Soothing Rituals:
We all have rituals in life that comfort us. Some make us feel good (my morning cup of coffee comes to mind), and some help us feel confident and secure.
Those of you out there who have been on a sports team or are a fan know this concept is most evident within the competitive realm. How many hockey players do we see sporting ratty beards during playoffs?
Lucky Charms
It is competition day. You can feel the energy crackling in the air as skaters fill the dressing room.
It is time to wear our beautiful skating dresses, matching earrings, and hairpieces. It is also time for the rituals to unfold. We all have them, lucky underwear, jujubes, and this year our coach placed a ladybug sticker inside our skates.
These good luck charms comfort us and keep us centered as adrenaline starts to flow and our nerves start to fray.
Dress Is On
We carefully and creatively arrange ourselves into our tights, dresses, and skates. Ladybugs are secure and for one skater, the lucky underwear hang in for another round.
Something magical begins to happen. These are our “super-woman” suits.
Our level of confidence rises. We look great and we look the part. We stand straight, our heads are higher, and smiles abound.
Emotions On Ice
As soon as the music starts we kick into automatic. The adrenaline starts pumping and we are on our way. Each working to do our best as we implement the program we have been learning for the last few weeks.
We have all skated this program over and over again. We all have the ability to do what we need to do. We also each have places in the program where we doubt ourselves, where fear creeps in.
Internal Guidance
This is where is all comes down to our internal guidance system. Our inner self knows instinctively when we are out of alignment. It tells us this through how we feel in every given moment.
When do we have feelings? Every minute, every moment of every day. Right now, right now and right now.
