Dear Dance Studio Owners: Self Care Isn’t Just About YOU
I own a dance studio.
My mission is to help other dance studio owners run their studios with laser point efficiency so that they have peace, joy and prosperity in their studio and time left over to enjoy all other aspects of their lives.
As we embark on a new year and are crafting our resolutions for our studios and our personal lives, I implore you to set aside a quiet moment to meditate upon your power to positively influence all that you come in contact with and consider how creating lasting habits of true self care can affect those around you, your business, and the global network that we all share. Perhaps it will motivate you to consider that your self care isn’t just about you.
I interviewed a prospective teacher recently.
I asked what she wanted to do next in life trying to gauge how long it would be before she moved on and left me scrambling to find her replacement. Her answer rang a bell in my heart. “This is it. All I want to do is teach dance. All I ever wanted to be when I grew up is my dance teacher.”
Did you hear that? She said my dance teacher. She did not say a dance teacher.
I flashed to being little 8 year old Amy. I remembered the ballet teachers in the studio I grew up attending. I can remember ridiculous details. To me, they were goddesses. Everything about them was both glamorous and tough. They were full of magical secrets that had made them into powerful dancers. They had stories and experiences to share about the places they had danced and the people they had danced with. They were my direct connection to my dance ancestry. They were all I wanted to be when I grew up, especially Ms. V.
I know now that Ms. V was not a perfect person. Of course. None of us are.
I did go on to emulate some life experiences that paralleled Ms. V’s that I’m sure she would not have wished on me, namely an eating disorder.
I don’t recall Ms. V ever talking about her weight. I don’t recall her ever talking about the weight of any of her students. I do remember a day that I walked into the dance studio to find Ms. V laid out on a sofa that was in the lobby just to the right of the door as you entered.
There were a few other teachers around her. The owner of the studio was handing her a cold soda can to put on her head. The studio owner was asking everyone if they had any food they could give Ms. V. “She’s got a bad headache, LIKE BAD. She said she hasn’t eaten.”
It was a scary scene for me. I certainly didn’t understand all of the ins and outs of Ms. V’s life. She had a whole story with lots of twists and turns and ups and downs just like we all do. But I guess my subconscious caught a whiff of her brand of self care, as I later tried it on for a while.
Now, I am in no way blaming Ms. V for any action I carried forth. And she, most definitely, was not the only person that I ever witnessed in my life sphere that was living with an eating disorder, but I do recognize a connection. That realization brings with it the power to break a cycle. That new vantage point allows me to choose a new path.
If others are following me, let me be on a good path.
If others are following you, and they are, no matter who you are, be on a good path.
You see, self care is not just about your self.
Your self care is the road that those that follow will be on. Your behaviors, words, and habits ripple out from you indefinitely through both conscious and unconscious networks.
As a dance teacher, you are officially the absolute coolest, most awesome, amazing person in the eyes of your students; especially the littlest of them. Please bear in mind that the littlest among them are subconsciously wide open.
While you think you might be hiding your self-destructive thoughts, habits or patterns from them, a child under 8 years of age is operating primarily at a Theta level of brainwave frequency. (Whoo whoo, I know, but stay with me. It is corroborated by science. I promise.) This is the same brainwave frequency that occurs in hypnosis or deep meditation. Children under 8 are downloading, processing and building their future perspectives and operating systems out of all of the information around them, both on the surface and below. But I digress.
As a dance studio owner, our faculty members, students, students’ parents and everyone that touches the sphere of our studio life is also downloading our program on some level.
Is your program one of stress, overwhelm, lack of sleep, lack of proper nutrition, lack of care for your body? Is it a noisy, staticy program that you are not able to hear yourself through?
What can you do to help ensure that those around you download a program of self love that will lead them to a life of self care?
Simple. Start with you. Love yourself and show it by taking care of yourself.
“Simple. Not easy,” as dance teachers love to say. However, like all things that are simple but not easy, it gets easier the more you practice. No one is perfect, and you do get points for effort.
Here is a great little gem of wisdom imparted to me from the tag of a teabag that I try to remind myself of often, “All new things are difficult until you’re used to them.”
It’s true. It applies to a new dance step, a new business system, a new situation in life that is beyond your control. It also applies to creating new and better self care habits in your life.
Let’s collectively get used to taking great care of ourselves for the sake of those who will follow us on our path.
Let’s create a legacy of truly showing love, respect and gratitude for the magnificent machine that allows us this amazing experience called dance.
Ok, sounds great. How do I do it? Where do I begin?
Begin with quiet. Close your eyes. Take 3 slow breaths. For ten whole minutes, just be quiet and listen. Acknowledge that you are not alone on this journey. Acknowledge that as we are individually, we are as a whole. See a good path for you and those that follow you. Allow yourself to hear, within the quietude, what it is that you need.
That’s where you begin.
Look for the follow up article (including a 30 day challenge) next week for more in depth information about using meditation to change your studio ownership journey and your life.
Follow me at www.studioplannerpro.com for articles and planning tools to aid you in all areas of dance studio ownership and simple daily practices to care for yourself and lead those around you.
It is my wish for you to have peace, joy and prosperity in your dance studio life and time left over to enjoy all other aspects of your life.