This is a topic I think about a lot, and realize that for a lot of people it's a big part of life. Body Image. Being a ballet dancer in front of a mirror for hours a day can lead to negative body image thoughts. It's a fact of dancing. Add this to the tights and leo dress code and we see every part of our structure. Negativity can become a thought process which feels inescapable. It's hard to see anything but the bad sometimes. That's why I'd like to open a discussion to it and try and write a few exercises for you to do with me now. Mind exercises not the physical kind. Haha.
I'll start. In class when I am looking at myself subjectively, I tend to focus negatively on the following: my lazy feet, my inflexibility, my bad sensitive skin, my dumb head that refuses to spot and my butt. Ok, they're out there. My negative body image thoughts. Maybe yours are similar to mine. Maybe they're different. Do you worry about your midsection, your legs, your serious hyper-extension, your flat arch on pointe? Let's write them down, acknowledge these thoughts and then let's delete, erase or wrinkle that piece of paper and recycle it. You are more than your negative thoughts.
Take a moment to close your eyes and clear your head of the negative thoughts. Next time you find yourself in front of a mirror, instead of focusing on the negative, recognize five things you like. What do you like about your body? Focus on the positive! You are beautiful! You are handsome! My five positives are: my ability to smile through the errors/bad combinations, my arms in port de bras, my favorite body position (epaule), my en tournants and lastly my waltzes. These are things I like about my ballet body. I think this exercise can and should also be done with none ballet topics. It's normal and ok to know and acknowledge that there are things we do not like about our bodies; just also know that some of these things can't be changed, or are just the way your body is built. Maybe you don't like your height, hello supermodel, hello petite ms! This is the body you have. Treat it well and try to be positive about it more than negative.
This post seems ramble-y and disorganized to me, but I think the point gets across. It's important to be body positive. Don't compare your body to anyone else's. I hope you realize that you have amazing bodies and the differences in all of us make us unique and special. Love your body. Try not to judge other's bodies. You are so much more than your height, weight, build, musculature, melanin count... As a dancer focus on being expressive. Acknowledge constructive criticism, but don't let non-constructive criticism drag you down. Work on focusing on the positive. See the beauty in others. See the beauty in yourselves.
Much love. Much body positivity. XO
