How Dancing Makes Me a Better Me!

We are nearing the end of a dancing year, and what a ride it has been. Entering a competition was a New Year's Resolution and a way to get out of my comfort zone. The following is my story, and what I have learnt... in no particular order nor grammatically correct. 

First I summoned up the courage to join our team at Waikato Champs. I entered DWAS (Dance With A Stranger) and at the second-to-last minute did Freestyle too. Competing in Intermediate A for a first timer like me was pretty daunting but I had fun.

So I then went to Ceroc X in Rotorua to perform as part of our team again. At the last minute (i.e. on the day) I also did Freestyle. :)

After finding out my twisted knee was okay and didn't need surgery I spontaneously entered and competed in Christchurch. Cold, cold, cold, but great music and atmosphere! 

Next, was East and South in Auckland. I knew what to expect by then, and had a great group of people to hang out with. Also, I made it into Semi-Finals for DWAS. Wow!

Finally, Nationals in Auckland. I finally felt semi in-control of the nerves and walked out onto the dance floor with my head high. I've learnt that it doesn't matter that I didn't dance very well on the day, because since Waikato my dancing my confidence in my dancing has improved. For me, that is what counts.

Surprisingly, the dance floor is the one place where my 'over-sensitive' hearing becomes normal. All the noise fades into the background and all that is left is my dancing and the music. That's something I am still learning; to listen to the music and have a conversation with my dance partner. "Think less and feel more, let the music do the talking.

Dancing makes me a better teacher. Learning how to dance reminds me how it feels to be a child, learning at a pace that may or may not suit, learning concepts and techniques that sometimes come naturally and other times require huge effort. Dancing helps me to remember that it is not all about the achievement, it's how you cope with the ups and downs along the way, and still get up and try again. 

A few words that are going through my head:

• A bad day is a bad day, no amount of pain killers or cold tablets will fix it.
• A lead can be great or confusing, it's what you do with it that counts.
• You have to believe in yourself. 
• For slow songs, connect to the floor but for fast songs take shorter steps. 
• When posture improves, migraine-like headaches disappear.
• When there is dancing, the pain lessens. 

Dancing is my stress release, my exercise, my happy place, my challenge place, the place where I feel free and inspired to do better.

Bring on 2015!