Over the course of her profession, Tia Ungar, a dancer, cheerleader, and cheer coach primarily based in the UK, has handled power anxiousness. When her anxiousness peaks, it’s a problem to be taught and bear in mind choreography.
“After I was at my worst with my anxiousness, even simply being in a dance class was fairly an anxious factor for me,” Ungar says. “In making an attempt to calm myself down and be current, there was not all the time a lot area left for me to recollect what I used to be bodily meant to be doing.”
Studying and retaining choreography and corrections will be difficult for any dancer. However sure psychological well being situations—like anxiousness, melancholy, ADHD, OCD, and PTSD, to call a number of—could make it much more troublesome to course of and retrieve recollections. Understanding how these situations impression the mind, and discovering methods to each deal with these adjustments and enhance general reminiscence, can assist dancers cope.
How Psychological Well being Impacts Reminiscence
The consequences of psychological well being on reminiscence would possibly differ primarily based on the character of the psychological well being situation, in keeping with Paula Thomson, a medical psychologist who works with dancers and is a professor at California State College, Northridge.
Despair impacts the prefrontal cortex of the mind, “which could be very concerned in reminiscence processing and retrieval,” Thomson says. That may make the thoughts really feel much less sharp, in addition to disrupt starvation and sleep cycles. With out correct vitamin and relaxation, a dancer will likely be even much less geared up to perform at most reminiscence capability.
Anxiousness-related situations typically end in divided focus, which implies an individual is attending to each the duty at hand and their expertise of tension. “When folks have an anxiousness dysfunction, they really feel the anxiousness so acutely that they’ll’t belief themselves to be taught, as a result of they simply are so anxious concerning the catastrophic ‘what ifs,’ ” Thomson explains.
Some dancers may also dissociate as a coping mechanism for very excessive anxiousness. Dissociation refers to a state of disconnection the place a person feels one way or the other separated from the current second or their sense of self. “The reminiscence space of the mind, the hippocampus, form of shutters on and off as a result of the anxiousness dosing is so excessive,” Thomson says, which may trigger reminiscence gaps.
Instruments for Dancers
When psychological well being points result in reminiscence troubles, “the 1st step is to acknowledge and attend to self-care,” Thomson says. If the issue is comparatively gentle, there are some ways you may observe by yourself. To calm anxiousness, Ungar recommends taking a sequence of steadying breaths, which can assist regulate the nervous system, resulting in a lower within the bodily signs of tension. Thomson additionally suggests beginning every day with an inner scan to gauge your bodily and psychological wellness, so you may then implement self-regulation abilities that can assist you really feel extra current. Study issues like your anxiousness ranges, feelings, and urge for food.
“If it turns into a persistent drawback, search skilled assist,” Thomson says. Contemplate reaching out to a psychological well being skilled with expertise working with dancers, creatives, or athletes, who can present recommendation and coping methods tailor-made to you.
To assist enhance reminiscence, Kathleen McGuire Gaines—a former dancer and the founding father of Minding the Hole, a company centered on psychological well being advocacy throughout the dance business—recommends utilizing visualization strategies. Mentally working by means of troublesome choreographic sequences and picturing your self mastering them, for instance, can assist cement these sequences in your reminiscence. “There’s been plenty of analysis performed on how efficient visualization is and the way in which it connects your thoughts and your physique,” she explains.
Ungar agrees, including that listening to the music aided her visualization observe. “Simply getting used to the music actually helped me, after I was in these conditions the place my anxiousness was excessive and I used to be extra careworn, to depend on reminiscence a bit extra,” she says.
McGuire Gaines encourages dancers to ask questions if the choreography isn’t sinking in. Moreover, when you really feel comfy, be sincere about your psychological well being along with your instructor or creative director. They could be capable of assist present sources and different help.
