Leave Yourself Alone: Zen and the Art of Acting (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781964887036)

​Leave Yourself Alone: Zen and the Art of Acting is an examination of acting that focuses on the spiritual aspects of the actor's journey. Chris Fields combines his extensive experience as director, actor and teacher with insights gained from years of Zen practice, sharing the discoveries he's made about the uncanny and profound similarities between acting and Buddhism. Leave Yourself Alone: Zen and the Art of Acing reveals that what actors are engaged in is beyond the craft, that acting is, in fact, a spiritual pursuit.

Chris Fields is a Los Angeles-based director, teacher, and actor who is currently the Artistic Director of the award-winning Echo Theater Company, which he founded in 1996. Most recently, he produced How It's Gon' Be, Crabs in a Bucket, and The Thin Place as well as directing the critically acclaimed world premieres of Jessica Goldberg's Babe and Erik Patterson's Handjob as well as Branden Jacob-Jenkins' Gloria, for which he won the Stage Raw Award. He won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Direction for the world premiere production of Tommy Smith's Firemen as well as winning the LA Weekly Award for best Comedy Direction for his production of Gary Lennon's A Family Thing. He also appeared in the critically acclaimed and Ovation nominated Los Angeles premiere of Marc Schultz' Everything Will Be Different and produced the world premiere production of Wirehead for The Echo which was nominated for seven LA Weekly Awards.