burnout: causes and timeline

Just be patient with yourself... after burning out last year, I'm still not all of the way back. Some days, I'm all "rah, let's go!", and others are decidedly more blah. Right now, I'm just trying to remind myself that feeling any excitement and motivation at all is an improvement over where I was 6 months ago, and that it's okay if I have a day or two where I'm not feeling it. Sometimes, I go in to practice despite the blahs, but occasionally, I consciously decide to take the day off and do something for me. I think that if I try to push myself to be all the way back too quickly, I'll end up right back where I was - so tired and frustrated and done that I almost walked away. And I promised myself that I'd never get there again.
 
lots to think on, thanks all. since one of my newer teachers has just opened his studio this week, will have to find out when i can have my first lesson there; i think that will help light the way forward.
 
burnout update: had lessons with both pros over the last week. lesson with "closed" pro - told him my frustration with his perceived impatience, worked through that and other items to a resolution, then found a specific thing for me to focus on to release the tension around my spine that makes me tense and stiff. Actually wanted to practice a little, so I did, but took it easy on myself - worked on staying more relaxed. i did a little saturday, sunday, and monday. Had lesson with "opens" pro yesterday, of which the lesson did not occur until after a good hour of chatting. It was a bumpy discussion, but at the end, he offered to write up a plan (instead of me writing my own). Sometimes I'm surprised about how much i care about this sport and how it affects me. Lesson was not too bad. i have a few habits that I think are left over from gymnastics, even after all these years, that have been hard to shake, and so we worked on finding specific things that i can focus on to resolve those. I'm only allowed to think about my wrist, center, foot when moving, making a line, whatever, so that my whole body does not get tense. And learning how to train myself to relax when i am off balance or unsure, instead of tensing up. But i am easing myself back into a routine of practice and lessons. so, maybe a mini-flameout, not a burnout, at least so far. phew.
 
time will tell scully....cut yourself some slack....it is hard not to have stress over something that is very very important to you...it is hard not to have stress over being the one who has all of the learning, working and improving to do in the psuedo partnership that is pro-am...it is hard to have to give a polite tweaking to people who you are paying to help you....those things are hard....and only time will tell as to whether or not those messages were fully embraced/understood....but I am glad you were able to at least have the conversations and put some plans into action...as to stress...I have found that I have to treat it like every other bad habit....I have to treat it as something my body does that is detrimental to my dancing....it is hard to recognize when it creeps in...but it is definitely a fear based response so I think there is some benefit to examining the over-arching long and short term fears you may have about your dancing and to work on surrendering them
 
Thanks, fasc. good words to think about - the fear-based response. It was apparent to a few people that my demeanor was less confident and more fearful at this comp - fearing screwing up and not meeting my own expectations. with the adrenaline, I just couldn't get myself into a good mindset. also, i didn't realize how nervous I was about it until afterwards! phew. will be having a nice cold stout when i get home from group tonight.
 
I was getting burnt out...there is a lot of time, money and energy spent in dance, and it can be overwhelming.

Then I injured myself and couldn't dance, then out of the blue I had major surgery for a separate issue and hoped for a successful surgical intervention, and then, most sadly, I lost the person, my mom, who meant the most to me in this world.

I was understandably depressed, but what literally brought me back was returning to dance...in a different way this time.....reconnecting with dance was one of the main life affirming actions for me that helped bring me out of the slump.

So we can get burnout by dance, but we can also find that it is the only thing we have that lifts us up and transcends us to a place that we have missed for quite some time...a place of joy.
 
So sorry to hear about your mom- so glad you are back to dance and finding meaning in it
Welcome back! Missed your posts!
 
For the first time, I am currently finding myself with little interest and passion for dance. While I have had periods of reflection in the past, I never lost enjoyment of dancing itself. I loved the thrill of competing- everything from the nerves, the sparkle, the excitement. Lately, I have been feeling dissociated- what alarms me most is that in my last 2 lessons, I did not find joy. It was like I didn't care. I am aware that due to stressors in other areas of my life, I may be feeling this way. I am also aware that it may be a passing thing. I'm not sure it's burnout, or not. In any case, I will continue for now with lessons. However, no competitions in the horizon. Any thoughts/ideas/reflections are welcome
 
I sometimes feel stressed, distracted, frustrated, etc., but I don't think I've ever felt like I just don't care. And the word "dissociated" is pretty strong. It's worthwhile trying to explore those feelings. I will say that stressors outside of dance have sometimes interfered incredibly on my ability to focus during lessons, but I never hit an "I don't care". I have, when I was having a very bad day/week/whatever requested an alternative fun dance. It's Night Club Two Step for me and my Pro, and it involves a lot of work on connection and lead and follow, so it's still learning, but in a more relaxed setting.

Others here have done very well taking a planned vacation from dance--a few weeks to a month. That might help you find some clarity. No hugs emoticon here, but *hugs*.
 
sbrnsmith said:
For the first time, I am currently finding myself with little interest and passion for dance. While I have had periods of reflection in the past, I never lost enjoyment of dancing itself. I loved the thrill of competing- everything from the nerves, the sparkle, the excitement. Lately, I have been feeling dissociated- what alarms me most is that in my last 2 lessons, I did not find joy. It was like I didn't care. I am aware that due to stressors in other areas of my life, I may be feeling this way. I am also aware that it may be a passing thing. I'm not sure it's burnout, or not. In any case, I will continue for now with lessons. However, no competitions in the horizon. Any thoughts/ideas/reflections are welcome
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What if you tried a new style for a little while? What if you and your instructor just danced for fun, instead of instruction? My old instructor, there were days I'd come to practice and say, "can we just do hustle for 30 minutes?" because I just needed a boost.
 
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