Film yourself
Whenever you train (whether it’s yoga, dance, pole, or even lifting), it’s good to occasionally film yourself. Here are a few reasons why.
Reason 1: Tracking progress
This is the most obvious one. Since progress is gradual, it’s often hard to spot. There’s no better way to see your progress than comparing two photos/videos several months apart.
Having a solid proof of your progress is motivating and it keeps you disciplined.
Reason 2: Exposing flaws
Filming yourself is hard. It exposes flaws you didn’t know you had, in addition to those you knew you had.
However, awareness of your flaws is the first step to correcting them (otherwise, how can you correct what you don’t know?). It is the key to making your movement more refined, more fluid.
Watching yourself from the side is scary, awkward, and often cringeworthy. This feeling of discomfort comes from the fact that there’s a gap between how you want to be and how you really are.
Once again, awareness of the gap will help you close it faster.
Reason 3: Reducing fear
On the flip side, seeing yourself from the side can also show that you’re better than you think you were. This can reduce fear, especially in type of practice such as yoga or pole, where awareness of space and yourself is often distorted.
You may discover that you’re more flexible and stronger that you thought. Fears, that reasonably held you back before, are now unreasonable. You’re ready to take a step forward and try something that your body couldn’t do before.
And the more you film yourself, the more you look at yourself, the less scary it becomes to watch yourself over time.
Reason 4: Inspiring
If you share your photos/videos online, you never know who you’ll inspire with your movement. While you may look at yourself and not see anything special, others may find your movement motivating and inviting to start or continue their own practice.
Every time I see one my friends or instructors post something online, I feel grateful that they took the time to do that. It inspires me to keep going whenever I feel weak or unsure of myself.
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So practice on, film yourself, get better, get inspired, inspire, repeat 💙