As you may know about my story, my dancer has had multiple injuries that we managed holistically. The latest injury was a meniscus tear that we were able to avoid surgery for.
The way we made a decision to avoid surgery was multi-fold. This is honestly the process that helps remove regret about any decisions.
- Commitment.
- Question.
- Research.
- Time.
- Faith.
I will explain each in more detail. But for now, did you know that this week is a first for the Thriving Dancers Podcast: our very first guest episode?!
 |
I sat down with Jena H-H, a dance medicine athletic trainer and educator at George Mason University School of Dance, founder of the Skilled Collection, and someone who shares a truly integrative view of dancer wellness.
We talked about the questions that so many of us carry as dance moms.
Why can't my dancer get that skill?
Why is one side so tight and the other so bendy?
When is "everyone's knees hurt" not a good enough answer?
Jena explains how she looks for the underlying organizing pattern behind a struggling body rather than chasing the sore spot, and why anatomical variations mean that "just try harder" is sometimes the wrong ask entirely.
My favorite takeaways for you:
- The two-month rule: if a skill still is not coming after a couple of months of consistent work, open a curious, no-blame conversation with your dancer and their teacher about the missing piece.
- Strength should keep pace with flexibility.
- Ask your dancer better questions after class: what felt good, what felt hard.
- Protect the fun. It matters more than any single skill.
- And the big one: the body is intelligent. Teaching our kids to trust it is a gift that outlasts dance.
We also teased a future episode on Jena's specialty, the snapping hip, so stay tuned for that one.
The 5-step details
Our first consideration was COMMITMENT.
Commitment to giving it all, to know that we truly did try everything we could and that we've done the best that we could with what we knew.
Oftentimes, I hear parents get pulled into medical decisions without the time or opportunity to even consider alternatives.
The fearmongering and 'hurry-up and do it because your dancer is missing out on training' are just so common.
Our second consideration was QUESTION.
We questioned everything -all the usual standards, the reasons the injury even took place, the timing of how long treatment options would take, EVERYTHING.
The truth is, there is no other way to operate as an advocate for our dancers than to have a discerning mindset open to questioning the status quo.
The questioning leads to the third consideration: RESEARCH.
This may mean different things to people, but for me, it means hitting PubMed or my school's library and typing keywords of interest, "meniscus AND surgery," etc.
This is also where I 'employ' Claude AI. By the way, we'll be chatting about how to use AI in this process in one of our upcoming podcast episodes.
The next consideration we used in the decision process was TIME.
It is imperative that sufficient time be given to try alternative modalities. I don't know any PT who would say just 2 weeks of PT (once or twice a week -typical recommendation) is enough to have sufficient answers whether it works or not.
Most dance moms want to appease their worried dancers and studios, who push for the 'fastest' shortcut way to achieve healing. Except that the body will take the time it needs to heal, regardless of what the studio wants.
Having said that, I also know that time is a man-made construct and can be bent to whatever outcome we actually want, according to quantum science.
Most of the injuries in my family, including my own, healed faster than the 'typically expected' 3D timeline. Yet, we never felt rushed.
The last, but certainly not least, consideration was FAITH. And I don't mean it in a religious sense, but if that's your thing, then you should use it!
To me, 'faith' is just a knowing that it all works out for the best. That healing happens the way it should; that the body heals itself in the right environment; and that from the moment I have an injury, I am already healing (or if it's for my dancer, then it all applies to her).
Knowing is the most powerful mindset tool we can have, physiologically helping our bodies release the right chemistry at the right time and in the right location.
Last week we talked about 'perception' -and knowing is kind of a form of that 'alternative' perception. The opposite of knowing in an injury situation would be 'unknown,' which is what causes most fear.
Fear is an extremely detrimental emotion because it causes stress, and we all know what stress does to our bodies. I'll have a newsletter and probably a podcast episode about stress and dancers soon as well.
(I was looking for a photo representing fear and found this gem -the poor hamster was terrified of just being held. If only he had faith that all would be well, he could enjoy this kid's absolute unconditional love for him.)
So in the end, the meniscus story ends with lots of patience, lots of 'nos,' no pain, no surgery, and a dancing dancer after 2.5 months.
TO DO THIS WEEK
- If your dancer has an injury, consider the 5 points we talked about today.
- Consider what it would take to just 'know' that it all works out.
- Listen to the guest podcast episode and let me know what you want to learn about next!
Something New at Thriving Dancers
So many moms ask me all the time: "Where do you get your supplements? What essential oils do you use? What's the best brand? Where do you get this device? What is the best XYZ?"
Instead of repeating, and repeating, and repeating myself, I decided to add an 'Honest Reviews' page to our website where we'll post reviews of various products we use. I have no affiliate links or commissions from these, so these are true and honest from our use of the products, my extensive research, and trials of various products from juicers to where you can get the cleanest and most affordable wild salmon ;)
Yes, I will cover it all because...
Dance moms' most precious commodity is TIME,
And I'd like to help you save time by cutting the time it takes to 'figure out' yet another thing you have to decide about!
Check out the reviews here, and please let me know what else you want to know: https://moms.thrivingdancers.com/blog
And as always...
...Remember to listen to the latest podcast episode of Thriving Dancers Podcast (listen here). And if you have any follow-up questions on this newsletter or podcast, send me a DM on Instagram or email me your takeaways, questions, or concerns. I'll review them and give you my thoughts on what your next step could be.
team@thrivingdancers.com
PS: At Thriving Dancers, we don't use AI to write our content! We do use it to help create helpful infographics, check grammar, and pull specific research studies we're looking for. So what you'll always get from Thriving Dancers is human-synthesized, thought-through content that's always authentic! That's why sometimes you'll see NotebookLM on some of the included images, if we use it to create a helpful diagram :)
Dance Mom: Welcome to Thriving Dancers World! If you received this email as a forward from another mom and found it helpful, please sign up HERE so you won't miss out on future updates from us. You never know, something in our newsletter might have the power to transform your dancer's dreams for the better!
