More Than Dance

Losing never feels like a success. This episode is all about reframing to think in success when you lose so that you can celebrate. Dance is associated with growth and getting comfortable with seeing successes even if it doesn't come naturally. Sometimes its hard to celebrate because it feels like something that is not enough or not perfect enough or that the goal should happen so its no anti...

When you call yourself a dancer you become a dancer. A lot of times people may dance, but not think that they are proficient enough to call themselves a dancer.  As soon as you shift out of imposter syndrome you will find that you BECOME the dancer and dance like her too and this episode will show you how and why thats the most powerful choice for you to make.  Follow: Krissy: @krissyphillipino KD...

Here are 3 mottos that I love and stand by when dancing and teaching my students: Get the F There We don't say CAN'T Strong and Wrong We know perfect doesn't exist logically but somehow someway at dance class we think that we could get everything right and that gets in our head.  These 3 mottos explained will help you reframe while your dancing and allow you to have a little bit mor...

Implementing habit stacking can be one of the best things to do to improve your schedule and productivity.  When you become more efficient its usually because you have learned to pair like things together in terms of energy. aka doing all the feminine tasks together and doing all the masculine tasks together so that you don't have to spend time and energy switching in and out of those persona...

I learned this strategy a few years ago and it has helped immensly with getting those hard tasks done. Sometimes its not about the task itself its about how infrequent that task is so the experience you have with it isnt as rehearsed so it feels harder/more annoying than it has to.  When these tasks take up brain space they prevent us from feeling clear and ready... especially on the dance floor. ...

One thing you might not know as a beginner dancer: learning dance is like a roller coaster. In this episode I compare the experience of learning how to dance to the experience of going on a roller coaster and this is one of my favorite analogies to use because of how much they align.  We definitely can assume that dance is not a treadmill, you know that, but I bet you didn't think it would be...

What if 100% didn't mean flawless, it meant fully present. In this episode you will learn a reframe so that giving 100% is more attainable. Learn how to give 100 and not expect to be 100. We think about the two "P" words: perfection and participation. Dance is so hard and 100 percent of participation actually means a lot, if not more, than perfection.   100 percent of effort = effor...

To build confidence means you are building self trust. In this episode we talk about self trust and how it can be one of the best things that you pay attention to. Especially in the learning process as it can be hard to trust but doing so allows you to stick with goals and to make for the best outcome!  We go into something problems that arise while learning and how self trust can help guide you s...

Your favorite Word Shift Series is back and we’re talking about the word “just.” Using the word "just" is a minimizer. It makes everything you are doing less than. And then you start to believe in the less than.  “I just wanted to ask a question…” “I just thought…” “I just…” Softening your voice and shrinking your presence, trying to be easier to receive, for what? to be more likeable? ...

Another word off the "NO NO" list: "I'm Sorry". This is the word that can turn into apologizing for your existence. I see people using this word to hide , to not be seen or even to seem agreeable and polite.  In this episode just like in other episodes we talk about what we can say instead: thank you! Thank you for your patience. Thank you for holding space. Taking up spac...

This episode is about rejection and how, as a dancer, you actually get better at moving through it.  Rejection comes up a lot. You go for things, you don’t always get them, and sometimes it can feel like it’s happening all the time. And especially as a beginner dancer the whole class experience can feel like a bunch of rejections.  I share a bit about my college experience auditioning for clubs, p...

This episode is about thinking bigger and realizing that the options you see aren’t the only ones that exist. Sometimes we only ask for what we know is available to us. And anything outside of that doesn’t even cross our mind… so we don’t ask for it. I share a story from when I was younger about Britney Spears. I asked for the CD. That’s what I knew existed. It never even occurred to me that I cou...

This episode is all about endurance. I tell the story about when I first learned about the difference between endurance and cardio.  Endurance is: ⭐️ finding strength inside the movement ⭐️ being able to breathe through it ⭐️ staying present even when it gets hard We often treat dance endurance like cardio… constant movement, pushing through, trying not to stop. When you change the way you see...

In this episode, we talk about finding your personal control inside dance class so you can stop fighting the process and start enjoying it. You get to decide: ⭐️ how open you want to be ⭐️ how curious you’re willing to stay ⭐️ whether you allow yourself to mess up ⭐️ if today is a learning day or a performing day ⭐️ if you bring excitement with you… or fear ⭐️ whether you take difficulty per...

Make the most out of your learning experience by selecting the best teacher. We brief on the dance rollercoaster. The only way to get better is to go on the rollercoaster and its best if you have the best support around you.  It feels vulnerable to learn and we want to learn so much, but sometimes we just want to learn faster than our capabilities.  Great teachers do this: providing a safe space f...

Have you ever left class feeling amazing and like you understood something so well and then you go to the next class to try and apply that same knowledge only to realize that it felt stuck. We are not the same dancer every day and our bodies are always changing too! Sometimes you have those aha moments where everything makes sense, and it’s tempting to hold onto them and try to recreate them in th...

This episode is about hard skills vs soft skills and how practicing both is the key to becoming a better dancer! Hard skills are the obvious ones: Choreography, turns, technique… they’re exact, measurable, you know when you hit them or you don’t. Soft skills are different and not as easy to point out; you feel them: body awareness, musicality, transitions, spatial awareness, confidence, focus, ada...

In this episode, I introduce four different types of schedules we can move through during different seasons of our lives and energy instead of forcing ourselves to live inside one rigid routine. Humans fluctuate and so should our schedules. Our energy changes. Our focus changes. Our capacity changes.  We break down the four schedules: ⭐️ The On-It Schedule: when you feel clear, focused, disciplin...

In this episode, we talk about learning how to trust your body instead of overthinking every movement . When you challenge your body and give it the opportunity to respond, it often rises to the occasion faster than your mind expects. When the brain takes over and starts analyzing every step, every detail, and every possibility, it can actually block you from doing something your body is fully cap...

Grief isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it doesn’t come with a clear loss, a ceremony, or a moment where everyone agrees something ended. Sometimes it shows up quietly through big life changes like moving, starting a new job, shifting relationships, or realizing your identity is evolving. In this episode, we talk about the sneaky kind of grief. The grief of the life you thought you were going to hav...

The mirror in dance class can bring up a lot. Sometimes we look at our reflection and the first thought is, “I hate how I look.” The mirror stops being a tool and starts feeling like a judge. In this episode, we talk about changing your relationship with the mirror. Longevity in dance is a goal, and part of that longevity is learning how to exist in your body with more comfort and curiosity, not c...

In this episode, I talk about how to move through setbacks without turning them into something bigger than they are. Whether it’s illness, injury, or something unexpected like a snowstorm throwing off your routine, the real work is learning how to respond without judging yourself. We don’t always control what happens  we can control how we come back. This episode is your reminder to stay grounded,...

Have you ever felt stuck? Like everything you are doing you are either really challenged and nothing is going smoothly, or your off? I introduce a concept that changed everything for me: the rule of thirds. Growth gets to live in three spaces: ⭐️ one where you’re killing it (your flow state) ⭐️ one where you’re working on it (your practice state) ⭐️ one where you feel challenged (your reset sta...

Reflection is one of the most powerful tools we as humans have access to. And its important to know how to use it because our brain plays tricks on us.  Our brain can train ourselves to forget things and we might remmeber it a different way.  As a dancer we have the opportunity to have immediate feedback through our experience in dance: 1. knowing if and when something felt wrong 2. our class and...

Big change rarely starts big. In this episode, I talk about rebuilding momentum through the smallest possible steps and how lowering the bar actually helped me move forward again after returning to the gym following physical therapy. My only rule was to show up. No pressure to complete a full workout. No expectation to do everything perfectly. Even one exercise counted as a "day at the gym&qu...