TrishOnSkates Blog

Sooner or later, no matter what you are doing fear will do it’s best to stop you. I call it the wall of water like those of a waterfall. You can almost see through it but not quite. If you can push through it you will see that there is nothing on the other side except a place to sit and watch the water cascade.

Whether it’s a skating move, a public speech or taking a test, fear will meet you and you will need to decide what to do.

“What would you do if you could not fail?” R. Schuller

I learned that what brings me joy in life is pushing my barriers, trying things that scare me and looking at those things in life I have not been doing well and trying to improve them.  I feel happier than at any other time in my life and I believe it is for a variety of reasons, the main one being that I am up against my fears in a number of areas.

“Do one thing every day that scares you?” E. Roosevelt

Regularly spins will make my heart beat faster and I’ll get anxious and wondering if I can just walk away from it. Since my self esteem will take a nose dive if I stop and the opposite will happen if I try it, no matter the result, I’ll will tried it.

If you are up against fear in your skating then maybe think about these ideas:

• Start by doing/returning to the  basics. For spins it might be just trying to turn 90 degrees. It might be just practicing to keep your head up and arms steady and only going 90 degrees. For stopping fully it might be just working on proper form for “Boom” and “Scissor”
• Practice it on the carpet on skates, or in shoes.  Jeremy LaCivita has been working for months on a rear wheel one skate glide and whenever we are off the rink he is standing on just the heel of his shoe, practicing. BTW, Jeremy has achieved his one-foot-heel-glide.
• Tell people you are going to do it, or that you are practicing it. Nothing like a ‘promise’ to others to make you internalize that it will happen.
• Visualize it. If you watch ice skaters practicing jumps, you will notice they ‘walk’ themselves through it in their skates, on the ice, from the take-off through to the end.
• Talk to your instructors. Ask them for feedback, ask them if they think you can do it. Let them lend you faith. So often as instructors we can see that someone can easily accomplish the move, but THEY think they cannot do it.
• Set a goal. If it’s a glide, put out cones on the ground, in a line, about 6 inches apart and just try to get your glide just for six inches, then for 12 inches, etc.
• Trust yourself. If you are reading this email then you have taken classes from Skate Journeys and as such, you know what you are doing, you have the basics, the good posture and so many tools at your disposal. Trust yourself, acknowledge the fear and know that we believe in you. And so should you. Just do it, simply do it. Anything after the word ‘just’ or ‘simply’  is difficult and we know it.
• We all want each other to be successful. We are a non-competitive school and you won’t find anyone in your class that doesn’t want you to succeed. When you succeed it’s like we all succeed.

When you are ready we are all right there with you. And remember to go weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee because it allows you to not think about the fear but to feel the fun. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee  just say it now, you can’t help but smile.  Joy is found just beyond the wall of water. You’ll love your life when you push your boundaries. And you know, We are all right there with you.