Ruby Wax: Frazzled A Guide to Mindfulness

Wyvern Theatre 

Swindon

Ruby Wax had her sell-out audience in the palm of her hands; one minute hysterically laughing and the next literally sitting on their edge of their seats as they practiced the art of mindfulness.

This world famous and well loved comedian, actor and writer wanted to make sure the crowd was clear on something - her latest gig, which is based on her new book Frazzled, was not a show about mental illness. It was for everyone, not just the one in four who suffer, at some level, from this cruel disease. The book and show were all about how stressed we are as a human race and what we can do about it.

Although undoubtedly very humorous, this performance was so much more than a funny night at the theatre; it was a revelation, an eye opener, an education and most of all - inspiring.

The set was simple: Ruby in her chair with a little table and a red rug beneath. She looked at ease, she made us feel the same way - she sat, she talked, she walked, she sat down again.

The whole first half of this night was based on her answering a series of questions that had been sent to her in relation to the new book. They included 'Do you think you have problems because of your parents?', 'Do you think there's more stress than ever before' and 'Is it technology that is making us stressed?'

Her replies to each and every query were frank, amusing, deep and at times - quite emotional. Her answers made the audience think and I could hear the people sitting around me saying 'i didn't know that' and 'wow, good point'.

Everything Ruby said related to life experiences; we all get stressed far too much and sometimes it's over the little things as well as the bigger issues. She spoke about what this is doing to our bodies - how having a high level of cortisol when we are stressed breaks down our immune system, and this makes us open to every disease going. And this woman knows what she's talking about - she's got a Master's degree in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy from Oxford University.

This is one of those reviews where it's very hard to stick to a word count; there is just so much to say about this multi-talented fire cracker of a woman.

She truly engaged with us (she talked about the importance of really giving people your full one on one attention), she kept the atmosphere upbeat, and she even got us to practice some mindfulness techniques. During that moment, she became a mindfulness coach and the whole room was so silent you could literally hear a pin drop. It worked, people loved it, the audience were hooked and I heard several people saying they wanted to learn more about this type of exercise. 

We heard how we can change our brains, our neurons can unwire, we can cool our heads down and we don't have to carry on living our lives in this constant state of stress. Yes, I have heard this before but it made much more sense coming from Ruby's mouth - she made it understandable.

The second half (which was a lot shorter) was a chance for the audience members to ask Ruby some questions. Several of them centred on her struggles with mental illness but quite a few were about mindfulness itself.

Her job was done, she had got the message out to us and a lot of people, including me, realised that we need to give ourselves more self compassion. Fix ourselves before we try to fix others - else there will be burn out and no one is happy.

Ruby told us to keep practicing mindfulness, it has helped her immensely and it works for others. She used a quote that she loves (and stole from someone she can't remember) - "You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf them."

This was a 10 out of 10 night. By Kelly Jobanputra