Thecatsmother

Roll on Tuesday. Edited to subdue already anxious head and unhappy foot which keeps changing colour not due to change of socks.

Thank you. That's helpful. Did you have it done in theatre?

Can anyone share there experience of steroid and anaesthetic injections into joints in feet. Not v good at I think they call it 'rest' so am wondering how many distracting activities I will need. It's into an unstable foot injury so will be well behaved to give it best possible chance....well relatively well behaved????

Spanner..it's a v short term therapeutic approach often used to treat post traumatic stress disorder but works v well for phobias if there is an initial memory of distressing event linked to feared situation. EMDR stands for eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing. It's not a form of hypnosis and was developed by an American psychologist.

There are a couple of approaches which might help with what seems like panic which is almost becoming a phobia. It's best not to let this take hold and there are things that might help to try. One of the important things is to look at what she believes might happen in the situation as it is the thought/belief that fuels the somatic symptoms of anxiety which then impacts ability to sings. It gets stuck as a vicious cycle. There is a v simple book which might help her to understand what is going on as once you can make sense of it this in turn helps to break the cycle as it creates new meaning. PM me if I can be of help. The other thing which would probably help is a session of EMDR with a psychologist or therapist in your area.

Has she had one difficult experience of this which has triggered fear of it happening again which then maintains the symptoms?

I have a feeling ENB took 1 or 2 students from San Francisco ballet school this season.

Change of plan. Now next week as has to be done in theatre...

Finally got a response. Having it injected tomorrow but not sure if this is a diagnostic procedure. At least something is happening.

Call me Scrooge but can I add Xmas decorations and adverts on TV. They should be banned until at least 1st Dec. I hate mulled wine but can be tempted by the odd glass of winter pimms.

The decorator said it comes back after a few months. Good point re dancers. Does that come back when you stop?

I am icing my injury so another strategy.. So you are prepared with all your shoes, tights, leotards but how can you prepare for the audition to give yourself the best opportunity to manage nerves along the way. The whole set up of auditions, the changing rooms, dancers watching other dancers etc provide the potential for your mind to wander in directions which will not help you to do what you are really there to do; JUST FOCUS UPON YOU. The great thing is that no matter what environment we find ourselves in it is possible to train the mind not to engage with distractions which interrupt our focus and impact our mindset. The first thing to try is a mental rehearsal of the audition. Take yourself in your mind to the setting-the journey, being in the dressing room, warming up, doing the audition and even leaving at the end. As you visualise all these stages make a list of all the thoughts and issues which you anticipate might crop up on the day. You will be the expert in noticing the things which are likely to come up. Are you someone who tends to compare yourself to others? What thoughts/beliefs might come up as a result of this? When you have thought through all the potential sneaky thoughts that you predict might come up it is useful to write them down. See what you come up with. It is highly likely that these thoughts will come up but it's all about whether you engage with them. The thinking behind cognitive behavioural therapy is that what we think about a situation determines how we feel. The goal is not to eradicate the thoughts you might have identified but to think about how helpful these will be to you if you choose to engage with them on the day. Start to make a list of some of the things it might be more helpful to focus your mind upon. With enough practice when you turn up on the day you will be able to thank the 'less helpful' thoughts for their contribution but then introduce the thoughts which you have come up with as more conducive to a good performance. This can be paired with imagery in advance of the audition so it can be called upon to reduce anxiety at any point in the day. Be interested to hear if there are common thoughts which come up in dancers prior to auditions. The very act of sharing some of these might help reduce anxiety in itself as it helps to realise you are not the only one who has these thoughts.

Everybody is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid (Albert Einstein).

They have a variety of worry dolls on amazon usually.

I thought a post about managing worry in run up to auditions might be timely. Firstly, it is totally normal to worry. The more you try and tell yourself not to worry, the more you think of it. It's like telling yourself not to think about a 'pink elephant' what happens? You keep thinking about it. A well researched strategy for managing worry is to set a timer for 20 minutes each day and spend the time writing down every worry that comes to mind. After 20 minutes, ask yourself if any of these worries can be solved in the day and if so then act on it. All the others are then parked on your worry list for the rest of the day. Every time these worries come to mind at other points in the day, or new ones emerge, you just tell yourself "I have had my worry time for the day and can come back to it in my 20 mins tomorrow" then move on with your day. It can take a bit of practice and working out when is the best time in the day to have the worry time but it is a highly useful strategy which enhances focus. Some prefer to do at the beginning of the day whilst others prefer to do at end of day. If you are starting to deal with worry in the days approaching the audition, it is then useful to confront some of the thoughts which will emerge on the day of the audition. The audition setting can bring up a whole 'cocktail' of anxieties and the tendency to compare self to others. Again the challenge is not to avoid these thoughts but to see them coming, notice them and then draw upon more helpful thoughts, images and beliefs. TBC...

Glad you have found someone Michelle.

I did also discover last week that decorators tend to lose their sense of smell.

Why is it that most builders are not able to communicate without shouting even if they are standing next to each other?

I said I would post a bit about psychological preparation for auditions so here is first instalment. Auditions by there very nature will evoke a sense of anxiety. This in itself can be helpful to enhance performance but it can be useful to explore ways of regulating this and having a few tools which you can call on if you feel the need. The first step is to have a mini emotional toolbox in addition your dance clothes. Firstly, a few items which can help with grounding. You can experiment with this a bit but one of the things which is well used within psychology is the grounding power of scent. We can all relate to this to some degree or other when we suddenly become aware of a scent and it immediately brings online a memory of a past association with a particular scent. Scent has a rapid impact on certain pathways in the brain so can be drawn upon as a grounding object as part of an audition toolbox. You can be creative with this. Choosing a favourite essential oil and having it on a tissue in your dance bag can be a subtle way of grounding on way or before audition. Nobody would think anything of carrying a tissue. Oils such as lavender, grapefruit, orange, geranium are good and often used in psychology services. The other option is to find a hand cream or lotion which you like and have this in your bag. Experiment until you find a scent which appears to have a grounding effect. It is not so much about the scent properties but more the associations built up around it. This is an easy strategy that dancers and dancing parents can draw upon. It is used regularly in psychological trauma services so the therapeutic power of scent as a grounding strategy has been well researched. I will post further on imagery, grounding strategies used within psychology plus how to "thank your thoughts for their unhelpful contributions and harness the ones which can keep you focused".

Many thanks Anjuli. It is part of the problem due to it being quite rare but I do have a foot and ankle surgeon with experience of dancers. It's just been rather hard to get the information I need to decide what to do next.

The art of a technically good full plié is tricky. There are also debates as to whether some should do from fourth. If you are getting pain in joints then this can be modified. This is why some company classes do not do a set plié and dancers are allowed to do what their body needs. I always think it is key to think why you are doing an exercise at the barre. Whilst the choreography may differ from class to class the key components are always there and form the basis of classical ballet hence why they get repeated daily by dancers over the years. Floor barre plies can also take strain off the joints if pain is experienced.

Sadly such things do not really seem to exist in private healthcare in UK other than a GP. On the plus side I did meet in passing a very dishy orthopaedic surgeon who was v interested in talking lisfranc injuries. I would have been happy for him to have looked at it but it was not his job alas...

Well, I still have no results but ended up at A & E as my foot turned a different colour and I could not weight bear. Although medical professionals v nice they all tend to express confusion around what is best to do and ask me what I need. At least I know the blood flow in my foot is intact which was the greatest fear. I now have crutches and anti inflammatories but that's not easy especially when nurse set them at differing heights. Hopefully if I can get swelling down I will be able to cope without the crutches. I really am at a loss around what to do next.

Sorry this was in response to simply adult ballet thread.

It is usually a good idea to seek the advice of a Physio in order to get an expert opinion if pain is experienced on a regular basis. They should be able to give you an idea of what is causing pain, what you can do to reduce this and what you should/should not do if it is likely to exacerbate the potential injury. It is often wise to seek professional advice earlier than later as it can reduce the risk of having to take time off dance with a chronic injury. There is a list of physio's with a special interest in dance on the BAPAM and Dance UK website. This should tell you if there is one in your area or in an area where you travel for class.