Growing Pains

I spent a large chunk of time last year dealing with injuries, but that was nothing compared to what this past January has been like. I was nursing a new injury almost every week. It seemed as though the second one healed, another would emerge from the dark. As excited as I've been to have the chance to attend ballet 4 days a week and rhythmic gymnastics twice a month, my body's been going through a pretty uncomfortable adjustment phase. Because of this I haven't been practicing at home as much as I would like to. I figure it's better to give my body time to mend itself now than to work myself to exhaustion every day. Before I had a pretty solid understanding of my range of motion, lately it's been a bit of a gamble. I feel like I'm stepping into a new body every time I exercise. Even in areas that aren't injured my muscles have been building and repairing themselves constantly and my flexibility has been fluctuating.

Beyond that I've been having to adjust mentally to my situation too. For now I'm placed in level 4 and have classes with them during the week. Most of the other girls in my level are much younger than me. Another thing I've had to get used to are my classes on Saturdays. On Saturdays I'm with the level 6 girls. Although this is closer to my age group, their abilities exceed mine and it shows.

I understand that my schedule is pretty uncommon, but in a strange way I do like it. Being the worst in class on Saturdays has actually come with benefits. It's forced me to stop focusing on my insecurities and to put all my energy and concentration into learning. I can get a pretty good understanding of what it is I'm lacking and what I need to work on at home to improve. I know now that I need to start dedicating more time to working in center. Before barre, strength, and flexibility were the only things I was working on at home. I can keep up with the level 6 girls at barre fairly well, my movements aren't the cleanest and I'm not always sure what my head and arms should be doing, but center I'm completely lost. To be honest, I have no idea what 90% of the instructions I'm being given mean much less how to execute them properly! I feel like if I could have each step slowly broken down and explained to me I'd catch on, but I know that's not possible when there are close to 20 other girls in class. The good news? I have plenty of time to practice at home!