Dance Physiology =’s Lifestyle change!

In the past my main goal has been alignment. Improving alignment has been my center. All this time, however, I haven’t had a concrete plan as to HOW to achieve this. I feel now I do. I am now focusing on the primordial base for alignment, which constitutes core strength. Once I improve my core strength, I can go back and re-evaluate my alignment and see how it has changed.

This class has definitely made me change my point of view for dance and life. Not that I didn’t have a structured point of view before, but now I can see what I’ve been lacking in the past (at least physically). I think I can now say that I am moving towards a balance between the treatment model and the wellness model.  Maybe when I figure that full balance, I can focus on other aspects of my life that can be heinous for dance and life, like my attitude. Sometimes, I’m just not in the mood.

I think I can do it! So far this semester, I’ve quit smoking, started working out at least 3 times a week, started taking vitamins and started to take care of my dry skin with lotion and powder before bed. This class has definitely encouraged me to have a change in lifestyle, for the better. I think the end result will be a healthy lifestyle that will include an improved self-esteem. 

Ouch!

I can safely say that last week was a whole new array of pain. My neck gave out on me and although my doctor had told me that it was coming, I kind of felt like a sitting duck. I was expecting my neck to blow up, but there was nothing I could really do to prevent it. Why? Well, my neck is the reason I am getting breast reduction surgery during the summer. Even though I have herniated disks in my back and neck, I had never really felt this much pain from it. I found out I had the herniated disks on an MRI for a different cause.  So this past week was my first taste of it. I was highly medicated and my hands were numb for 3 days. I changed my entire routine. I didn’t really move my neck at all and I changed my sleep position (which kind of prevented me from getting a good night sleep). I stopped working out and my days consisted of painfully strolling to class and laying down for the rest of the day.

So what should I do now?

For the first time in a long time, I am being proactive about this. I’m getting REAL help. I’m starting physical therapy treatment hopefully next week and it will help straighten my neck muscles until I get surgery in the summer.

The fact that this had an effect in every aspect of my life made me realize that I can do something to get my body in better physical health, so that everyday tasks don’t seem so hard.

As for dancing, I am able to dance this week because apart from scheduling physical therapy, I have been getting back massages and alternating heat and cold packs. I was also taking painkillers, which I am no longer taking. They switched me to muscle relaxant pills that help loosen up tense muscles.

I’m very glad that the horrible pain is over, now I need to keep it that way!

Working WITH gravity instead of AGAISNT it

Recently we have started to focus more on the minimal movements in the floor. During the first studio class we had we lifted our arms and legs and the different bone structures with the least possible strength. Based off of that we have explored the body with yoga exercises. Now that we know how the body works, we have started building up routines in the floor including the subtle movements of the core and limbs. It’s the perfect morning workout!

Given the fact that all I can think of when I get to class is how cold it is (no matter how warm or cold it is outside (I get really cold in the morning regardless)) and how at 8:30am I should probably still in bed. All of these feelings just remind me of high school and the times I actually caught myself driving with my eyes closed. I’m in no way a morning person! So for me, the hardest aspect of this class is actually getting myself there, once I’m there, I’m in love! Even though it might not look like it whenever I don’t pay much attention with my hair or clothes my heart is definitely in paradise when I go to class.

Having said this, the studio exercises that we have been working on recently, have turned into mini routines that make me focus in the tiny movements that I can do with my body. I haven’t danced ballet since last semester, but I’m thinking that these exercises are going to reflect in my performance the next time I go take a dance class.

The best part about it is that we are actually working WITH gravity instead of AGAINST it. How come? In ballet class, we usually try to defy gravity and the time continuum. We try to get our legs as high as humanly possible (even if it’s impossible for some) and try to dance as specific as we can in a time span of maybe four sets of eight that constitute too many steps to even mention. In dance physiology, we do the exact opposite. By slowing everything down, to a level none of us has really explored before, we have discovered how to use knowledge and have gravity in our side. Not only are we working on the floor, lying down, so falling is really a minimal problem. But with the concepts that we have learned like interactive alignment we have gained knowledge that had never crossed my mind. 

Ocean Breathing? (More like super loud breathing!)

First time we learned the ocean breathing I was truly amused. It was loud and not as relaxing as I thought it would be. The first time we did it I was mostly focused in how the class unison breathing sounded like and the fact that I could not regulate my breaths AT ALL! Maybe because of my smoking history, but I would run out of breath and feel that I was going to die! How do people find it relaxing? How do people hold their inhales/exhales for so long or so short?! It all baffled me.

All of this, until one day, I used it to sleep. I have bad sleeping problems. I was on sleeping medications a year ago and I thought it was unnatural for me to take a pill that was worth a lot money every day 15 minutes before bed to actually be able to sleep. So, I got off them as soon as it just took me an hour or so to fall asleep (instead of 4 or 5 and greeting the sun every morning). Ever since then I’ve used apps in my phone to get me to sleep, when I use those it takes me like 30 minutes, which is normal. Without it, whether it’s a nap or a goodnight sleep, it usually takes me an hour or longer to fall asleep.

One day, I tried, without the app, just the ocean breathing. Guess what? I was asleep so fast that I have no idea how long it took me! It was a great feeling and since then every time I have troubles, I use it. I mean, it’s no miracle, sometimes it still takes me an hour, but it feels better and feels like rest. I would rather have an hour trying to fall asleep while resting than an hour trying to fall asleep bored out of my mind.

Now that I’ve added working out to my lifestyle, I’ve also added ocean breathing during them. Because I have asthma (because of smoking), I have a very bad set of lungs. I run out of breath in no time while working out. Ocean breathing has helped me get the lungs going. Even while doing jumping jacks or abs, it definitely helps.

I’m very glad that I’ve learned all of these concepts and have been able to put them to use in multiple aspects of my life.

LIVE. LOVE. DANCE. (Redefining Goals)

It's almost the end of March. Spring break has come and gone, after 9 weeks of class, what's going through my mind? 

At this point of the semester, I'm trying to get as much as I can out of all of my classes. My goals for each of them have been redefined to conform new perspective and different focuses. I'm starting to look into what the summer might bring for me and how I might need to work towards that.

Dance Physiology has become very important for my summer plans. Apart from traveling to Spain with my family and my mom getting re-married, this summer, I plan on getting breast reduction surgery. Not for looks, dance or life, but for my well-being. At this point of my life, dance physiology class has provided me with a fresh perspective of conditioning and a reachable goal for health and fitness.

Conditioning/training classes on Thursdays have helped me expand my horizons of body conditioning and toning. As of today, I know that I'm not overweight or fat, however, I can work to have better core strength. Since I have no clue as of how my body is going to look after surgery, I've started on a very strict workout routine. I don't know when I'm going to be able to workout post-surgery, so I've made a plan that involves me, working out until surgery and see how it goes afterwards. 

This is what the “theory” classes on Tuesdays have helped me with. I’ve learned that while dancing is a good activity and definitely a workout, it is not necessarily a well-rounded workout. Recently, I’ve started working out with my roommate who is a runner. Our body capacities are almost completely opposite. I have flexibility and strength in my legs while she has stamina and core support, which makes abs and push-ups a lot easier on her.

This class has definitely made me see what my strengths and weaknesses are and not in a bad way. In no way, do I feel less of a dancer by admitting that I need to work on my core strength and stamina. If anything, this realization makes me a better dancer. Now I have something concrete to work on and focus. Most importantly, I have the appropriate tools to do it.

Dance and Psychology

Apart from the psyche of “I dance because I need to”, I think it is vital to acknowledge how dance has developed an important role in the area of psychology.  Not only dancers are benefited from dancing.

Dance Psychology provides the patient with the necessary tools to find inner peace. More than a place to vent or sit in a sofa, psychologists have developed Dance therapy as a way to connect mind and body. These dancers don’t dance for a grade or because they have to, just like me, they NEED to.

We as dancers take that sacred place where the peaceful connection between mind and body for granted. Not everyone has that. Most clinical patients seek psychological services because they no longer have that sync. I once felt like I had lost that sync and it was dancing that brought me back. This is why, for me, dance therapy is so important.

I found this blog called Psychology Today. It’s written by psychologists specialized in different areas of psychology, dance therapists amongst them.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201008/mind-your-body-dance-yourself-happy

This article focuses on the importance of dance in life. We live in a world in which not only dancers can be beneficiated by the positive aspects of dance. I think this article addresses that in an informal way that is friendly to the reader and does not use too many medical terms.

I personally enjoyed it because of the way it adapts salsa, clubbing and even “Dancing with the Stars” to a healthy lifestyle. 

Movement, Color, Life... Is there MORE to dance?

The answer is YES! Dance is so much more than the movement and the liveliness of a scene or an act. Dancers are more than perfection, the perfect movement, the perfect ensemble, the perfect direction, the perfect music, the perfect choreography or the perfect costumes. Dancers pride themselves in their work, in what they do and the visual art they provide to the world. The motivation for dance is abstract, untouchable, yet, always there. I've always been moved by the saying:

"Dancing is like dreaming with your feet!"  ~Constanze

Just like we don't really know why we dream what we dream, I dance because its innate in me. I can't ignore it. Its something inside me that needs to dance. Whether I'm injured or not. Whether I can do the movements that are being asked of me, I want to do it and I get frustrated when I can't. Sometimes realizing that you can't do something, whether is dancing, running or even writing a paper is a mental let down. We are raised in a world where everything CAN be done. The mind CAN control everything and the only person that sets the limits is yourself. But, what if I want to, but I can't? 

Realizing how far your mind and body can go in a given activity comes with age. Doing something about it, comes from within. As a dancer, I realized that given my long history of injuries and bad habits, at age 18 it was next to impossible to break away. Given this realization, I quit dance during my first semester in college. Needless to say, WORST SEMESTER OF MY LIFE! What now?

I realized that I needed to dance and that when I danced I did more than injure myself countless times, I gave myself mental peace for an hour each day I went to dance class. During that hour, keeping up with counts, rhythms, movements and combinations was what gave me sanity from everything else that was going on in my life.

For me, that hour of peace is PRICELESS!

Dislocations and Subluxations

We have an injury expo coming up in class this Tuesday. My topic of choice is Dislocations and Subluxations. As a dancer with "bad genes" dislocations and subluxations have always been part of my life. Since overextended tendons run in my family, I experienced my first dislocation of the knee at age 11. Ever since then, it has been physical therapy, ice and many many subluxations and dislocations of both the knees and ankles.


Studying this material from a "science-y" perspective has given me a different perspective to the injuries I've experienced the most. Since we have been studying the anatomy of the body, the difference between muscles, joints and ligaments, it has become clear to me, why I have the issues I have.


I have learned that once you dislocate a bone, it hardly goes back to its natural state of alignment. So like my dad, whose a doctor once said, "You dislocated your knee once doing ballet, you better stop or learn how to live with it for the rest of your life."


Dislocations and subluxations can potentially occur in most (if not all) of the joints of the body. They occur when the ligaments and muscles are not strong enough for the support of the joint.  To my disbelief, not only can I potentially get a dislocated knee or ankle; I can subluxate or dislocate  my pelvis, shoulders, elbows, neck, vertebral cord and even the eye! Below is a picture of a subluxated lens that I found at [http://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/eyeforum/atlas/pages/subluxated-lens.html] which is an ophthalmology website.

What I learned the most about this assignment is that we, as dancers, should seek prevention rather than treatment. The difference between the two is that one is before and the other after the fact. Ideally, prevention would include excersice to strengthen the muscles so that they are more able to protect the joints and to avoid repetitive motions.

But, if I don't want to stop dancing because of this, what should I do? For me, aspirin, excersice, icing and wearing prenventive braces, has worked. Whether it was on my knees or ankles, I wore protective braces all through high school and whenever I feel the pain coming back in dance class. The good thing about them is that they do not decrease joint mobility (depending on the brace you get) and its protective, so I feel safer. When I have the brace on I feel I limit myself less in different movements. When I did point, there was no way I would dance without ankle braces, otherwise I was too scared.


We have also talked about the issues that "being scared" causes to a lot of people (not only dancers). Like creating a "fake" limp to protect your right knee and in turn ruining your left knee, prevention can only make you feel safer about what you are doing and keeps you away from these other habits that can be heinous for the body.

Dance + Physique = Dansique

A play of words, Dansique is ONE word that makes up for many words in a dancer's mind. Throughout their career most dancers and even athletes come across different sets of words that describe their connection of mind and body in whatever they do. Sometimes, words even lack the strong sentiment we want to put into them.

This is where Dansique comes to play. Dansique is a place where pictures and words meet physical exercise and dance. Together all of these aspects of a dancer's life come to describe the dancing experience. More than dancing, Dansique will focus on health and fitness that goes into dancing.
Throughout this semester, I intend to Learn more about my body than I have in my 21 years of life.

Welcome to Dance Physiology and Injury Prevention!

While everyone has friends who prefer having morning classes, night classes of free Fridays, I am the kind of person that will take a night class on a Friday rather than to wake up on any other day. Well, I think this class has proven me wrong so far. I'm waking up, taking it and taking a breakfast bar afterwards (I'm also NOT a breakfast person).


It's the first day of class, Spring 2011. This is and will be my first class of the morning during my second semester of my Junior year at Loyola. I took this class because I want to understand my body; comprehend how it moves and experiment with my abilities and disabilities. it is also important to note, that my desire to take this class and understand my body is so big that, for the first time in my college career, I'm taking an 8:30am class. 


Today, January 25th, the day after my 21st birthday, was our 3rd class of the semester, so far, so good. I see this class as my personal science class. Not being a science person myself, I have NEVER taken a real science class at Loyola. So for me, in my own little world, this class has a lecture, a discussion and a lab. It provides the dancer or any person, the capability of understanding the body and how it moves; not according to the rules that have been instilled upon us in dance class or training since we were kids, but according to what MY own body can or cannot do. It's not about right or wrong here, it's about understanding my body, how it works and how I can treat it right and not injure it in any way, shape or form. 


"The Lab" otherwise known as Thursdays, worked PERFECT for me. It focused on the micro, rather than the macro, making it easier to identify force and its flow throughout the body. Even though it was harder because I wanted to find what was "right" instead of focusing in my own body and what it can and cannot do, I focused on doing everything "right" and in feelings like: "if everyone is doing it, why is it being hard for me, everyone else is doing it alright". 


Therefore, a week into this class, I know it's gonna be different than any other dance class I've ever taken before. It should be organic, natural and NOT forced in any way. 


I am for sure looking forward how this class is gonna change me as a dancer and as a person. Because more than as a dancer, I'm taking this class to further understand all my injuries in my back, neck, knees and ankles. Personally, I don't want it to get any worse.


I know, that this class has the power to change the way I think about everything relating to my body.