“I thought I was too old to make a change” is a quote from a 44-year old client recently. We’ve been working together since January and a painful hip that had been bothering her for years is now barely noticeable.

A simple idea to help you in your journey with your regular movement practice and with any other habit that you want to incorporate into your life.

Dance Conversation with Betty Harsma - Dance, Movement, Mindfulness and instructor on Violet Kind’s online Fly Fusion studio. We talk about finding balance in your practice, persistence, longevity in dance and life - all the good stuff!

As part of the process of unpacking everything connected to the dance I do, one of the things I’ve been thinking about a lot is the music I use to dance to and also in my classes.

When I began working as a movement coach a few years ago I wanted to help people improve their dancing through developing a regular strength & flexibility practice and was amazed to discover that I was also helping clients with back pain, knee pain, hip pain, shoulder pain that they’d been suffering with for years.

I love sharing with you some of the cool and awesome experiences my clients tell me about… Today’s story includes some tips for sparking creativity when you are stuck in a creative block.

Last week I had the pleasure of an online live “Dance Conversation” with the amazing Sureya. I started taking classes with her as I wanted to learn more about the Turkish style of Raqs Sharqi and was overjoyed to discover that she includes a strong conditioning sequence at the start of each class too!

One way I am starting to make changes to my clients’ exercises (and my own!) is by starting to take a more playful approach to the way I build movement practices.

One thing I’ve been thinking about over the past couple of years is the use of the word “inspired” in our dance vocabulary. There has been a lot of discussion amongst dancers of USA-derived Fusion styles about the terminology we use and how it represents the MEHAHT source material.

One of the biggest barriers to creating a regular practice for my clients is time management… Have you ever planned to do a practice and when the time comes, you think “maybe I should finish these emails”…?

They said to me that if they carried on with the movement practice as it was they were going to prioritise the movement and the studies wouldn’t get done!

My knees didn’t hurt anymore, but I still felt this “tightness…”

Today I wanted to share a story with you from one of my clients… something different happened when she started to tell me about a trip she had planned before Christmas.

…holding a position during an exercise is another great way of increasing challenge and getting more strength benefit from an exercise without increasing the number of reps and keeping your movement practice effective whilst in a manageable time.

10 years ago I started to find I was getting pain in my knees when I walked up the stairs….

Have you been doing an exercise routine or movement practice for a while and feel like you have plateaued? But you just don't have the time to do more sets and reps?

When I started taking belly dance classes I was looking for a way to keep fit without going to the gym.

I had an interesting conversation with a client before Christmas that really illustrated why it’s so important to have a solid foundation of strength in our bodies in order to dance safely and injury-free.

When I talk about “Happy Hips” it's a catchy way of talking about the pelvic alignment. The pelvis is centrally located in the body and when it moves, other areas have to adjust to accommodate it.

Developing a personal movement practice is no mean feat! We think it should be something easy to do - because it’s something we want.