Give an example of a specific challenge you faced in either Release (contemporary) or Cunningham technique. How did you adapt your approach to work on overcoming this challenge?

26^th November 2019

Description: 

Following a gymnastics movement gone wrong, I injured my heel bone on my right foot.  This caused severe pain and inflammation and I had to keep it elevated for a few days and wear a supportive bandage.  A week later, I went to my dance session in release technique. Participating fully in the class presented a challenge as it made it difficult for me to fully engage with all the footwork and movements, as I could not put any pressure on my right foot.

Feelings:

Before I started the dance class, I was worried about how I was going to be able to engage and about causing more damage and delaying my recovery.  I was relieved that I could participate fully in all the arm and floor work. I was apprehensive about lots of the movements though, which caused a rigidity in my body and tightening of my muscles.

Evaluation:

The positive aspect of this injury occurring was that it forced me to adapt my movement, which is likely I will have to do again as injuries can sometimes happen in training and performance. It forced me to move in a different way and to stop being right side dominant. Also, I was able to relate to one of my peers who had been battling with an injury for weeks and I could empathise with his frustration. Additionally, when I did sit out to rest, I was able to observe and offer feedback to my peers. However, I did over-exert myself a little, because I didn’t want to sit out, and I was in pain for the rest of the day.

Conclusions:

I need to work on not allowing myself to get so stressed and anxious if an injury occurs again. I noticed the anxiety caused my muscles to become tense, which is not conducive to a good dance performance and could make me more susceptible to further injury. I need to develop my skills in self-regulating my stress levels, through breath work, meditation and relaxation time. Also, I should have used ice packs more and increased time self-massaging my foot.

Action:

• Meditate once a day to improve self-regulation of my own mood.
• If an injury occurs again, I need to commit more time to actively recovering (elevation, ice packs, massage, physio).
• Make a conscious decision to focus on the positive aspects of all situations
• Listen to my body more and rest when my body is signaling me to do so.