Travel to dance class? How to make your travel time productive.

Here's our top 5 tips for making the most of your travel time:

1. Get yourself into the right frame of mind for the dance class
2. You can still do some stretching and mobility in the car 
3. Connect with the people in the car - talk about your feelings, goals, problems
4. School work? Test each other/short stints of work
5. Listen to podcasts to help learn 

Do you travel more than 30 minutes to dance class? I am sure a lot of you have said yes! Now, more than ever, people are travelling further and further to dance classes. Even out of our MWM Coaches, Aoibheann, Aimee, and Annabelle used to travel to dance class when they competed, so we know what it can feel like. In the winter it can be extra draining because it’s always dark outside in the window and in the summer it can feel super hot and sweaty! But we all travel to classes for different reasons. In mindset sessions, Annabelle talks to a lot of dancers about controllable factors - the length of our car journey or the traffic isn’t a controllable factor for us. However, what we do during the journey is! 

Using our car journey to our advantage can be an excellent way to improve your time management skills, help you feel less overwhelmed and can even help you to become a better dancer. So if you’re reading this blog in the car on the way to dance class, then you can get started straight away! Here are five things you can do to make your travel time more productive. 

Firstly, get yourself into the right frame of mind for dance class. I am sure your teachers have spoken to you before about ‘attitude’ but they are right, it is important! Going into dance class with the right attitude can be the difference between a productive class and a lazy class. It can be the difference between you mastering the choreography or giving up after the first attempt. The difference between getting tired in your last step, or in your lead around! 

So, what is the right attitude for dance class? 

• Motivated 
• Excited 
• Ready to learn
• Open to corrections
• Positive 
• Willing to give anything a go

Now, we know that you won’t feel like that everyday and that’s okay - but try and think about some ways you can get yourself into that attitude. What makes you feel motivated? Excited? Positive? 

Think your journey to class means you haven’t got time for that all important stretch and mobility work…think again! There are lots of different ways you can prepare yourself for dance class in the car. Think outside of the box and use your time to stretch and mobilise what you can and then focus on the areas you can’t reach when you arrive. You can try these stretch videos on your journey to give you some inspiration, be sure to let us know if you come up with any of your own that you find beneficial too - https://www.instagram.com/tv/CE9ArMvAYwB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link and https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFPBB0SgPJ0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Two hours in the car with someone can feel like a long time…but it is also the best time to build connections. Do you car share with people in your class or travel with your family? Everyone is in the car for the same reason and hence you all have something in common. Spend time talking to each other! Talk about your day, any troubles or worries you have, your goals, your feelings, your homework…anything. Sharing is caring and sharing parts of your day and emotions with other people will help you feel connected to them on a deeper level. Maybe you could all share one goal you have for that dance class. One person may want to go on their blocks for the first time, another person may want to practise “performing” everytime they dance and another person may want to see an improvement in their stamina. If you share these goals you can all help each other achieve them throughout the class time and share in the celebrations on the way home when you accomplish them! Spending time talking doesn’t seem productive, but it is if it takes you one step closer to your goals or makes you feel a little bit less worried or nervous about something that has been bothering you. 

I know what a lot of you 14+ dancers are thinking….’what about homework?’ Don’t worry - we thought about that too! Homework and school work is really important and as much as we want to give our dancing 100% - we also should give our school work 100%. The best way to do this is to be organised, so that when you are in school you are focused on school and when you are at dancing, you are focused on dancing. If you are stressed about one or the other, it will take over both aspects of your life. But back to homework and travelling. This is a great time to do your homework in short stints because sitting with your head over a book or a laptop in the back of a car can sometimes make us feel a little sick (and if we go back to the first point…that’s not the best way to start a dance class!) So, try and think of ways you can get things done in a short and focused time. Dancers in primary school who have a weekly spelling test could ask an adult or older dancer to test them for 5 minutes in the back of the car. Dancers with exams could create flashcards to read in the back of the car as they take up less room - aim to learn two or three new flashcards during every journey. Maybe you could help each other? Older dancers can help younger dancers with their school work. Dancers at University may be able to help the dancers who are in Year 10/11 or college. Yes you can get some homework done, but not for a whole 2 hour journey! 

Finally, if looking down makes you feel too car sick or you haven’t got the light in the car to do homework on the way home from dance class, then you can still learn - try a podcast. Listening to podcasts is something that the MWM Team do all the time. You can learn about almost every topic by listening to podcasts but if you’re looking for something motivational then we’d recommend The High Performance Podcast. 

We’d love it if you share this with those who you travel in the car with and let us know what are your tips and tricks for being productive during your car journeys!