myDANCEjournal LiVE
I am so excited about this new mindset based program called myDANCEjournal LiVE!
myDANCEjournal LiVE is an on-line dance community that meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:30-7am on Zoom. It's facilitated by myself, an amazing dance strength trainer named Sally and a courageous studio owner named Becky.
I have to be honest though. I'm not just excited to help the students involved, I'm also pumped to hold myself accountable. Waking up earlier than normal and investing 30 minutes to set my days and thoughts up right is not easy, but something I know I benefit from too!
This program has been in the making for over two years, so seeing it come to life and gaining momentum is so fullfilling.
It all started when I dreamt up myDANCEjournal and then started getting my vision down on paper. My number one motivation was to help dancers relieve stress by using paper and pencil to identify what we can control and what we can't.
While developing myDANCEjournal I was going though a bit of a depression. I was feeling overwhelmed, isolated and not really knowing where to start in my own life. I was going to therapy and learning a ton about thoughts vs. reality. Because I see everything through the eyes of a dancer I was able to recognize how these tools would have helped me in dance... and could help others too! myDANCEjournal is the culmination of what worked as a 10 year professional dancer and the life skills I have learned since!
Now let me be clear, I am not a therapist and the questions in the journal are not medically based. They are questions meant to provoke thought and conversation. Questions that some weeks take 2 minutes to answer and other weeks are never answered because you just don't know. And that's ok!! There is no right or wrong answers. The questions are there to merely provoke mindfulness, reflection, intention and application.
Let me back up a little here. For those of you that are unfamiliar with myDANCEjournal let's break it down:
Calender ~ Starts September - August (a full dance season) each month has a calender page and also broke up into weeks. For the each week there are two designated pages. One to write down your specific schedule for that week and one that is a Sunday night reflection with questions to fill out about how your week went. Again, no right or wrong answers just recognition and reflection.
Character Developement ~ In this section we get to explore our acting skills, develop imagination and explore one of the many artistic sides to dance...performance! By answering the specifc questions in this section you learn how to fully develop your character to a level and depth you never thought you were capable of!
Performance ~ This section is for show time!! It has a check list, a couple mindset questions to check in with before you perform and questions for after. To reflect, celebrate, and learn.
Now you can fill in this journal on your own and you my choose to do that in the end. But I'm going to tell you what I've learned in my 25 some years of life in the (what can be very isolating) entertainment industry and why it's better to be a part of a community... and that's what makes myDANCEJournal LiVE different... it's more than a journal...
Connection. We need to connect with others... maybe now more than ever. Having a common goal, and sharing challenges and successes gives depth, inspiration and provides greater meaning to our journey. Successful people don't do things on their own. They have a team and they surround themselves with other motivated people to listen, share and learn from.
Accountibility. We are all guilty of saying we're going to do something then don't. But I'm sure you've noticed if someone else is involved you're more likely to follow through. It's not cool that we do this but it's the truth. There is a lot of goal setting in the journal. You'll have way more success achieving those goals if you're on the journey with others.
Continuous Reminders. Remember at the top when I said I was excited to be held accounible to waking up early? Well, that's not the only reason I'm excited. You need continuous healthy mindset reminders on a daily basis. Did you know our brains are unfortunately wired to think negitive thoughts first? They are. And even though all the things we talk about in myDANCEjournal LiVE I've read and practiced a ton, I need reminders to help keep me on track. And starting your day off right, in the right community is very smart and efficient.
MORE. Even though the journal acts as our "text book" we cover more then just what's in there and we dive deepr into the things that are.
Becky, Sally and I have already started our first 10 week session of myDANCEjournal LiVE. Today the dancers involved are filling out next months calender, filling in their schedule for the week and reflecting on lasts week theme of "creating new habits". I can't wait to meet with them in the morning and see how their first week of "creating new habits" went. We will celebrate the wins, discuss the hurdles and introduce our new theme of the week, "Mindfulness". Cuz it's one thing to create good habits but another to approach them mindfully. We'll talk about grit and the thoughts that will more then likely creep up in week 3 or 4 that say, "I don't need to log in this week, I'm good." It takes at least 30 days to create a new habit and start to form myelin around those new nuro pathways.
If you are a dancer ages 10-18 and interested in joining our exapanding group of strong (mind, body and soul ) dancers please contact me and I can give you more information.
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