Many highly active men and women utilise all the benefits of seeking regular massage, and rightly so. With the toll that many amateur and professional sports or regular gym routines take on the body, this is a great way of maximising performance and aiding in recovery. What else can this apply to?
In recent years I have dedicated a lot of time to practicing Latin Dance. I speak to dancers on a daily basis, and it is so rare that I speak to one’s who actively seek treatment, especially proactive treatment.
Ballroom, Ballet, Contemporary, Cheerleading, Hip-Hop, and Latin Dance just to name a few, are all styles of activity and dance that can put a lot of strain on our bodies. What they also share in common are hours and hours of consistent time and dedication to attempt to perfect the craft. This in turn means hours of using and at times abusing our bodies all in the pursuit to develop technique, improve a sequence or finally nail that choreography.
But practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect. I’m a believer that you can’t really ever be perfect in dance, and the beauty in that is that you should never stop aspiring to dance. Moving to sound is a blissful experience that everyone should get to have, so I couldn’t imagine the sadness of having to stop due to continual pain or injury.
Imagine if you could practice consistently, whilst feeling 100% physically, minimising your chances of performing in discomfort and moving as fluidly as possible. Nobody wants to try to move for hours on end with really sore feet, a tight hip, an aching lower back, or thigh muscles that feel more like guitar strings. So why wait till you are literally forced to do something about the pain or discomfort?
A tailored remedial massage treatment for a dancer would involve getting to know how/why you move, how you would like to be able to move, and how we can make this transition achievable through various soft tissue techniques. Working on the muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and entire musculoskeletal system is very important to allow you to move at your very best.
When choosing a health professional, I believe there are a few key factors to consider. Someone who is passionate about what they do, someone who has a strong willingness to understand what your goals are whilst treatment planning around them, and a form of treatment that delivers noticeable positive results.
For the passionate dance performers that are reading this, I know you would also feel that unlike a sporting match, there is no correcting or making up for a mistake that happens during a highly anticipated performance.
Physical wellness can lead to far greater mental focus. Of course the most hard-work still comes from all your dedication to your craft, but if you are feeling incredible physically, then mentally you are able to give your very best whilst training, rehearsing, social dancing and/or performing.
If you have any questions at all or would like to find out how this treatment could potentially help you on your dance journey, please don’t hesitate to reach out, I’m always happy to help.
Yours in health and dancing for life!
Shenal Sundaram
