It’s all mental…isn’t it?
As a Fitness Coach when I speak with a new client, they often come into the call with an image of a fitness coach as the guy who yells at them to lift heavier, jump higher, tells them to do burpees, or repeatedly shouts for one more rep. Mental health generally falls into the background or is thought as a separate entity. A byproduct of their own journey outside the time spent with me. That’s the time reserved for them and their therapist, but after spending 5 minutes talking about what is it we can do together and my role as a fitness professional in their lives, they find out that much like in their personal careers mental and physical fitness go hand-in-hand.
In my conversation with Broadway actor and Broadway Life Coach Bret Shuford we touched on the idea of “Feeding the self.” Often as performers you get so carried away with learning the ins-and-outs for how to land the audition, how to create the best self-tape, how to nail your types, or finding out what casting directors are looking for that you forget that one of the most important parts of being on stage is knowing who YOU are on the stage. If you are not confident with who your are as a person, why you are doing what you are doing, and you don’t have a balanced mental and physical health routine, then it will not matter how many books you read on the industry or interviews you listen to because one cannot exist without the other. You cannot progress in your career if you do not take the time to progress your self. You cannot stand on the stage confident in who you are if you cannot answer the question of why you are standing on that stage to begin with.
“When was the last time you sat down and read a book for you that had nothing to do with show business… or went on a long walk?”
We are 6 months into the Pandemic, theaters are still closed in states all over the country and singers, actors and dancers continue to find ways to stay involved in the industry or at the very least keep some mental sanity with different attempts to channel their time in a positive way as we all await the resurgence of theater. In the process of working diligently to further their careers during the shutdown and simultaneously fill up a temporary void, which feels like trying to fill a tub with water one glass at a time, the physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion weighs heavier on the bodies and minds of many performers by the day. We could argue that no performer has been spared from this. However, what most performers don’t realize is that if they actually took the time to sit down and ask themselves:
When was the last time I read a book that had nothing to do with show business? When was the last time I travelled for my self? When was the last time I gave my mind 5 minutes rest?
Most performers would find out that in their quest for self growth in their careers they have sacrificed a pivotal aspect within themselves that identifies who they are as individuals and more importantly that defines them as performers. Their mental and physical health.
The importance of mental health as a part of your training is without a doubt one the most overlooked parts of training. Many performers and trainers alike glance over the part about building mental resilience when creating a balanced training routine. All you hear or see on social media platforms and television is the side of training where the athlete is sweating, working in the late hours of the day, sprinting, not giving up, fighting for one more rep, going all out all the time. Media and some professionals have manufactured an image of fitness that can only be achieved through nonstop work. Focusing only on one singular goal. As a former competitive athlete myself I played my part in this fallacy. I was told that if I only focused all my energy on working and training day in and day out learning everything about my passion then I would achieve my goal and as a result happiness.
Lately as I sit down with my clients and friends, I listen to their frustration trying to fit within an agenda or a prescribed view of success within an industry that seems to be at a total halt. The mental struggle trying to navigate through an unclear path where their highest value is placed on the aptitude of their bodies and their brand. The mistake most people make in challenging times is that they stare at the same thing for too long and lose sight of the whole picture. It wasn’t until we spoke about their frustrations that they realized that they have the power to dictate the value of their brand and their bodies. If as singers, dancers, and/or actors, you don’t take the time to invest in your self as a person, not as a performer or a brand, then you will not have the room to continue growing. You must water the plant and put it in the sun for it to grow. If you just pour water on it, it will drown; if you place it on the sun for days, it will dry out and die.
As coaches our job is to give you the tools to build resilience, to understand and strengthen your body in order to be capable of performing day and day out, and to create a steady bridge between health and performance for you to succeed. As performers your responsibility is to your health, your care for yourself, and your growth on and off the stage both as an artist and an individual. So, if you find yourself feeling low, frustrated with what you are doing or not doing as a performer, or you feel like you lost some hope, it’s okay. Take the afternoon, or take the day or the week and do something for yourself. Start a new book, finish an old book, go for a walk, address some old injuries, or find new ways of exercising. Whatever it may be take the time to reinvest back in yourself.
