Smoothstyle Dance Studio

- posted by Maria

In general, we think of efficiency as a good thing. Businesses strive to be efficient to make maximum use of resources so that they can focus on things that yield high-value returns (profits and new revenue streams). Athletes want to be efficient so that their energy can be directed toward goals such as increasing speed or strength.

Neurologically speaking, our brains and bodies are designed for efficiency. The brain is wired to learn patterns so that it can go into “auto pilot” and repeat the patterns, thereby conserving energy for important tasks such as survival or other pursuits. New (or long forgotten) experiences tax the brain (and the body) – that’s why it’s “human nature” to resist change, and that’s why an activity like raking for the first time each year can cause aches and pains even if you are fit.

It’s also why things get easier the more we do them. Although it can be difficult to believe when you’re trying to learn new dance technique, for example, eventually if you repeat something enough it becomes automatic for the brain and body to do. Thus the expression: “Practice makes permanent”! (Practice only makes “perfect” if what you are practicing is correct).

The Down-Side of Efficiency

Lately I’ve been dealing with both the upside and downside of efficiency. On the upside:

• The work I do for my clients (at my marketing communications company) is starting to become routine again, after a chaotic period during which (for some reason) a number of new client initiatives all began at once. Finally I’m able to relax a little and be confident the work is going to get done even if I’m not on top of it every second of the day.
• The West Coast Swing choreography that David and I recently finished creating is becoming a true “routine” – more and more comfortable and natural, thus freeing up our mental and physical resources to focus on adding satisfying details and more polish. When a routine gets to the that point it’s such a pleasure to be able to focus on the performance rather than having to be mentally engaged in getting the steps and transitions right.

On the downside, I’ve been having a helluva time getting my heart rate over 120 bpm when I work out … which means weight control is becoming more difficult, and working out more frustrating. I find that in order to get my heart rate up to 165 bpm or so, I have to do very high impact workouts. The problem with that is my muscles take a beating and take days to recover – and having sore muscles all the time isn’t an option when I need to be able to dance and perform regularly.

Consulting an Expert

Frustrated, I talked to my personal trainer about the problem. I asked her what I could do to make my no-impact cardio workouts effective again. She had a simple answer: “Increase your speed.” For some reason that’s the one variable I had overlooked. Over time, I had increased my cardio program to maximum resistance and then, once I wasn’t satisfied with the results any more, I increased the time I spent doing it.

My trainer told me to decrease resistance and duration but increase speed. Not only has this given me an interesting new goal to keep my attention when I do workouts on the elliptical trainer, but it’s working: I’m again able to get my heart rate up where I want it to be and I don’t have to punish my body to do it.

I still cross-train with outdoor running, boxing workouts and HIITs (high intensity interval training) but now I can reserve those types of exercise for periods when it’s O.K. for my muscles to scream for a couple of days after.

What are You TOO Good At?

Since I like to finish my articles with something to get my readers thinking or doing – how about this. Take stock of your daily activities – at work, play or home – and identify something that you’ve become very efficient at. Something you used to have to think about but now do without any thought at all. It could be an activity, a task or even a relationship.

Then:

• Ask yourself if it’s something you SHOULD be doing in the first place – we form involuntary habits all the time and they may not be good ones.
• Ask yourself if it’s something that you WANT to be thinking more actively about, or something that you SHOULD be working harder at to get better or different results.
• Force your brain or body into a period of INefficiency – put your energy into making a change – a small change may be all it takes to disrupt a pattern!

Recommended Reading

If you’re interested in this kind of stuff, these are a couple of books I recommend:

Charles Duhigg: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and in Business on Amazon >>

John Medina: Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and at School on Amazon >>

- by Maria

It’s occurred to me over the past few months that most of my students don’t really know how to practice. Before you become frustrated about a lack of progress, or wonder why poor habits seem to keep creeping in – or returning to – your dance, you need to commit time and head space to effective practice. This article is written for those of you who want to spend time to improve some aspect of your dance.

Practice is not the same thing as regular social dancing or regularly attending class, although you CAN use both of those occasions to practice if you choose. (For example, read my Social Dance Practice Tips article).

Defining “Practice”

Dancing does not necessarily = practicing. To be a practice, an activity must have these characteristics:

• Mental engagement. You must be mentally focused on and thinking about what you are practicing. For example, you may want to improve or change body flight, foot placement, connection, your anchor technique in WCS, etc. Change can happen only if you are mentally focused on making the change. It’s possible to social dance or take a class without mentally engaging in practice.
• Repetition. It’s not practice if it’s not being repeated. And by repeated, I mean repeated until you are tired of it. At first, practicing something new will be mentally exhausting, and it may be physically tiring, but those are good signs. They are signs that your mind and body are working hard at learning something new. The payoff comes down the road when one day you realize that the change has become integrated into your dance and you aren’t even thinking about it anymore. That’s success!
• Goal(s). The purpose of practice is to improve, change or master something – a movement, a technique, a piece of knowledge, etc. To practice, then, you must have specific, achievable goals in mind.

Because dance is an activity that we do for pleasure we don’t always care to think hard about it or make it repetitive. And that’s O.K. But you should recognize that that’s the difference between social dancing and practicing. That’s the difference between taking a class and practicing. That’s what make the difference between stasis and improvement.

Optimizing Your Practice

If you do want to practice your dance and see change/results for your efforts, then you need a practice plan. Whether you have a partner to practice with or not, I can help you by creating a practice plan that suits you. It will take into account your skill level in the dance, your goals (or my goals for you, if you aren’t sure what to shoot for), your physical abilities, the time you have to devote to practicing, your natural strengths, and whether or not you have a regular practice partner.

There is a thread attached: I can deliver this kind of personal, customized attention only through a private lesson. Although it’s great to have a regular coach who can give you feedback, support and tough love on a weekly or biweekly basis, with a practice plan you can achieve good results even if you are only able to take a private lesson every few months.

So, I encourage you to make a New Year’s resolution for 2012: that you will practice – with a plan and with intent!

- posted by Maria

A recent conversation with a dance student/friend got me thinking about how important biofeedback is in the movement-learning process. As you read this, think about whether you are getting enough biofeedback in your dance training.

What is Biofeedback?

Simply put, biofeedback is a process through which a person receives information about the body’s activity. Biofeedback is used in rehabilitation therapy as well as in sports. We can broaden the concept to apply to movement training such as dance.

Examples of Biofeedback

Certain machines – such as electrocardiographs – are designed to provide biofeedback on functions such as muscle activity, temperature, oxygenation and other body functions/modes. The idea is to provide the individual with knowledge about how their activity, movement, exercises etc. are affecting the body – particularly parts that are difficult to mentally access, such as the heart or a very specific injured muscle.

In the context of learning or training in a dance, biofeedback might include:

• Touch – to help a student identify the correct body part to engage or move, a coach can physically touch that part of a student’s body to help the brain learn more quickly how to engage that body part or group of muscles.
• Exercise – again to help one identify a body part and whether it is being properly engaged, a coach can offer a student exercises that help the brain to isolate that body part and train it to move in the correct way.
• Video – while not really “biofeedback” in the strict sense, I feel that video provides a student with valuable information about the body. In particular, watching a video of one’s own dancing is an effective way to help the brain connect how an action or movement FEELS with how it looks, and to make appropriate adjustments.
• Visual examples – often, a coach can mimic your movement to show you what you are doing, side-by-side with the movement that is trying to be achieved. Like video (but faster and more specific), this can help the brain connect what the body is doing/feeling with how it looks.

Become Body-Aware

Proprioception is the clinical term for “body awareness”. Some of us are more naturally body-aware than others, and the greater one’s proprioception is, the faster and easier it is to learn and assimilate new movement habits in our bodies.

No what matter your current level of body awareness is, the brain can be trained to increase its proprioception. These are some activities that I have found to improve body awareness:

When I teach, I also like to provide biofeedback though touch, exercises and visual example, and I encourage students to let me video tape them (although very few take me up on the offer!).