THE MEMOIRS OF SUMMER RAY

Great practice.

Cathy and I are working on new moves for the program – attitude spins, more jumps and piecing it together. Creating a continual flow is not easy on blades. We are looking at skating dresses for the program and that is the fun part. The emotional attachment must be present with the music, or it will look dull. The song, if you read the first book, you will know what it is. https://thememoirsofsummerray.com/the-summer-ray-book-series/.

Being the last practice of 2021, it is somewhat scary. I know I still have 11 or 12 months, but this program will be filmed in December 2022. The pressure has started because it has to be as close to perfection as possible. Jazzercise, power walking and stretching more is definitely helping. But those are physical things I do. I MUST also be mentally preparing. It hurts to work so hard. Sometimes, I just like to walk the battlefield at a slower pace, just to breathe quiet and relax my mind.

Mental health is just as important as physical health and a lot of times, we forget that. We push ourselves to our breaking points, without allowing our minds to catch up. What I love so much about the instructors at Jazzercise, https://www.jazzercise.com/location/jazzercise-battlefield-incentives is that they are always telling us to listen to our bodies. They don’t try to push us beyond our abilities. They are helping us to gradually build our strength, instead of just pushing so hard that we get sick. This actually happened to me and a friend of mine at a different place. We must listen to our own minds and bodies, and be both mentally and physically healthy. After suffering a broken wrist in 4 places, my mind is not as mentally prepared as it should be on the ice for jumps. So, I pull back when I should jump forward. But I have to get passed the mental block that stops me from progress. I can help myself and wear crash pads. This will help to alleviate the knowing that if I crash and burn, it won’t hurt so bad, and hopefully I will get back up without a broken bone. I will have more courage to take the leap and will be in a much better frame of mind. I have to help myself!

It’s these little and minor adjustments that will make a huge difference.

Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year! I am so looking forward to all the amazing and wonderful things 2022 is bringing.