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Could Your Dance Practice Survive a Zombie Apocalypse?

Could Your Dance Practice Survive a Zombie Apocalypse?

 

Preparedness Plans

They’re not just for the zombie apocalypse!

If you live here in the US, you may have heard about the Centers for Disease Control’s zombie apocalypse campaign.
 
 
The short version: they created a campaign of videos, blog posts, and even a novella, teaching people how to prepare for a zombie apocalypse.

It was an entertaining way to promote emergency preparedness education.
 

Zombies probably won’t threaten your practice habit

But there are many other things that will:

  • Injuries
  • Illness
  • Interruptions
  • Vacations
  • Lack of support
  • Lack of boundaries
  • You name it!

 
Any of these can derail your practice habit.

Even when you have a steady habit in place, it’s easy to get off track when life throws you a curve ball.

The danger isn’t the practice you miss – it’s okay to take a sick day when you need it, or skip practice for a week when you go on vacation.

The danger is breaking the habit.
When you interrupt your regular routine, it’s hard to resume it.

 

The trick is to make a plan before you need it.

If you have a plan in place before problems come up, you’ll know exactly how to get back on track.

I experienced this myself soon after I started writing about practice: I came down with a nasty sinus bug, and took an entire week of sick days.

It was a couple of weeks before I was back to full energy, but I was able to resume my practice habit seamlessly after just a few days.
 

What goes in a plan:

As you make your preparedness plans, be specific about:

  • What is the threat in question?
  • When does the threat legitimately win?
  • (i.e., when do you think it should stop you from practicing?)

  • What will you do to mitigate its effects on your practice habit?
  • What can you do to make it less likely?
  • How can you make it less disruptive when it does happen?
  • How will you resume your habit after it passes?

 
Then describe how it will play out in a typical situation.
 

Let’s look at a couple of examples:

 

Sick days

Pushing yourself to practice when you’re sick and miserable isn’t productive, and it isn’t sustainable. So you’ll want to decide when you’ll take a sick day, and when you’ll resume your practice.

Here’s my own illness plan:

The threat: being sick
Legitimate: when I’m feverish, nauseated, or pooped
Mitigation: maintain the habit with token practice
Resume: resume token practice as soon as the worst passes, then increase gradually when I can

And here’s how that plays out:

When I’m feverish, nauseated, or too tired to stand up straight for long, I take a sick day, and don’t practice.

When I’m less sick than that, I do a 5-minute “token practice” just to maintain the habit. (And I stick to gentle things.)

As I get well, I gradually increase the length and intensity of my practice, paying close attention to my body’s signals.
 

Interruptions

Even if you live alone, there’s a good chance that some kind of interruption will come up while you’re practicing.

(Phone calls, knocks on the door, cat coughing up a hairball…)

But if you have kids, they will want to interrupt your practice.

The threat: kids interrupt you
Legitimate: when there’s a real emergency
Mitigation: ask for support, set boundaries with your kids, agree on a process for interrupting you
Resume: return to your practice after basic triage, even if more follow-up is needed later. If you can’t, resume practice tomorrow.

Here’s how that might play out:

Have a talk with your kids about why practicing is important to you, and why you need some uninterrupted time.

Agree on clear boundaries for when it’s okay to interrupt you (somebody is hurt, broken glass, spilled grape juice on the couch, etc…)

Agree on a process for getting what they need when it’s not urgent (ex: write it down on a designated note pad that you will check after practicing.)

If your kids aren’t old enough to handle that reliably, ask for support (partner, older siblings, trade play dates with another parent…)

When you do get interrupted, assess the situation. If it is a legitimate emergency, do any necessary triage. (ex: apply stain stick) If not, remind the child of your agreement and ask them to write it down on the notepad.

After triage, return to your practice. If the emergency ate up all the available time, resume your practice habit tomorrow.

Check the notepad, and follow-up on any notes with your kids.

If the emergency still needs non-urgent follow-up (ex: rinsing out the stain-stick), take care of that, or add it to your to-do list or calendar.

 
(I know that looks like a lot of steps, but it’s really one conversation, plus some reinforcement.)
 

Above all, observe and optimize!

If your plan isn’t quite working, make adjustments.

If it could work better, tweak it!

Remember: we’re in this for the long haul. Your circumstances will change over time, so update your plans as needed.
 

So start brainstorming


BBBRRRAAAAIIIIINNNNNSS!!!

Make a list of curve balls that life may throw you. Then start working on your plan.

If that feels like a huge task, take it a little at a time.

Maybe do just one plan for your most pressing threat.

And remember: it doesn’t have to be perfect.

A decent plan that actually exists is better than the perfect plan you haven’t made yet.
 
 

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