The winter months are very much upon us, and with them comes colder weather, darker days, and more reasons to skip practise. For many dancers, training may become more difficult when when all you want to do is curl up by the fire with a blanket rather than head to dance class in the gloomy rain.
Seasonal changes can have a big impact on mood, energy and motivation. But as we all know, competitions don’t just stop during the winter. The Irish Dance Globe spoke with former Riverdance lead dancer and founder of the From Head to Toe Academy, Chloey Turner, to ask for her top tips to maintain a healthy training routine throughout the coldest, darkest months of the year.
How can changing seasons affect our mental health and energy?
Chloey describes herself as “someone who gets a lot of joy and energy from the sun being her face”, so she certainly understands how the colder months could be more challenging.
However, learning to embrace all the seasons and making the most of them, she says, can help change your attitude towards the wintertime.
“Reframing the thoughts and beliefs we have about a change of season and learning to see the beauty in a change of season can certainly help,” Chloey explains. “Although external factors are constantly changing, we can always learn to be peaceful within ourselves, with a gentle acceptance of what is.”
What are the key ways dancers can look after their mental health during the winter?
Think of ways to nurture yourself. Chloey encourages dancers to ask what things can they do each day for their mind, body, and spirit. She calls these her “non-negotiables” — things that she must do every day to keep herself nurtured. These can be anything from meditating for at least ten minutes every day, or going for a walk.
Make the most of the daylight hours. Even though it’s colder, bundle up and get outside while it’s lighter out during the daytime. Your brain will thank you for it.
Importantly, Chloey reminds us that if you are feeling very low during this time, it’s important to consider if seeking the guidance of a professional could help. “I have learned to self-regulate, but this has taken some time and initially started with the help of professionals. There’s certainly no shame in needing help,” she says.
What tools can dancers use to stay motivated to train and practise when it’s dark, cold, or rainy?
Check in with your values. Firstly, Chloey recommends getting out your journals (if you don’t have one, start one!) and jotting down some of your values. “Our values are the things that we believe are important in the way that we live and work”, explains Chloey. “Values play an important role in shaping how we respond to situations and how we set our goals. They can also provide us with a source of positive intrinsic motivation and drive towards a personal intention and goal.”
Chloey recommends a number of ways to establish your values, such as: thinking of people that you look up to and admire; looking back at your life experiences; defining each of your values in a few sentences.
“After identifying our core values, it can become easier to align those values with our daily, weekly, and longer term goals, these can help us to stay on track not only throughout winter months but for each season and our lives in general.”
Chloey explains that living each day according to her core values helps her to stay motivated. “During the times that I feel little motivation, I’ll ask myself, ‘Am I living each day aligned with my core values?’ If not, I am encouraged to make some changes. I’m finding now that the times I feel a little low in mood and a lack of motivation, I may not be aligning my actions with my values.”
Set small goals and intentions. They can be simple, such as: “I’m going to work on my mobility three times this week.”
Arrange times to practise with a friend. Encourage each other to also create and align daily habits like getting enough sleep, drinking water, and connecting with other friends and family. Holding each other accountable is a great way to make you feel less alone.
Create a routine before you practise. Listen to your favourite music and warm up inside before heading into your practise space, whether it’s a drive to the studio or moving into your garage.
How can we use mindfulness practises to keep up our motivation?
“Mindfulness has to be my number one psychological tool. A tool I wish I’d been introduced to throughout my dance career,” explains Chloey.
“Having mindfulness practises can guide us to a calm, mindful state in which we can focus and make good decisions more easily. Investing just 10 minutes a day in meditation can ultimately create a calmer, more organised mental state, enabling us to have more energy throughout the day.”
Part of practising mindfulness includes being in the present moment. As dancers, we often are so focused on what’s ahead of or behind us, and we tend to ignore the present moment. However, working mindfully in the present can help us as athletes to have more energy and focus during training.
“I find mindfulness then goes on to help with other wonderful psychological skills such as positive self-talk, goal setting, and imagery, because with our mindfulness practise we’re creating some ease and space in the mind,” Chloey adds.
Mindfulness can take some time to master, but stick with it. “It’s like strengthening a muscle. The more we practise, the stronger we become,” says Chloey.
What role does sleep play in motivation?
Sleep is the best form of recovery. We all know this, but somehow it still gets lost in the shuffle of a busy schedule. Chloey encourages dancers to develop a solid nighttime routine. “Create a nice, peaceful environment. Perhaps take a bath or warm shower, lavender bed spray — I just purchased this myself and it’s lovely! Some gentle movement, I have a few go to grounding yoga postures I find work wonders.”
She also recommends breathwork to help calm your body and mind before bed. “I find the simple coherent breath skill to be a lovely one to connect to at night time. Breathing in for four seconds, slight pause and then breathing out for four seconds, once you feel you’ve shifted into a calmer place, you could extend the breath to five or six seconds inhale and exhale,” explains Chloey.
She also recommends journaling before bed if you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious. “When my mind feels overactive, I also like to do what is often referred to as a ‘brain dump’ and write out my thoughts and feelings in my journal before closing it up and tucking up into bed.”
And one more thing — avoid too much scrolling on your phone before bed. This can keep our minds active for too long and keep us awake. Keep your phone further away from you so you’re not tempted to keep scrolling.
“Honest fact here — I use this to help me not to snooze my alarm in the mornings too, because if the phone is on the other side of the room and I’ve set the alarm then I’ve gotta jump out of bed anyway!” Chloey shares.
How can we practise patience with ourselves when moving into a new season?
Chloey says that practicing patience is something she is actively working on, too, and has identified the things she likes to use to be more understanding with herself.
Understand that your energy will go up and down. As humans, our moods, energy levels and abilities are constantly shifting. Acknowledging this helps you to become more patient with yourself.
Journaling. Open up your journal and write down “what fills your cup” — the things that give you energy and also create awareness of what takes it away.
“I believe growing in self-awareness is important when it comes to being more patient with yourself,” Chloey says.
“In my personal journey for example, I am aware that my energy does tend to be lower during winter. Knowing this, I’m able to prepare a little bit more. I’m aware that I am more focused in the mornings and by the evenings I want to be cosy and start winding down, so getting the things that take the most effort and energy from me done in the morning is best for me.”
Celebrate yourself and all your victories. There is no need to compare yourself to others and what they’re doing. “I find dancers are not great at this task. Dancers barely notice when they’ve reached or surpassed a goal because they’re so focused on what they haven’t yet achieved,” Chloey says.
She also believes this can also come from the top down. “As a coach, mentor, teacher, parent, it’s important to encourage your dancers and celebrate their small achievements on the way to their bigger goals and dreams without the focus always being on a dancer’s shortcomings. Encouraging them to yes, work hard, but to also practise patience towards themselves in the process is super important.”
Keeping up your training might seem more challenging during this time, but the most important thing is to keep working. Hard work isn’t just done on the studio floor, it’s also done in your mindfulness practise, your sleep habits, and your appreciation for yourself and your wins.
Chloey Turner’s From Head to Toe Academy is an online subscription with a library of on-demand access videos and live classes to help you put all of this into practise. You can check it out here.
