Working with Craig has up-levelled my practice in the best way possible. I started my work with Craig not 100% sure what I was trying to achieve, but I knew something in my auditions, and my craft, had become stale and untruthful.
Craig found this perfect balance of guiding me back to myself, and my process, and while also working on the technicalities of building a scene that is layered and interesting.
I would recommend Craig to both a beginner, and someone who has been working in the arts for years. He is a rare breed with his years of experience and training, coupled with talent and instincts. This means his sessions are tailor-made for you as an individual. Whether you or are auditioning for large-scale film and TV or exploring acting as a hobby, Craig will help you grow and develop in ways that feed so much positivity and self trust into your work.
I have a feeling Craig will become my secret weapon as I develop as a performer, over and over again. I fear I will have to start booking very far in advance as people begin to discover Craig and his gifts.
He is world class, so how lucky am I to have found his work before he gets booked out for years to come!
Ruth Natalie Fallon, actor, martial artist, fight/intimacy choreographer (Thor: Love And Thunder, Firebyte)
What I most want to say about your work, and working with you: is that I really feel like you are watching my whole person, not just my performance. Our focus is on being and doing and breathing and relationship with text all at the same time. You give so much calm to the process, so much acceptance, that I feel completely comfortable to let those impulses out. And it is getting to know that impulse again, that has been squashed with years of forceful direction and fear, the impulse that stirs in my gut and comes out of my body in the way it needs and wants to. It is that stirring inside that i’m getting to know.
Since doing your classes, I’m journalling so much about daily moments in my life, capturing their many ways of unfolding and effects they have, noticing how I am in voice, body, manner and vibe, in many different and again, daily life circumstances. My feet are on the floor, I’m unfolding the arms of fear and blocking and allowing, seeing and noticing the flow of movement and emotion in my body.
These are all the impulses and stirrings I think one needs to know to make a hell of a start of the process of acting. Which I am remembering now, through working with you, how much I love it for itself, not what and where it may get me.
Emma Beech, Actor and Performance-Maker
I lead teams and manage critical change programs within large organisations. I have known Craig for many years and have experienced some difficult times throughout my career. Craig has always known the right questions to ask to get to the heart of an issue, whether within myself or interpersonal relationships. Using his deep insight into human behaviour, Craig has helped me to develop strategies to manage, develop and thrive. Craig listens, and understands the individual providing tailored advice, toolkits and solutions that work for you.
James Allen, Change Manager, Risk Manager.
I worked with Craig as my coach over a period of 6 months. In that short time, we were able to go deeply into the patterns of behavior that held me back as a leader. Work just got even more complicated to navigate as our personal and professional lives have converged. As leaders seeking to create change in these uncertain and complex environments, there’s a need to grow our own capacities to see the complex human systems at play clearly and act upon those systems with awareness and intention. And our coaches and mentors need to also have those same capacities. Craig understands, and holds without judgment, the emotional underpinnings of human behavior. He’s able to reflect what we need to see of ourselves in order to make the changes necessary to meet new challenges. I highly recommend working with Craig if you want to challenge yourself to grow as a leader.
David Evans, VP Product, BetterManager
Craig’s guided meditation program was an absolute game-changer for me. I loved every minute of it. Craig would select themes and engage us in a comforting, very supportive manner, holding space for everyone in the class.
As a group, we spent many months in our Zoom classes, all at the initial height of the covid outbreak. I was also concurrently completing an in-depth MBSR Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program — it was great, but it couldn’t hold a candle to Craig’s program. I learned so much and I truly believe it was central to helping me cope and work through our collective challenging period. As a psychosynthesis coach, I use imagery and guided visualizations very often with clients and groups. Craig’s program gave me much more confidence and direct instruction to work with others and, ultimately improve my daily practice.”
Mark Douglas, PLC
Owner, TheSeaWithinYou.com Transpersonal Coaching & Astrology
Craig has a wonderful way of making meditation accessible to all, from hardcore yogis to the mindfully curious searching for an introduction. He is someone who has clearly taken his practice seriously for a long time and his knowledge is both deep and broad. Yet he doesn’t demand the same dedication or beliefs from others, rather he is happy to facilitate your personal journey, in whatever form that takes, with no judgement and a playful approach. His guided mediations are varied, allowing you to explore and learn, and he is able to, at a moments notice, tailor his session to the mood of the class. Whether you are looking to start or deepen your practice, I believe Craig to be an excellent guide.
Olga G
As I first considered coaching, my immediate goals were pressing yet they were not clearly defined. Rather, I was in a perpetual state of overloading myself to feel like I was covering all bases. So, that was actually the first challenge – coming to terms with what my goals truly were. Once Craig helped me determine that my primary goal was to develop and pursue funding for a long-standing passion project, I was then able to align my time and energy to a clear focal point and face the specific challenges for that project with a clear vision.
I had always maintained a skepticism about coaches in fields beyond sports. Yet after formal training as an actor, I had gained a more accurate perspective after experiencing the profound utility of the right coach. So, then my skepticism migrated to the belief that there were simply no good coaches for creativity within arms reach.
Which was then challenged when I had discovered Craig was providing creative coaching to some very respectable artists/practitioners. Anybody in the know, within the Australian arts community, knows Craig Behenna as being a battle-tested multi-disciplinary artist and practitioner himself – so to learn that he was actually offering that wisdom as an ongoing service was hugely intriguing.
More intriguing still was the reality of his approach and how effective it was in creating a very natural state of progressive improvement. A bit like a medication that prompts your own body’s healing mechanisms as opposed to intervening with superficial treatment.
Since coaching, my results have yielded substantial progress beyond my own expectations getting my passion project off the ground in a way that is sustainable to the other non-negotiables of life.
I would describe Craig’s coaching style as a dynamic, cross-disciplinary approach to fostering organic creative growth for his clients. He employs a relaxed yet highly integrated method to drive sustainable and meaningful progress toward specific results. By utilizing diverse creative disciplines and techniques, he encourages innovation and holistic problem-solving, ultimately guiding clients to achieve their objectives in ways that are deeply mindful and meaningful.
Adam Ovadia is a multi-disciplinary artist specialising in acting, writing and filmmaking.