One of my students shared the following website and video with me recently.

Image from http://danceinayear.com/ Video at: http://youtu.be/daC2EPUh22w

I love the sentiment in this gal’s website and video. She wanted it so she worked for it.

One of the things I was able to observe in her time-lapse video: You can see that she has more energy in her moves near the end, as well as a carriage that says, “I’m confident in this movement.” When you practice more, you gain confidence. That confidence infuses your overall energy. Having energy and confidence in your movements makes the movement look more polished and amazing. It’s Dance Magic.

We’re already bringing our audience into a place of magic when we perform, whether it is the magic of our technique (How did she DO that?!) or our precision (How did they do that TOGETHER?!).

There’s also a place of magic that is just for you. You are the recipient of the magic. You’re the one who can get excited when you see the results of what practicing can do for you. It might be a small thing, like the first time you no longer feel like an awkward duck trying to waddle across the stage. Or it might be an accumulation of things, like when you realize you have more endurance, you can dance to faster songs, you can layer more moves, you can smile while dancing, etc. Or it might be those moments when you remember what it was like the first time you took a course compared to taking it again a year later.

How do you get those incremental improvements? Find a way to practice.

I like an idea I picked up from a book by Julie Morgenstern called “Organizing from the Inside Out.” She suggests that you find something you already do well in your life to be a model for the strengths in your life that you can apply to something you want to improve. Basically, find what works in one area of life and do that in the other areas.

I like to find triggers for remembering to do a new thing. For example, I shower every morning. I put conditioner on my hair every morning. I decided when I first started dancing to “study one dance move” every time I put on the conditioner. For most of the first year, I examined how my arms should be angled in a dance move that was difficult for me (to be specific, the Egyptian Basic in ATS). I held my arms in the starting position, moved them slowly to the right, back to center, moved them slowly to the left, back to center, and done. Rinse my hair, go on with my day, repeat the next morning. Later, when that had fully entered my muscle memory, I did other slow stretches or muscle movements. Sometimes, I just stretched my shoulders in the warm water. Other times I rose on my toes slowly and back to flat-foot, just to get my ankles stronger every day.

The key here was DAILY. The trigger was my own choosing. And because I picked something I do every day as the reminder for a new habit I wanted to build every day, it worked.

Lately, I’ve been trying to remember to go for walks to get away from my computer desk job. One trigger I like is, “Walk around the building once every time you get up for the restroom.” I don’t always do it, but I often do. I’ve noticed I’m able to work out the kinks of sitting for hours by something simple. And because it is simple and daily and attached to a memory trigger, it works.

What new small habits do you want to build? What new daily memory triggers might you try using?

There’s a discussion forum (both on a separate website and on Facebook) in which many folks post about finding motivation and overcoming various obstacles in their lives, whether physical or mental, chronic or habitual, lonely or common. In one discussion, one of the ladies on the list said something in passing that struck me at the heart.

“In my exercise classes, the only required choreography is the get out of the car and walk in the door of the class step. Everything after that is optional.”  — Jeanette Depatie (author of thefatchick.com)

I took her quote and made a visually appealing graphic, uploaded it to the group, my students’ forum, pinterest, and my general facebook timeline.

I’m glad that Jeanette liked it. She’s an inspiration to many people, and I could not help spreading more of her inspiration to other people.

Last night I had my first *new* class as a dance student, and it reminded me that I’m never NOT a student. I believe that it is worth it to always be a student, to always be learning and taking in new information. I’d forgotten how much I love those opportunities, and was very grateful last night.

A friend of mine is also doing her first class as a teacher, and her excitement last night was extremely palpable and infectious. It was fantastic to be there, and I hope I was a supportive student. I think what I find most difficult is that balance between a student who just listens and doesn’t respond verbally and those times when student input is good for both the teacher and the other students. There have been times when I’ve observed some classes in which student feedback is not necessarily encouraged but a sense that the teacher is the only one who talks and describes what is going on. In other classes, I’ve seen teachers encouraging students to offer their observations, their ideas, and to make those leaps of understanding and share them with everyone there. A cooperative learning environment doesn’t always work but sometimes it is exactly how everyone can benefit. Sometimes some of my spinning students will observe something I’ve never thought of, and when they contribute it is really fantastic. Other times, students might make a leap in thinking, but they’ve landed on a solution that will cause them trouble later. Then I have to gently show them another option and we can all see why some options are better than others.

When I’m an instructor, it seems easier to guide everyone’s discussions so that we can all learn from one another. It’s harder to know, especially in the beginning, when it is okay to volunteer an idea, an experience, a story, an observation, or even to ask a question to see if I’m headed down the right path when I’m a student. I can only hope that I’m gaining the wisdom to read the room better, each time. I can say that I had a blast last night, and I’m enjoying this class. I hope I can dance with these folks more often. Our instructor has some fantastic dance training, and I can already see the excellent ways in which she’s bringing that to her new instruction style.

Today, I also had an opportunity to share some flexibility with some students that really encouraged them. Sometimes we get sick and have to heal, sometimes we have family obiligations, sometimes we have appointments come up that we couldn’t foresee. One friend and I want to be dancing regularly together, and we still haven’t had the opportunity. Another couple of friends and I were supposed to dance tonight, but things came up. In all these cases, I love that I have the chance to soothe their worries and assure them that my flexibility is specifically why I am teaching the way I do. I’m not a standard “classroom and schedule” kind of instructor. For some reason, I’ve been called to be a “mobile strike-unit” type of teacher. I’m reaching the students who cannot go to a weekly class in a classroom after a commute. I’m reaching students who cannot leave their homes because of small children. I’m reaching students who already have other obligations but would love to dance informally in a park, dreaming of doing more and other types of dance later.

And if you couldn’t tell, I *love* being this type of teacher. I couldn’t be happier.

Week two of my guest-lecture series in the park was last night. This is an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) fighter practice for a local barony, and they’ve been doing informal (free) bellydancing for years. They’ve been kind enough to allow me to be their guest instructor for an 8-week series to demonstate ATS instruction. It gives me an excellent chance to refine my teaching and to work with a larger number of dancers at one time. My other teaching engagements right now are limited to a 1- or 2-student lessons, so I love the variety in the park.

Also, I never know who might show up at the park. Even though the material builds on foundations introduced in earlier lessons, this series is specifically open to *any* student to drop in on *any* week. So I also need to refine the lessons to allow for both the review material that makes new drop-ins feel welcome and still challenge returning students with new material.

A friend I haven’t seen in many years dropped in last night and complimented me on the experience.

You rocked it! You are an amazing bellydance teacher! Amazingly funny and yet detailed and calm. Great class. See you next week!

Of course the straight-up compliments are very encouraging. But best of all, I never thought about how my instruction style often includes humor. She’s right, I do crack small jokes throughout the instruction, trying to get everyone to relax and laugh and smile while they are working so hard. It’s even easier in the SCA-context because there are so many silly references I can make to help them visualize the posture we’re working on. Want their arms to be wide and strong frames? Envision trying to hug a very sweaty fighter or a kitchen cook covered in flour. Want to have them angle their faces towards the audience? Describe how the fighter who is standing there watching our practice is actually an invited guest at our dance performance, and she’s taking photos. We want to present pretty formations so she gets the best photos of us! (Said fighter played along with my narrative and immediately mimed taking pictures of us.)

I never thought about it consciously but yes, I joke through my instruction and I hope it continues to resonate with students who want to study with me. It won’t work for everyone, but it does seem to draw the kind of students I adore to want to spend time in my classes

Teaching spinning this past weekend: Laughing and Encouraging my students

Our workplace has tandem parking spots in the parking structure, where you can park directly behind someone and block them in (or be blocked in) and then you log your parking into a database. Then when someone needs to leave, they can find you and ask you to move your car for them. I was walking out to the structure with one of the guys who was leaving at 2:45 pm, and as we walked up to our cars he saw my bumper sticker.

Sticker from Faizeh.com http://www.cafepress.com/faizeh.15101646

He asked me, “So, what are Zills?” I explained that zills are Finger Cymbals. And I almost did a double-take on myself as I continued, “I teach bellydance.”

Whoa. That’s the first time I said that naturally in conversation to someone who never knew I studied bellydance, never knew I had been trying to get to a place of teaching since my very first hour of ATS, and never knew how I’d only just recently started to make that transition from full-time student to part-time instructor.

But yes, I teach bellydance.