Dance With Confidence: Helping dancers and dance professionals to control anxiety and improve self confidence and self esteem ready for competitions, performances and examinations.
You enjoy the challenge, want to push yourself and achieve the best results. But is it possible that your current beliefs and behaviour patterns could be holding you back?
It’s normal to feel anxious when facing challenging situations, but if worries and fears have a more significant effect and interfere with your ability to reach your full potential, it’s definitely worth looking at in more detail.
Have you spent months preparing, practising and perfecting your choreography, only to find that on the day of the competition, performance or examination:
- you haven’t slept well
- you’re stomach is full of anxiety and nervous tension
- you’re easily wound up or irritated
- your muscles are stiff
- round and round in your head, that little voice is questioning your ability, what others will think of you, parts of the routine that don’t feel right, whether you can really be successful?
Do you feel like you’re just going to explode with the stress?
When you get on to the dance floor, are you worried about the floor, music, where you can position yourself? Do you have concerns about the audience – are they supportive, or could they be critical or even laugh at you? What do those judges really think?
You’re trying to tell yourself to be positive and stay calm, but it’s not working. When self doubt kicks in, do you believe it and end up performing badly, and taking the anguish and disappointment to the next dance and to the next?
HELP IS AT HAND
Negative beliefs and anxiety levels brought on by all these issues will have a considerable affect on the body’s ability to maintain relaxed muscles, stamina, movement etc, and the mind’s ability to cope and adapt to any new challenges (such as a slippery floor, wardrobe malfunction, spatial awareness).
However, if you can turn this around and think differently, in pursuit of success and positivity, the mind’s natural chemical reaction enhances your ability to think creatively and respond quickly to any eventuality.
Which do you think is better for your dance ability??
CONFIDENCE COACHING
The winning edge in competitive dance is effectively a psychological one; an unshakeable self-belief.
In order for dancers to maintain the ability to keep their mind and body in the optimum state, they need to control any anxiety (threat) levels and potential for negativity on the lead up to the dance event and during the routines themselves.
Following research and “excellence modelling” of exceptional and successful championship winning dancers (in association with JJ Dance Studios in Beckenham, Kent), a number of coaching packages (combining some of the latest psychological tools) have been developed to help today’s dancers improve their self-esteem and confidence for competitions, performances and examinations.
Karen is now also one of the founders of International Dancing Minds, a group of like-minded professionals who want to promote mental fitness and well-being in the dance world. International Dancing Minds is affiliated with, and the Advisory Group for, the World Dance World Competitors Commission (WDCC).
Applied Neuroscience, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) & Time Line Therapy™ are techniques which, at their core, are studies of what makes successful people successful. They bring about results by working with our natural patterns of thinking, using our memories and imagination, and identifying the strategies we use to relate to others and make sense of the world around us. By working with a combination of techniques, which all value the importance of maintaining your own individual uniqueness, you will learn how to control your specific anxiety and fears and significantly improve your self confidence levels.
Areas covered can include:
- Overcoming anxiety and fears
- Relating to the audience
- Eliciting positive states such as calm/relaxation, excitement, confidence
- Self confidence and self-esteem boosters
- Negative beliefs and limiting decisions
- Anchoring positivity
Here’s an example of how you impact others when you dance. When you’re talking to a friend who is really anxious, worried or panicky, how do you feel when you’re with them – anxious and worried for them? When you’re around someone excited, happy and raring to go – do you feel that with them? The same applies to your audience – if you’re anxious, your audience will feel it too; if you’re excited and can’t wait to dance for them, they’re going to feel that energy and really want to support you.
Let’s swap the feelings of anxiety for excitement!
For more Testimonials click HERE
“Thank you so much for our coaching sessions. I have so much more confidence now – we just went out and really enjoyed our competition and did exceptionally well. My teacher told me that he’d never seen me dancing so confidently, and now that I’ve mastered the confidence we can really start to make the most of my presentation skills. I know how to control the nerves, and really smile – judges seem to notice, my fellow dancers seem to notice. And my confidence levels seem to be benefiting my normal life as well, as I’ve had the added bonus of attracting lots compliments!” – C, Dance Student
“Your coaching style was one of approachability, friendliness, helpfulness, and resourcefulness, combined with gentle probing to get to the heart of the issues. The coaching style was applied differently to each of us, as although we are a couple and dance together, we are individuals within that and have different strengths and weaknesses, and different needs. Once again, thanks for all your help, which has given us through positive thinking more resilience to weather not only dancing’s ups and downs, but also life’s ups and downs.” – Dance Couple
“Lucy wanted to say thank you so much for your help! Lucy and I found the session really useful. Lucy was really positive and excited after speaking to you. I saw a massive improvement in Lucy’s attitude over the last couple of weekends, after she used your techniques. She was still nervous but she managed her nerves. Lucy had a fantastic competition, she got 3 firsts, a second and a third. What I thought was really good, was that you adapted your style to explain the techniques to Lucy. Thank you very much, it made the festival far more enjoyable for me as well.” – Kirstin Brown, mum to Lucy (aged 10)
COACHING PACKAGES
Coaching can be attended either in person or via Skype.
INDIVIDUAL 1-2-1 COACHING
- 1.5 hour initial consultation to discover the specific concerns
- Individual 1-1.5 hour coaching sessions, or packages of 6 hours available thereafter.
PARTNERSHIPS
Given the close relationship needed between dance partners, both mentally and physically, there are major benefits from understanding how each other is motivated, makes decisions, takes in information and can control anxiety. This builds a strong team, capable of powerful insight and assistance to each other, both before and during the
dance.
- 2 hour initial consultation is required to establish any individual needs as well as those of the partnership.
- Individual and/or couple 1-2 hour coaching sessions, or packages of 6 hours available thereafter
GETTING STARTED
Whatever you want to improve upon, let’s start now. The number and duration of coaching sessions will be designed around your specific needs and confirmed within the first initial consultation.
Please use the Contact Form to arrange a time for an initial discussion or answer any queries.
To find out more about Karen go to About Us.
Dance with Confidence Now is a coaching package developed by Karen at Assiem Ltd.
More details on Personal Coaching and how it could help you fulfil your potential click HERE
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