Mental stress and strain can lead to burnout and depression, and it can be a major roadblock in not only a dance career, but in leading a healthy life. Here are a few thoughts on how we, as dancers, can take steps to support our mental health…and that of our fellow dancers.
Resist Negative Thinking
It is part of the human condition for our brain to make up stories. Our psyche connects the dots with the information we have to draw a conclusion for a scenario. How many times have you not been cast, and your brain thinks, “I am not good enough for that role” or, “I shouldn’t be in this company, I don’t fit in?”
Rarely would it say, “There must be something better coming” or, “I think the role I am in will challenge me in the exact way I need to grow.” Simply recognizing that our brains may tend to slant towards the negative is empowering and helps us evaluate whether or not this “story” our brains made up is actually true..
Utilize Meditation
Mediation has been proven to reduce stress, improve athletic performance, strengthen the immune system, and lead to faster recovery. It also helps us connect with our physical and mental self through awareness.
Our minds are powerful. They can make an injury feel 10 times worse if you let it. Mediation allows us to slow our minds and feel our bodies in their current state without the veil of stress. Guided meditations can give you a mantra to focuses your day on. If you enter your day with gratitude and abundance in mind, it feels uneasy to shift into petty thoughts, or self-limiting talk.
Reach Out For Support
As dancers, our mental health is not to be taken lightly. It’s as important as our physical health. If you broke your ankle you would seek medical attention. If you don’t feel like yourself emotionally it could be a sign of a problem, and you don’t have to just suffer silently. There is help available.
If you find yourself struggling with depression, anxiety, or other potential mental health issues, there’s nothing wrong with reaching out to talk to someone. Tell a trusted family member or friend what you are feeling and go from there. Sometimes just getting your feelings out is enough to make things better, but if not, seeing a counselor or mental health professional can be helpful.
Be A Mentor
Dancers are often hyper aware of our bodies, and we don’t think twice about lending some support when someone has a physical injury. “How is your knee?” or “Did the acupuncture help your back?” are questions we hear in the studio/class. However, it is rare to overhear things such as, “How are you dealing with the stress of this season?” or “I feel like the choreographer doesn’t like me, how do you feel about working with them?”
The first few years of company life can be rough, and I often thought that I was the only one dealing with low self-confidence. It took an older artist in the company opening up about her own struggles to open my eyes to the fact that this feeling is not at all unusual.
If you’re an older dancer in the company, you have an opportunity to be an emotional leader. When the time and space is appropriate, why not ask a younger dancer to coffee? You’ll be surprised how taking a step outside of the studio can change drastically the dynamic. Often it only takes the question of, “How is this season going for you?” to open up the floodgates of both the good–and the bad. It may be a small gesture for you, but it can show someone who is struggling that they are seen, heard and valued.
In a field where there can be an underlying competitive atmosphere, I believe it is our obligation to step up and support one another. After all, when everyone is growing – the work grows. Isn’t that that is our real goal?
A Final Thought…
There are dancers out there who haven’t been limited by their bodies – it can just as easily be the mental stress that is too much to handle. Being a professional dancer puts an extraordinary amount of pressure on the mind, as well as the body. Since these two forces combine and work together to allow us to do remarkable things, we need to treat them both well.
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