We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jason and Svetlana Lasky. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jason and Svetlana below.

Hi Jason and Svetlana , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The Lasky Wellbeing Approach is the culminating practice of our lives and experiences together. It’s an innovative holistic approach to wellbeing that integrates acting techniques, breathing and vocal training, mindfulness practices, sensory awareness, and habit formation strategies to instill emotional literacy and openness. Our mission is to empower individuals to cultivate resilience, emotional intelligence, and authentic connections, leading to enhanced overall wellbeing. I’m

To frame this properly would take several pages since the story started 12 years, three continents, and five countries ago when we met in Shanghai. Briefly, though, our life and creative work together across international projects in the US, China, Russia, Kenya, and Armenia in education theatre, and film while raising three children- and informed further by the larger geopolitical shifts happening- has provided us with insights into practical steps towards actualizing personal wellbeing across social-emotional-cultural contexts.

Jason and Svetlana , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Through immersive workshops, courses, and personalized coaching, Jason and Svetlana equip students, professionals, and communities with practical steps and tools to navigate stress, improve communication, and foster personal growth. This evidence-based approach, which served as the cornerstone of Svetlana’s M.Ed. thesis, has been proven effective in diverse settings, from educational institutions to corporate environments.

It all started in Shanghai, China in 2012 when we met each other. This Russian business lady was in town to learn Mandarin and manage a branch in China (well, she was the branch) devoted to producing electronics accessories,
and this American English teacher/actor/writer/producer was actually on his way out to go get his MFA in New York at the Actors Studio Drama School. He was in the midst of his swan song with a “more than” staged reading of his play, “Sons of Liberty,” which examined the major players in the 2010 Wikileaks scandal (re: Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, and Adrain Lamo). Just as they started dating, Svetlana decided to help by offering swift project management advice.

How does all THAT lead to wellbeing?

Later on in the story, after our marriage, our first baby (made in China), and several movements between the US, Russia, and China, we won an “On the Road” grant from Theatre Communications Group for our “40 Days of Night” Theatre Project in Murmansk, Russia. Part of this project included best practices exchange with local theatre groups and actors. While Svetlana was in charge of all logistics, I was delivering our end of the skills exchange. I mainly focussed on the Meisner Technique as this was something the Russian actors had no exposure to, and the sense of presence and emotional awareness that the technique fosters was completely new to them.

Insight 1.

Fast-forward to Nairobi, Kenya, now with our baby son in tow, and I found myself teaching the Meisner Technique to actors at the Nairobi Performing Arts Studio at the Kenya National Theatre. They, like the Russian actors, found a new sense of being grounded in their own actual emotions. Svetlana and I had some innovative ideas about how to bring about a clearer sense of trust between partners, and this led to our first technique, “The Experiment: See-Act-Share.

Insight 2

This consists of a three-part exercise that speeds up the establishment of a strong personal connection between two actors off the stage for the purpose of creating a truthful relationship on the stage. It included a period of partners observation, followed by a blindfolded guidance through a labyrinthian series of obstacles, and ended with a feedback session that focussed on the sense of new emotional connection. We debuted at HighFest 2018 at the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography in Armenia. In our understanding, the sensorial-emotional connection was profound.

Insight 3

Fast-forwarding again, we developed a partnership with a Russian-based actor training school and began delivering Meisner technique training in 2019. Over the next 4 years, and with our third child in tow, we broke down the training into three levels, each stage moving the actor into a fuller state of immersion into their own “emotional soup.” We also supplemented this training with elements of Linklater Voice Training, which is meant to “free the natural voice” through a series of breathing and tension freeing exercises. It was with this that we came to realize that the coupling of these two techniques brought about a greater sense of emotional literacy, confidence, and truthful communication.

Insight 4

After returning from a training session in March 2023, Svetlana stayed up writing three nights in a row with a flood of new insights. On the 23rd of that month, Jason fell about 8 feet and fractured three of his transverse processes of his lumbar spine. The physical fractures brought about a series of emotional fractures, and, the healing process included further insights into the importance of spatial awareness and other sensorial explorations.

Insight 5

It was at this time that we came to the idea of Lasky Wellbeing Approach and decided to test out our ideas on our first cohort of students, which took place in April and May 2023. The 6-day intensive through Armenia produced evidence, based on interviews with our students, that the fusion of the acting, voice, breath, and our bespoke sensorial stimulation training has value. With our extensive movements through various international schools along our journey, we posited that LWA has a future in these communities.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Living in Armenia- the last four years especially- has been an exercise at times in being caught between a rock and a hard place. Through all of our work, ups and downs, we have been directly impacted by geopolitical forces that we have ZERO control over. The 44-Day Artsakh War in 2020 between Azerbaijan and Armenia resulted in the influx of thousands of refugees into various parts of Armenia, including Dilijan (where we are based) and the greater Tavush region. Svetlana, out of the most ideal sense of compassion, devoted herself to helping those in need from 2020 to 2021..

She effectively saved about 2,500 refugees through creating, among other things, supply chains of weekly food deliveries and healthcare and female hygienic products, hospital beds for expectant mothers, newborn baby essentials, clothing donations from abroad, over $100,000 worth of donations, and emotional support for families experiencing the worst trauma of their lives. She paid house visits to open family cases in order to assess individual and group needs. Some houses had 4 generations of families living under one roof, and most of these houses required mattresses, pillows, blankets, heating, and plumbing. Svetlana got everyone what they needed.

In September 2023, after a 9-month blockade of Artsakh, a quick war led to the forced exodus of over 100,000 people. Many of the refugees that had returned to their homes in 2021 were now fully exiled. This time, about 5,000 refugees entered Dilijan, and Svetlana worked her magic again, this time in a more organized way given past experiences. Among the highlights of her selfless efforts was helping to set up a “showroom” of clothes, shoes, toys, and goods in Dilijan that was 100% free for refugees. She also helped to organize other spaces around Dilijan for refugees to pick up specific goods, like healthcare products, for example.

Jason’s role in all of this was a cross between taking care of the kids, driving deliveries, packing and unpacking trucks filled with goods, moving warehouse locations, and keeping the lights on and food on our table. Somehow, he managed to build an audio business, Honey to Your Ears, while all this was going on.

All of this chaos is also on top of two years of COVID-19.

So, you see, the Lasky Wellbeing Approach was not born out of a static state, but, rather, out of insights during truly extraordinary circumstances.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Briefly, and simply, creating circumstances that allow others to breath easier, feel easier, and speak easier in their moment-to-moment, minute-to-minute, day-to-day life is what keeps us forging ahead. We’ve discovered, through working with hundreds upon hundreds of students, young and old alike, informed by our life with each other and our kids, that the best life is the one that’s filled with risks, adventure, and embracing the unknown at every possible opportunity. We often get asked about how we live the way we do, and our answer is always the same: We know how to enjoy life.

Contact Info:

• Website: laskywellbeing.com jasonlasky.com honeytoyourears.com
• Instagram: @laskywellbeing @lasky_jason
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlasky83/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/laskywellbeing/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0efB9hd95J1d8lTeUt7BVA

Image Credits

Jason Lasky
Svetlana Lasky