Pirouettes & Letting Go

Let’s talk about therapy at home and letting go.

Now I'm not a therapist nor do I have any type of therapy training, haha!  But I can tell you what has worked for me and my dance students.

Depending on what the issue is, a lot of times just letting it go is the answer.

One of my favorite tricks is with pirouettes and turns. Have you ever noticed that when you're having a "bad turn day", the harder you try the worse it gets? Sometimes if you just let it go and come back to it tomorrow it magically fixes itself.

Now I DO actually have a trick for bad turn days. I think the biggest reason why sometimes our turns get worse the harder we try is because frustration causes tension in our bodies.  We can't properly align, be on top of our leg, and turn well if we have tension. 

I always tell my dancers to try it again and think about the same thing they were thinking when they nailed their turn. That often works.

But here's my FAVORITE trick: ......... SMILE! 😃

I'm serious, smile while you do your pirouette! Smiling activates one group of muscles and releases another group of muscles and it also makes you hold your head differently. If you've been turning for long you know the importance of spotting in your turns and holding your head correctly is huge. 

Where else can you apply this trick; letting go, and smiling? What's getting you down? Can you smile and let it go, maybe do a good workout and come back to it tomorrow?

Cheers!

~Karie