Passion for Dance

Summary: Gratitude has become a bit of a buzzword lately with people everywhere telling you to start a gratitude journal, have a gratitude practice every evening, write down the top three things you're grateful for today. Expressing gratitude, either verbally or writing it down, on a regular basis can help rewire your brain. There's an old saying: "You can't live a positive life with a negative mind." However, we have to train for that positive mind, and practicing gratitude is one simple and very powerful way to train your brain to see more positives in your life.

In this episode, we'll focus on how gratitude can deepen our relationships and improve our mindset. I'll be sharing with you a little behind-the-scenes peek at some scientific findings that back up a new way to tap into the power of gratitude. I hope this episode encourages you to think about gratitude in a different way than you have before, especially during Thanksgiving. I hope that this episode serves as a reminder to tell the people in your life when you are grateful for something that they have done or the impact they have made. Happy Thanksgiving!

Key Highlights -

[1m 56s] - Training Your Mind with Gratitude

[3m 32s] - Gratitude is Finding Joy in the Little Things

[4m 20s] - Gratitude Lists

[5m 59s] - Gratitude Research

[7m 11s] - Gratitude in the Form of a Narrative

[9m 21s] - Gratitude Prompts

Resources -

20 Gratitude Prompts for Dancers: https://www.chelseapierotti.com/88

Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform!

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers.

Dr. Huberman's Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/huberman-lab/id1545953110?i=1000542687520

Summary: Do you have big goals and dreams for the year, but when it comes to actually put in the work and practice, you find yourself feeling stuck, too tired, and unmotivated to push through? In this episode, we'll be talking about what to do when we need a mental reset as dancers or dance educators. Sometimes we can get stuck in a negative mindset, and we need a way to kick us back into a more productive mood. I will share with you ideas about how my favorite old mantra "control the controllables" isn't just about competition and those big events in our life. It's about all the small things, too. This mantra can help us find the motivation we want to get it all done or even just to show up at rehearsal tonight in a better mental space.

I'll also be sharing more about my membership, Relevé. This membership is all about building a community for dance coaches on the rise, and it's open for new members. I created this membership to help all of the dance coaches out there who want to rise up and make a difference for their team and help them through the new challenges that we've all been facing lately.

Key Highlights -

[1m 49s] - The Dance Coach Membership: Relevé

[2m 38s] - "Control the Controllables"

[4m 10s] - Getting Caught Up in the Negative Thoughts

[5m 30s] - How to Flip the Mental Switch

[5m 50s] - Set Your Intentions

[6m 44s] - Finding Joy in the Small Things

[8m 09s] - Choosing Kindness

[8m 20s] - Listening to Those Around You

[8m 41s] - Having Time for Reflection

[9m 13s] - Being Present in the Moment

[10m 35s] - Taking Action

[14m 09s] - What is In Your Control Today?

Resources -

The Dance Coaching Membership: Relevé - www.chelseapierotti.com/membership

Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform!

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers.

Summary:

If you've ever used affirmations with your dancers, this episode introduces a tool for a different way to use them. My guest today is Dr. Noah, a former professional dancer and a peak performance executive mental coach to the stars, who speaks on the power of using AFFORMATIONS instead of affirmations. This might be a subtle change, but it might make a huge difference for you and your dancers.

Dr. Noah danced with the Richmond Ballet, the Boston Ballet, Hartford Ballet and is also a keynote speaker who's famous for helping people and companies take out their head trash and make more money while fulfilling their mission. He teaches his clients about the power of asking the right questions to help plant more positive thought seeds in your brain. Dr. Noah also teaches the Freedom Lifestyle Formula. Tune in to find out more!

Pull Quotes -

Dr. Noah: "So I said, "Wait a second. What if instead of saying statements we don't believe, why don't we just cut out the middleman, go right to the question, and that would instantly change the thought seeds we're planting and, thereby, enable us to change our habits, change our results, and change our life. And I said, "Holy cow. I think I just invented something!"

Key Highlights -

[2m 40s] - What Getting Your Life Back Means to Dr. Noah

[5m 45s] - The Freedom Lifestyle Formula

[7m 45s] - To Change Your Life, Change the Thought Seeds You're Planting

[10m 01s] - Affirmations vs. AFFORMATIONS

[18m 23s] - Advice on Helping our Dancers Believe in Themselves

[26m 13s] - A Starting AFFORMATION

[29m 40s]c- More About Dr. Noah and His Work

Resources -

Dr. Noah's AFFOMRATIONS Method: https://afformations.com/get-afformations-secure

Dr. Noah's Website: https://noahstjohn.com/

AFFORM Wear: https://afformwear.com/

Millionaire AFFORMATIONS Book: https://millionaireafformations.com/get-millionaire-book-secure

To submit a question, anonymously or not, head to www.chelseapierotti.com/podcast and you'll see a link to submit a question.

Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform!

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers.

Summary:

Just imagine you get up on competition day and you are pumped and excited but actually not nervous. You know your dancers are ready to crush it today! Just imagine how good it would feel to know you did everything possible to support your dancers and no one is going to be a deer in headlights when they take stage or fall apart today. You'll be able to just exhale, relax, and enjoy competition day knowing it's all handled. That's truly what I want for all of you.

I put out a call for listeners to send in questions, and I picked two to answer. In this episode, you'll hear from two of our listeners who asked about making sure your new dancers are prepared and making sure we don't end up with that blank stare, panic look at our first event.

I'll also be sharing about my audio course, Confident Dancer Formula. If you're a part of this wonderful community, then I know you take your dancers' mindset seriously and you understand that it could be the thing that makes the difference for your dancers this year. If you know your dancers need some more help with confidence this year and you want to take that little extra step, then listen in and see if this is a good fit for you because saying most dancers struggle with mindset all season, but then they just hope it'll be okay when it's time to take the floor.

Resources -

The Course: The Confident Dancer Formula

To submit a question, anonymously or not, head to www.chelseapierotti.com/podcast and you'll see a link to submit a question.

Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform!

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers.

Summary:

We're going back in the archives today with an interview from 2020 with the amazing Dawn Walters of The University of Kentucky Dance Team. Dawn's approach to coaching is so relatable and refreshing. She has such genuine advice and a superpower as a coach. We talk about opening the door for more dancers of different genres and backgrounds to join a big university program. She really led us behind the curtain and shared how she runs practices, how she cleans her routines, and even how her coaching style has changed. She was really open with me when we got into some of the hard stuff and we talked about addressing race in the dance team industry and protecting yourself as a coach from that one angry parent who could tear it all down.

Dawn was a UK cheerleader and dancer, and she started coaching UK in 2009. She has a long list of accomplishments including national titles, starting her own all-star gym, judging for top competitions, and, of course, just impacting so many young lives through her program at The University of Kentucky. I hope this beautiful interview brings you a dose of motivation and inspiration as we head into competition season.

Pull Quotes -

Dawn: "So I'm hoping that coaches will now step back and go, "Wow, okay, I was being so strict on that," and not to be mean but just for sake of going everybody has to wear their hair in a ponytail and in a bun and whatever... Let's take that pressure off of those coaches that go, "But I have to or I'm gonna get a point taken off 'cause everybody's hair wasn't this way." ... It felt like I had to have a weave or I had to do this to my hair because otherwise I wouldn't have made the team or I wouldn't have been able to do things or whatever. Hopefully, those things go there. That's what I really hoped that the dialogue and the communication would be there so then your kids of color and your Black kids would feel like, "Wow. I'm accepted."

Key Highlights -

[1m 53s] Team Culture

[7m 52s] Dawn's Two Teams: The White Squad and The Blue Squad

[11m 23s] How Dawn Runs Team Practice

[19m 27s] Dawn's Cleaning Style

[25m 15s] Go with the Flow!

[27m 01s] You Cannot Treat All Your Dancers the Same

[32m 10s] What Dawn Would Like to See Change in Our Dance World

[37m 30s] Dawn's Biggest Challenge as a Coach

[42m 41s] Dawn's Favorite Memory as a Coach

[45m 07s] Dawn's Advice for Coaches

Resources -

To be a part of a future episode, visit: www.chelseapierotti.com/beontheshow

Transcript and further resources at:

www.chelseapierotti.com/84

Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform!

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers.

Summary:

You may or may not yet know that I do a lot of coaching the coaches in my business. This is where I work with dance teachers and coaches to help them discover how they can best support their dancers' mental skills while improving their own skills. After doing this work for years, I've found that many people are struggling with similar situations, and I believe in the value of hearing how other people are dealing with these particular things.

Today, I am excited to share something new with all of you! We'll be doing a one-on-one coaching for dance educators episode with Coach Erin, a high school coach in Missouri. In this episode, we discuss personal mindset tips for dance coaches, how to build up intensity and excitement earlier in the season, the benefit of discussing possible obstacles and reflecting on performances with dancers, and more.

These episodes will function as a way to come together in the community to support other dance educators, and this is the first of many episodes like these to come. These types of episodes will allow us to see that we're not alone and also help us gain insight into how things can improve when it comes to both our dancers' mental skills and our own skills as coaches.

Resources -

Episode Resources: https://chelseapierotti.com/83

To be a part of a future episode, visit: www.chelseapierotti.com/beontheshow

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform!

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers.

Summary:

If I know our dance world, then I know that one thing you can count on every season is you're going to have to clean your routines. Whether your dance team is game-day focused, you're preparing for a championship, or you're performing the nutcracker this holiday season, we all want our routines to be as clean as possible. I always, personally, admire the routines that are exceptionally polished. It makes the artistic message easier to read and understand (and it's just plain impressive) but cleaning can get really monotonous.

From the mental side of things, I know that's one of the times where we really need our dancers to be more mentally tough. We need them to dig down and stick with us. Learning how to stick with a long, boring task is a good skill to have, so challenge your dancers to stay with you even if you're spending a long time on one small section. That said, sometimes we all need a break and a little motivation boost.

Today, I'm going to share a cleaning idea that I learned from fellow coaches who were using this a lot during the pandemic when they had to stay in small groups, but, truly, it's great anytime because of the mental break, the built-in leadership challenge, and that shift in focus.

Pull Quote -

Chelsea: "This Station Cleaning Method is a great way to take a mostly-clean routine that isn't quite consistent yet and give it that last polish. It allows your leaders some autonomy, each dancer has some time for more feedback, and it's simply just a way to change it up when cleaning monotony is just obnoxious and we can't do it anymore."

Key Highlights -

[3m 12s] The Station Cleaning Method

[3m 57s] Step One: Divide the Routine into Sections

[4m 28s] Step Two: Divide the Team into Four Equal Groups

[5m 28s] Step Three: Add Giant Sticky Notes to Each Section

[6m 36s] Step Four: Send Each Group to Their Station to Clean

[7m 35s] Step Five: Come Back Together and Run Each Section as a Whole Group

[8m 27s] Recap of The Station Cleaning Method

Resources -

Show Notes, Transcript, and Resources: https://chelseapierotti.com/82

Submit your question for the upcoming Q&A episode about building confidence here: https://speakpipe.com/passionfordance

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform!

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers.

We naturally bond over shared complaints rather than shared wins. Why do we find a better connection with people when we share our frustrations? Why do we simultaneously feel like we aren't allowed to share a win or it's boastful? Research even shows that while we may bond over shared complaints, it can put us all in a bad mood. So why don't we share wins and put everyone in a good mood instead? Let's talk about why sharing wins is hard, but we need to do it more often.

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Show Notes and Resources

https://chelseapierotti.com/81

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform!

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers.

Imagine this, you're lying in bed, exhausted from a long day. You start thinking about the email you need to send to that one parent. Then you start to fix the opening sequence to your jazz routine in your head because it isn't reading the way you want it to. Then you start to calculate how long it will take you to rhinestone one costume and realize you have some late nights ahead of you. Have you ever had those sleepless nights where your head hits the pillow and the to-do list starts growing in your head?

If you can relate, then this episode is for you. I share my own method for controlling the mind clutter before bed to ensure better sleep plus some science about how forgiveness may actually be the key.

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Show Notes and Resources

https://chelseapierotti.com/80

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform!

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers.

Do you have more slow twitch or fast twitch muscle fibers? Does your body process B vitamins quickly making you more sluggish sometimes? Maybe you're like me and you have no idea. So what if a genetic test could tell you specific information like that and even more like information about nutrition, and heart health, plus caffeine and sleep?

Today I talked with Sarah Haslock Johnson, founder of Dance RX, which I'm telling you, is so exciting. It's an at-home genetic test and wellness resource, specifically crafted with dance optimization in mind. In this interview, we talked all about Dance RX, but also what it takes to be a good teacher, the industry-wide mental health concerns that were part of her motivation to create Dance RX, and more. So this is the story of Sarah's journey and the power of Dance RX.

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Show Notes and Resources

https://chelseapierotti.com/79

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Did you enjoy today's episode? Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform!

Be sure to visit me on Instagram @dr.chelsea.pierotti for more mental skills advice for dancers.