spolin
Action Theater
The Improvisation of Presence
Ruth Zaporah
Related Exercises
Energy Breathing
Energy Breathing is a breathing exercise that combines breath work with visualization and physical energy. Players breathe deeply while imagining they are drawing energy from the ground, the air, or the group. The exercise prepares the body for physical performance while centering the mind.
Breathing
Breathing is a foundational warm-up exercise in which performers practice controlled inhalation and exhalation to release physical tension, quiet mental chatter, and center their focus before rehearsal or performance. Variations include diaphragmatic breathing, counted breath patterns, and synchronized group breathing in which an ensemble inhales and exhales together. The exercise builds awareness of the body as an instrument, training performers to recognize and release habitual tension patterns that restrict vocal production, physical freedom, and emotional availability. Breathing exercises appear across virtually every performance training tradition, from Viola Spolin's theatre games to Augusto Boal's actor preparation sequences, and remain one of the most universally practiced warm-up activities in both theatrical and applied improvisation contexts.
Concentration Circle
Concentration Circle is a focus exercise in which players stand in a circle and pass increasingly complex patterns of words, numbers, gestures, or sounds. Multiple patterns run simultaneously, demanding divided attention. The exercise builds the concentration and multitasking skills needed to track multiple threads during a performance.
Concentration
Concentration is a category of focus-building exercises that challenge participants to maintain sustained attention amid distractions and competing demands. The exercises train participants to stay with a primary task while the environment introduces interruption, noise, or parallel activity. They are used in improv training to develop presence and in applied settings to explore how individuals and groups manage attention under pressure.
Heartbeat
Heartbeat is a focus and relaxation exercise in which players find their own pulse and use the rhythm as a centering tool. The heartbeat becomes an anchor for concentration and physical presence, quieting external distractions and connecting performers to their own bodies before work begins. The exercise creates a transition from the outside world into the rehearsal or performance space, establishing the focused, present state that improvisation requires.
Bong Bong Bong
Bong Bong Bong is a rhythm and focus exercise in which players pass energy around a circle using the words "Bong," with specific gestures indicating direction changes or skips. The exercise demands sustained concentration and punishes hesitation or incorrect gestures. It is commonly used as a warm-up to sharpen group focus before scene work.
The Lineage
Explore the schools and structures that influenced or evolved from Breathing for Concentration and Focus.
112 Acting Games (Levy)
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Breathing for Concentration and Focus. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/breathing-for-concentration-and-focus
The Improv Archive. "Breathing for Concentration and Focus." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/breathing-for-concentration-and-focus.
The Improv Archive. "Breathing for Concentration and Focus." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/breathing-for-concentration-and-focus. Accessed October 14, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.