This is a collection of quotes from my followers and subscribers (as a response to my previous post about the mind-body connection) on how to combat negative thoughts to turn your training around.
Some people are using lessons from life and are applying these to their pole training. Others are discovering totally new mindsets through pole dancing, which eventually change their entire approach to life.
Here are 7 of the most inspiring quotes and stories I’ve received:
#1: „The number one thing I rely on is knowing how good I’ll feel if I stick at it! A huge part of my positive self image, and therefore a trait I’m proud of as a dancer, is that I’m not a quitter. Things need to be really bad for me to throw in the towel. Trying to nourish this trait is a part of what helped me recover from depressive episodes and from anorexia. So now, when I’m failing at everything in a pole session, I try not to listen to the inner voice telling me I’m a terrible dancer and should quit right now. And I’m always proud when i push through.“
#2: „It helps me to say to myself in a dancing class:
“Im doing better than before taking the class. Everything is useful.“
#3: „I found that looking back on videos or photos of me doing something good in pole really helps, just to remind myself of the progress I’m making.“
#4: „What helps me is following dancers as they progress through the years. If they can do it, so can I!“
#5: „I’ve had moments where I thought that this was just too ambitious of me at my age. lol For me it’s a balance of learning my limits and not letting any insecurity overcome me.“
#6: „If 22 years of competitive figure skating has taught me anything, it is that I’m going to be lookin stupid for a while till I get more comfortable.“
#7: „We have a Whatsapp group for the students of the studio and many of us enjoy sharing videos there. But for some reason, we have this tendency to always apologize for something in the caption: „Yeah, I know this isn’t perfect, but I’ll get there someday”. “I tried this move inspired by (insert awesome pole dancer name here). It’s not a tiny bit as good as hers, maybe one day!” “So I managed to do (insert super difficult pole move here). I know it’s not great, and please don’t mind the lack of this and that, but I’m kinda happy with it anyway!“
For some reason, we’ve been putting ourselves down as if we knew we’re going to be judged negatively *by others*. So after we talked about this, I shared a freestyle video today and I was quite honest: “I’m not going to apologize for anything because this was a lot of fun!”
Which one of these mindsets do you relate to the most? Or find most helpful?
Let me know in the comments below.