Making friends with inner voices can be fun—and healing. For Monster Baby episode #97, Ted and Lisa are joined by fellow Applied Improvisor Kat Koppett to discuss (and play!) her mindfulness-and-improv-blending exercise, “Inside Out.” Lisa starts by asking about Kat’s inspiration for exploring mindfulness (2:12) and about how mindfulness has affected her life so far (8:01). Kat then describes the Inside Out exercise, a tool for increasing awareness of what’s happening with our inner voices (13:43). Ted, Lisa, and Kat together demonstrate the exercise with an improvised scene (21:28) and take some time to debrief the ways in which it can be either a delight or a trap (30:01). The trio wonders what are the different kinds of thoughts you can be aware of (31:35) and considers the ways the technique affects an improv scene: characters seem more authentic but does it take away from a scene’s momentum? (34:12) Ted and Kat reflect on the game’s co-creator, Dion Flynn (37:01) and discuss how it can generate insights for non-improvisors as well (39:01). All three explore the implications of saying “yes, and” to offers coming from inside (46:03) and wonder whether it could work in written form (48:36). Lisa asks what makes the practice so freeing—is it clipping the “puppet strings” of our thoughts?—(50:45) and Ted wonders if we might find trouble by opening our gates to inner voices (53:38). Lisa shares how the practice makes for little intimacies in everyday life (1:00:18) and Ted shares a funny little meta-story with teaching the exercise himself (1:03:15). The episode wraps up with some consideration about staying embodied when working with thoughts like this (1:07:09) and with Ted and Lisa’s traditional Outro wrap-up (1:09:55). Kat Koppett is a 25-year improv veteran and the principal and founder of the international applied improvisation consulting firm, Koppett. She is also the co-director of the Mopco Improv Theater in Albany, NY. For more info on Kat and her work in the world, visit www.koppett.com or www.mopco.org. Or go find her book, Training to Imagine, through your favorite independent bookseller. You can also check out the Applied Improvisation Network (www.appliedimprovisationnetwork.org) if you want to connect with a group of folks doing similar experimentation. We hope the episode brings you a small measure of joy. If so and you’d like to share that joy—or if you’d like to raise a question—feel free to write Ted and Lisa at [email protected]. To subscribe so you receive immediate notice of future Monster Baby releases, head over to: http://monsterbabypodcast.com.   And lastly, if you’d like a bit of Monster-Baby-inspired reading, visit www.playfulmindfulness.info to pick up a copy of Ted’s book Playful Mindfulness: a joyful journey to everyday confidence, calm, and connection. (Ted will surely sign it for you if you like!)         San Francisco improvisors Ted DesMaisons and Lisa Rowland explore the beautiful, surprising and unruly intersections between mindfulness and improvisation as they seek to befriend that oft-hidden and sometimes scary part of all of us that can lead to a life well-lived.