Taking care of your body is important, being able to listen to your body is even more important. If you’re like me and believe you can just jump back into your old workout routine or think you can handle the amount of work that you used to put in anywhere from 2 to 7 years ago, you have another thing coming! Our bodies change over time, our schedules become different, our bodies need different bits of attention and more care as we get older. Sometimes I think I’m still as fit as I used to be at 18, dancing 6 out 7 days of the week, getting roughly 4-6 hours of sleep a night and practicing for 4-5 hours after school. I’ve learned over time that I cannot do that anymore because I’m not conditioned to do that anymore. 

You might have heard the phrase “If you do not pick a day to relax, your body will pick it for you” or other variations of it. It could not be more true the older you get! Learning to listen to my body is something I am still actively working on, but I understand that I’m not what I used to be but I’m still very proud of what I’m able to do now! I am learning that rest days are just as important as the days I chose to work out. Making sure that I get enough sleep, drink enough water, eat healthier foods, stretch regularly and choose myself first. 

We are able to accomplish such amazing things at all times in our lives. At 18, I was doing incredible leaps and turns and memorizing multiple routines, and now at 26 I can’t do those things as well anymore, but now I can do incredible things on the pole, or on hammock or silks! I hope in the next 10 to 30 years I’m still able to do incredible things and more! Maybe I’ll do a 5k, or learn to rock climb, or start a family. But I know to be able to do those, I need to keep taking care of my body and listening to what it needs and when. 

I’m very grateful for what I’m able to do at Aerial Dance and that my body allows me to be able to create such cool shapes, or that I can hold my entire body by manipulating fabric or having just the right grip points on the pole. The community Aerial has created is so uplifting and supportive that working out and taking care of my body is so fun and makes me want to keep myself healthy both when I’m actively working out or taking a rest day or two.