MindBody SPARK Is Here! (And Why It's Slightly Incomplete)
FRIENDS! It’s a big day for me, because the creative dance curriculum I’ve been working so hard on is now LIVE in the Different Drummer Dance online store!
The store went live earlier this month, and has lots of great resources for dance educators and studio owners (with still more goodies to come!), but the MindBody SPARK curriculum took a little longer, because, well, it’s a big project with lots of moving parts, and I wanted to take my time to give you the best program possible!
I’d love for you to check out the store here, and get a more in-depth look at the curriculum here! But I also want to tell you why the MindBody SPARK curriculum is still slightly incomplete, and why I decided to make it live anyways.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen a series of Instagram Stories I did where I explained my decision, but it comes down to this: earlier this summer I found out I have several ovarian cysts that are causing me pain and discomfort, not only physically, but mentally. Physically because they make me feel bloated and uncomfortable, and mentally because my physical state of discomfort makes my brain say things like ‘you’re fat/ugly’, and ‘your body is out of control’. Not nice things to say to yourself… and especially hard for me to come to terms with when I’m all about body positivity and positive self talk. Yet, I kept pushing myself to complete the curriculum, and I did, minus one part - the curriculum video demonstrations.
I give myself credit for trying, but things kept coming up that would derail me - I forgot to download my music and didn’t have a WiFi connection, I needed a tripod to really get the right angle, etc. Finally I realized that the deep, dark reason I kept getting derailed and not finishing this aspect of my project was because I just didn’t want to see myself on camera. I knew it would send me into a tailspin of self bashing and shaming, and I just didn’t want to deal with it.
My Instagram post on why I didn’t complete the videos for the MindBody SPARK curriculum.
I was faced with the conundrum: do I force myself to get through the videos and deliver on a product I’d been promising would be complete, making my customers happy but making myself miserable, OR, do I pause the videos and return to filming them at a later date, when I feel better, but risk disappointing my customers (and myself) by not finishing my product on time?
I decided on the latter. It was not an easy decision, but as all of us know, the negative voices in our heads can be so fierce and mean, and as someone who’s business is built around body positivity and encouraging positive self talk and confidence, I knew I’d be letting not only myself and my business down by pushing through, but also my customers and followers who look to me to set an example for embodying positive self image and talk.
So, friends, yes, the MindBody SPARK creative dance curriculum is live and available for purchase (yay!), but the video elements won’t be available until later this year, after I’ve had surgery to remove the cysts and feel both physically and emotionally better. (If you do decide to purchase the curriculum before that date, I will happily walk you through any exercises over the phone!)
I hope you’ll understand, and celebrate not only the publishing of a work that I’m truly passionate about and 100% believe will change the way we educate young dancers, but also celebrate me taking a body positive step forward for myself that was really hard. I really do think that we’re called to do the work that we need to learn the most; I preach a lot about body positivity and empowerment for others because it’s a lesson I will continue to need to learn for myself.
Thanks so much for reading, for sharing, and for your support! If you’re interested in purchasing the MindBody SPARK curriculum, you can get the deets here, email me to chat about it, or punch the button below to get added to my email list to receive further updates.
Your Friend in Dance,
Katrena