41. Staying active, positive and SAFE whilst dancing at home with Debra Crookshanks!

Hello beautiful Balanced Ballerinas! How are you all feeling this week? I’ll be honest, I’m feeling better that last week.
If you ever feel like sharing your thoughts, feelings, questions or maybe even a photo of your current ‘home studio’ you can do so in the Private Balanced Ballerinas Facebook group… simply search, click ‘join’ and I’ll be sure to add you.
Now onto today’s guest…
Debra is a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Dance Physiotherapist with 30 years experience in the assessment and treatment of dancers & performing artists.
Debra is also the Director of The Dancers Clinic in Sydney Australia and a lecturer in anatomy and injury prevention for dancers, teachers and allied health professionals.
In other words, she is the perfect person to bring on the podcast to discuss staying active, positive and safe whilst dancing at home during isolation.
Debra is also internationally recognised in the field of dance medicine, frequently presenting papers as an invited speaker at national & international dance medicine conferences such as the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) where she sits on the Board of Directors.
Now, if you follow me on social media or listened to the previous two solo podcast episodes since corona virus hit, you will have picked up that I’m a little concerned about everyone performing pirouettes on tiles or grande allegro in their garage.
This is why my dance studio didn’t automatically transfer our entire timetable to online in haste. Instead we slowly wound down and I did what I do best… consulted and spoke to leaders in our industry who I trust wholeheartedly.
One of my first phone calls was to friend of the pod Marie Walton-Mahon (Founder of Progressing Ballet Technique). In between converting her entire PBT syllabus into a family-friendly version complete with equipment substitutes (like skateboards instead of swiss balls!) to keep everyone active during this time, Marie so kindly took my calls and introduced me to Debra.
Little did Marie know that Debra has actually been on my list (yes I have a list!) of dream guests for the podcast for quite some time now, so I jumped at the opportunity to do a remote interview.
I think it’s really important to prioritise our physical and mental health during this time. To try maintain our condition, instead of kicking new goals.
As Marie so famously says, ‘The Body is Forever’ and to compliment that I think we need to consider another friend of the pods daily mantra ‘Slow. Tender. Surrender…’ Global Lululemon Ambassador Ally Maz mentioned in episode #36 of the podcast just how important it is to listen to our bodies for our mental health and #SlowTenderSurrender couldn’t be more pertinent to the current situation.
In this episode Debra and I discuss the benefits of staying active during this time, creating a safe space to condition and train and the importance of not playing catch up when this is all over.
Debra also provides some really practical ideas, solutions and suggestions whilst sprinkling the perfect dose of encouragement to all of us who are missing our studios so very much.
It was an absolute honour to speak with Debra and I’d like to thank her for being so willing to jump at the chance to appear on the podcast and I hope we can meet and connect in real life soon…
You can find Debra at The Dancers Clinic on Facebook and contact her via email at physio4dancers@ozemail.com.au
Grit & Grace,
Georgia
IG @balancedballerinasIG @thebalancedballerina
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