When a student freezes on a skill they've done a hundred times, what do you do? Dr. Leisha Strachan, sports psychologist and dance teacher, joins us to talk about the mental side of skill development, from breaking through blocks to managing performance anxiety. She covers practical tools like affirmations, breathing techniques, thought stopping, simulated practice, and imagery scripts that teachers can actually use in class. This is a Spotlight Series re-release of one of our most listened-to episodes, and it's easy to see why.

Click Here To Listen! 

Sources Referenced

MindShift App

AcroDance Resource Center

Psyching for Sport - Terry Orlick

The Mental Athlete - Kay Porter

Sports Phsychology for Coaches

www.projectscore.ca

www.sportpsychologyforcoaches.ca

About Dr. Leisha Stachan

Dr. Leisha Strachan is a professor at the University of Manitoba with a research focus on positive youth development through sport. She is also interested in research with coaches and parents in the deliberate delivery of positive sport experiences for children and youth.

Research Areas

• Positive youth development
• Sport participation
• Children
• Youth
• Sport psychology

Education

• Doctor of Philosopy - Sport Psychology, Queen’s University (2008)
• Master of Human Kinetics - Sport Psychology, University of Windsor (2004)
• Bachelor of Education, University of Manitoba (1999)
• Bachelor of Physical Education, University of Manitoba (1997)

Leisha has been involved in sport and dance for the majority of her life. She began baton twirling at Crestview Community Club in Winnipeg at the age of 5 and continued for 18 years. She is a former Canadian Senior Freestyle Champion (1994), Grand National Solo and 2-Baton champion (1994), CBTF Senior Athlete and Overall Athlete of the Year (1994), and a 7-time Canadian Contingent member competing in freestyle (highest placing - 6th in 1994) and pair events garnering 2 world bronze medals for her efforts (with Kristin Macaraeg). In her time on the national team, she traveled to France, Japan, Holland, Italy, and Hawaii. Leisha is one of the founding coaches of Aerial Fusion Baton, which has been in existence for 25 years. In addition to being a Level 3 certified coach, she is also certified as a Module 1 teacher in Acrobatic Arts. She is also a certified M1, M2, M3, and Masters judge. She has had the opportunity to coach provincial and national team members and continues to choreograph for different athletes across Canada, England, and Scotland.

IG @drls250

Previous Episodes

Ep 4 Protecting Your Mental Health Dr Leisha Strachan

Ep 31 Overcoming Dancer Anxiety + Mental Blocks with Dr. Leisha Strachan

Ep. 69 Turning Dance Transitions into Triumphs with Dr. Leisha Strachan, Pt 1

Ep. 69 Turning Dance Transitions into Triumphs with Dr. Leisha Strachan, Pt. 2

Ep. 97 Mental Skills for Acro Success with Dr. Leisha Strachan 

Ep. 117 The Four C's Every Teacher Needs with Dr. Leisha Strachan

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Loren  0:01  
Hey everyone, welcome to the Acrobatic Arts podcast. I'm Loren, and I will be interviewing some of the top leaders and innovators from the dance and acrobatic industry. If you are a teacher, performer, student, or a lifelong learner like myself, you are sure to find these episodes intriguing and full of inspiration, Acrobatic Arts is passionate about providing current and relevant information for everyone. So, please sit back and enjoy as we share our passion with you and the world. 

Loren  0:36  
Today's episode is part of our Spotlight series, where we revisit conversations that continue to resonate across the dance community. Dr. Leisha Strachan remains one of our most popular podcast guests, and episode 31 is absolutely worth another listen. Leisha is a professor at the University of Manitoba. Her research focuses on positive youth development through sport, helping coaches, parents, and educators create environments where young people can thrive both in performance and in life. 

Loren  1:11  
When we recently caught up with Leisha, we were reminded just how relevant this discussion remains. Conversations around anxiety, confidence, mental health, and dancer well-being have been moved from the sidelines into the mainstream. Teachers are increasingly being asked not just to teach the skills, but to support the whole person. In this episode, Leisha shares practical strategies to help dancers navigate common mindset challenges, build resistance and develop healthy approaches to performance. Now it's time to shine the spotlight on today's guest. 

Loren  1:50  
Dr. Leisha Strachan. Hello, and welcome back to the Acrobatic Arts Podcast.

Dr Leisha Strachan  1:56  
I'm so excited to be here. Thanks so much.

Loren  1:59  
Leisha I always look forward to speaking with you, especially on topics that you are passionate about, and I was definitely reminded of this. How passionate you are about sports and sports psychology. Because recently I wasn't able to watch the Winter Olympics as much as I would have liked, but by following your Instagram, I truly felt like I was staying up to date and receiving all the information and emotional stories about the athletes. So, thank you so much for that.

Dr Leisha Strachan  2:30  
Oh, you're welcome. The Olympics are like a never-ending Super Bowl for me, so I love watching them, the stories that I think any athlete can learn from watching these incredible athletes are just invaluable, and to me, we see history in action, we see disappointments, but we also see triumphs, and all the stories. I mean, it's just so inspiring. So, I hope others were just as inspired as I was.

Loren  2:57  
Now, this isn't the first time we've had you on the podcast. You were in season one, episode four, and that was about protecting your mental health. And drum roll, please, your interview was our number one listened to episode of 2021

Dr Leisha Strachan  3:13  
Wow, I am honored. Thanks so much for letting me know that. That's, that's so great, and we know that mental health is such.. it's so much in the forefront right now, which is great, I think, and particularly after the last Olympics, particularly after Naomi and Simone and many other athletes showing us, you know, how to now think about dealing with mental health. It's such an important thing. So, I'm so glad that people enjoyed listening.

Loren  3:42  
Leisha, for anyone that missed your first episode with us, could you just briefly tell us a little bit about what you do, how your knowledge might help us as dancers and dance teachers?

Dr Leisha Strachan  3:53  
Sure, so I have my PhD in sports psychology, and although I focus a lot more on research. I do enjoy still doing sort of the one-off sessions that I can do with athletes, but my research really focuses on positive youth development, looking at how to think about sport in terms of life skills development, and also how to make sport more positive for kids, just generally overall. So, I've been really focusing a lot on coach behaviors in sport, and looking at what coaches do to actually help facilitate the development of positive youth. And, I guess, more applied practice, I really had a chance to work for a few years with the women's soccer team here at our university, I've also worked sort of one on one with various athletes in a lot of different sports, but really just trying to think more about how to improve performance, but also how to use these skills throughout their lives, and think about how we cope and manage our own humanity, I guess, through experiences.

Loren  5:00  
You are also a dance, acro, and baton twirling teacher. This, along with your knowledge of sports psychology, gives you a nice, well-rounded picture of what teachers and students are going through.

Dr Leisha Strachan  5:12  
I hope coming in on the ground level and having sort of an intimate understanding, you know, those things also same things creep in, in terms of anytime you're learning a new skill, and it's important to sort of think about how to manage or learn about sports psychology early on.

Loren  5:28  
So, I think you're a perfect fit for this conversation today. I'm going to switch things up a little bit for this episode, and I'm actually going to start with a question that we received from one of our listeners, Marguerite H, she's the founder of the Renaissance School of Dance in New Zealand, sent us this question: How can we encourage and empower our students mentally to complete skills we know that they can do? I noticed recently when we were doing acro assessments with our students. She's referring to exam rehearsal and practice. That a small number of them were completely freaking out about particular skills, even though we knew they could do them. Some tricks and tips about how we can help them overcome their inner talk and criticism would be greatly appreciated.

Dr Leisha Strachan  6:23  
That is a wonderful question, Margret. And thanks so much for sending it. There are a few things in that question that stand out to me, and one of the first things is, in terms of empowering athletes, you might not seem like a total like sports psych thing in the moment to do, but in terms of empowerment, I know my own research and research that's done in terms of looking at positive development in sport really speaks to the importance of having young people feel empowered within whatever space they're in. So, within a sport context or within a dance studio context, it's also important to give them, for an example, choice within their learning, and some choices within their learning, so that they feel like they're taking more responsibility, and it's not just something that we're putting on them. It makes it hard when we're thinking about things like syllabi, and that there are like specific things that they actually need to accomplish in order to continue, but I think as they're learning and they're finding different ways of learning those skills, I think we can empower them to have more choice in terms of what they, how they decide to actually build those skills, and so that's why I think it's really important as studio owners, as studio teachers, to think about what types, when you're learning sort of one particular skill, what types of environment are you environments are you creating and making sure that there are multiple different ways of learning the same skill, so that even if they might not be able to learn, they do one specific skill in one context that you're giving them, that you're thinking about what, what are those progressions, which the syllabus is fantastic at showing where those progressions, and then how can I maybe go back in those progressions to help develop those skills a little bit more, and have them feel like they have a little more choice and empowerment in terms of their own learning. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  8:18  
Another thing, in terms of thinking about getting them through skills that they might have a block on is really thinking a lot more about how we're building their confidence, but also giving them some skills to cope. We also know through this pandemic it hasn't been easy on everyone, but particularly, you know, dance studios, dance studio owners, and closings and openings, and how that impacts kids as well in their own development. You know, they spent a lot of time in the last couple years, maybe learning from home or learning on their own, and so when they come back and re-enter these spaces, we do have to think about how they are going back into these spaces, and that some might not even feel as comfortable now performing in front of others when we didn't even think of it before when they were in large classes and we have them all together and they're learning together, but now it's a little bit of a shift to I think to learning that you know to answer your question, there are a lot of different things that you might be able to try and I think can use within you talked about the idea of talk and positive self-talk. It seems silly sometimes to think about it, that it can be something that's that easy, but I think that idea of affirmations, I think the idea of having kids actually say affirmations out loud and not just reading them, but if it's a mantra or if it's something that you want them to research and bring. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  9:45  
I have one athlete that uses the impossible as possible, that's always been something I think she read as a child somewhere, and gives her that little bit of confidence, I guess, and boost that she needs to sort of move forward. So, I think if it's if it's something like that, finding a quote or finding something that, that you can remind them of, that you have together, it can be something that they write somewhere, whether it's on their hand, you know, maybe there's something that they write on their hand during that, and so it's something, because you know, when you're doing handstands, you're doing things, you're always looking at your hands, so, or looking down somehow, so I think if it's something that you can put there, if it's little affirmations that you can even write on, you know, a masking tape or painter's tape or something, and putting along the maps or along the sides of the mats, something they can read that's constantly coming at them. I think that would be really helpful. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  10:38  
Of course, learning about breathing and how to manage breath is also really important, you know. It's such an involuntary thing that we do. We just breathe, and it's something that, as performers, that we really can use to harness to actually allow people to perform better and to actually relax. There's a really great free app called Mind Gym. It has a lot of already pre-recorded, some longer, but sometimes also shorter, I guess, scripts that have to do with breathing techniques and practicing practicing breathing. There's like a three or four minute one that I will use at the I've used at the end of my classes. I've just put it on, I've done it with them, because we all need to learn how to breathe better, but that idea of being able to like relax and practice breathing, and then also thinking on like exhales, actually adding in those affirmations in their head, so as they're like going through, they're exhaling, whatever that affirmation is, they can think of in their head and use as they're going through, and it's a great skill to learn in the moment. So, if they are blocked for a second, you can just be like, okay, I want you to take like with me, let's together take a couple breaths, and like, what are you thinking about now? You know, like, what's going on in your head, and like, you know, just reaffirming that they can do this, finding stories from people who have gone through, you know, any tough situation, and, and how they've managed to get through these situations. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  12:10  
I think it's important for them to know that idea of self-compassion and being mindful, but also understanding that there's a common humanity that, you know, you're not the only one that maybe has ever had a block in a skill before, that there are, you know, many other people who have gone through that, and how do you think that they've been able to sort of overcome this, and that's a conversation you can have with the group, doesn't have to be singling out one person, but everyone needs to be reminded of that, so hopefully that gives you a few things to sort of help, and that you're able to use. I know it's hard sometimes to take the time to do those things, but it is important to take the time. It's not time that's given, it's time you have to consciously and intentionally and deliberately take within your classes. So I just encourage you to use those.

Loren  12:59  
I really like the writing the mantras on a piece of tape and putting it on the mat, it helps everyone, and maybe helps some of those students who are having trouble overcoming those mental blocks, preparing them before that happens.

Dr Leisha Strachan  13:13  
Yeah, and I'll think of one more story too. Is just when I was doing my PhD work, I was going to a gymnastics gym, actually just understanding a little bit more about high performance sport and positive youth development, and one thing that those coaches did, and it was something that one of the coaches had learned in a parenting course, ironically, because we, we know we're coach moms or teacher moms a lot of the time, but it's something that they learned in a, in a teaching course, and it was about this idea of surrounding the student with positive messages, and so, or their child, like things around the house, so something you can put on the fridge, and or in the bathroom, or like notes that they'll see.

Dr Leisha Strachan  13:54  
How she had translated that into the gymnastics gym is actually whenever they did something that was courageous, or something that talked about the values of the school, so it wasn't just about accomplishing a skill, but even something as simple as they were trying a new skill on the, on the, you know, uneven bars for the first time, and they didn't accomplish it, but the fact that they tried it, and maybe it was something that, you know, was holding them back, you know, they're having a mental block, and and I was able to witness that firsthand, which was so cool. And as soon as that student, that student went up and down off that low bar, I probably 15 times before they actually tried to launch up to grab the high bar, and when they went to lunch, they didn't grab the high bar, they ended up falling in the pit, but when they emerged from the pit, one of the coaches just said her name and said, "Giving you a heart for courage. And at that time it was February, so their symbol was hearts, and so the kid, like, ran over, picked up a paper heart, it already had sort of their like photocopied hearts, and it just had said, like, "My name is. The and I received this heart for whatever, so they put their name, they put courage, and they went and put it on the wall, and there were actually many, many hearts, sort of like surrounding the gym, all around all the walls. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  15:12  
And I took a second to just to walk through and look at them at the end, and you know, some were specific on a skill, but many were just for like what we would say be life skills or just affirming something that was a value in their actual gymnastics gym so you know go back to your mission go back to your the values the things that you talk about in your website the things that you preach to the children you'll go back to those and start actually rewarding those and it can be as simple as that, and something that you post up on the studio wall that goes around, and we know, I mean, I've been, you know, when I'm teaching, you know, kids wander, and they start looking around, looking for things to look at, and if they can at least look at something that's like that's really positive, or that, like, they see their name on something, or they see someone else's name, and they're like, okay, courage is something that's really valued, even if I just try, that's right. So I think it's getting out of that like stress of like has to be perfect and just rewarding, starting to reward those things that we value.

Loren  16:15  
I love that story, creating such a wonderful, loving, supportive atmosphere, and that might be exactly what some of these students need, and really all of us, we look around, we should see love and support. So, Leisha, I'm just gonna maybe put you on the spot a little bit. If you were teaching an acro class, and one of your students who had their side aerial the week before came to class and then all of a sudden cannot do it. How would you handle that situation?

Dr Leisha Strachan  16:49  
I think you have to ask them questions, and I think it's important just to ask them. Okay, well, you know, when you did have it, how do you, how did you feel, or do you feel like there's one specific part that you're most worried about, and then really just think about building their confidence within that one part, or whatever it is, and I know it seems silly going back and doing progressions, and I don't want to discourage you. Also, don't want to discourage people by, like, I had it, and now I have to go back and do this one progression, but I think if you can put a positive spin on it, that's really helpful. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  17:23  
I think also that idea of thought stopping, so they're probably telling themselves that they can't, and it seems so simple to just be able to like see that thought coming and then listen to their language, what they're telling you, and then be like, okay, if you're telling yourself that you can't, I want you to replace that by this phrase, and it doesn't have to be I can, but it can be just I'm ready, you know, or I can do it, and just having them be aware of every time they're saying something negative that they have to sort of replace it with something positive, and it just helps them, I think, to change that mindset. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  17:59  
Also, that idea of just like, if there's something that happened at school, if there's something that's, you know, sometimes it's just, it's not related to acro at all, particularly if they've done the skill before, they could be just something's been going on in their life personally, or, you know, there's something going at school that's really bothering them, and they're just not able to kind of let it go, that the parking idea, in terms of parking an image, so okay, whatever that negative situation is, or whatever is going on for that day, kind of taking it, putting it in a ball, putting it in a box, closing the box, leaving it there, re-entering the space without that burden, you know, you can collect that ball after you leave, and you know, and we can help work through it, but right now at this time, like maybe just leaving the room for a second, thinking about what's going on. Imagine yourself sort of parking it or putting it somewhere, putting it on a shelf. Sometimes I've had athletes touch the door before, like touch the door and leave it on the door, and then re-enter the space in a more positive mindset. And sometimes just taking that burden off of them is really helpful as well.

Loren  19:04  
Fantastic, Marguerite. Thank you so much for asking that question. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have asked Leisha, so I really appreciate it, Leisha. While we have you here, and while we're on the topic, I'm also curious about anxiety, and anxiety in our students and in the classroom. I think you mentioned at the beginning for two years they didn't have anything, and now we expect them to go in front of an audience and maybe competition. What is something we can do to help with the anxiety of our students?

Dr Leisha Strachan  19:37  
That's a great question. I've experienced a lot of the same things, and even just removing the mask, you know, they've gotten really used to hiding behind them, even that's enough of anxiety right now, just removing that, and of course, as you mentioned, just audience, just, you know, parents watching, other people watching, so I feel like some of the ways to go about managing those things. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  20:00  
The first thing is this idea of simulated practice, something that's done a lot in sports psychology, and you know we know it, because this is why within dance communities and accurate communities are dress rehearsals, because we know the importance of actually competing on the stage and in the spaces that you're going to be competing or doing your performance, so this idea of trying to set up simulated practices as much as possible within your classes, I think it's important it can start with smaller groups and then grow to larger groups. It can start with doesn't have to be doing full choreography, it can just start with performing a couple skills in front of a small group, having them do one at a time and watching each other, sort of starting with starting with that, and then growing the group as you're going along, so that we can kind of ease them into it. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  20:51  
The other thing is also in that simulated practice is the use of imagery. When we think of using imagery or visualization, it's not just seeing the skills, right. We have to think about all the senses. It's not only music, and it's not only sight and seeing what what you're seeing, but it's also trying to image what they, what's what they're touching, right? It's the ground, trying to think about, you know, whether there's taste involved in that, you know, like really just trying to recreate and make those things as vivid as possible, and I think with imagery practice that's possible. So I would say, too, it's okay to take them out of the performance venue in order when you're thinking about imagery, doesn't have to be thinking about when you're on stage and doing your performance. Some of them just need to go all the way back to nothing that has to do with acro or performance or dance, but even just to practice imagery, a lot of times I'll even have them practicing what it's like to go into their house, a place that they're super familiar with. You'll go into your bedroom, closing your eyes, standing in the middle of your bedroom. Okay, what do you see? What are the specific details that you can think about? How you left your room, you know? Can you change the colors on the wall? This idea of being able to manipulate the image, and was that easy for you? Cheap, can you move furniture around? What does it look like if your bed's on the other wall? What does it look like if you have a desk and the desk is somewhere else? What does it look like if clothes are all hung up in your, and it's totally neat? What does it look like when it's totally messy? 

Dr Leisha Strachan  22:26  
You know that idea of going where their comfort is, and then thinking about how we can manipulate the images, then, because if they're, if they can manipulate it there, and they can gain some comfort in a place that they're comfortable, then we can think about how we can manipulate images that has to do with skills, right. And we can think about, okay, you know, if you're having a tough time with this skill, even using the app, for example, using the Acrobatic Arts app, and watching someone do the actual skill, and then trying to image, and like see if you can replace yourself in that image of doing that, and what's something that they're doing that maybe you're not doing right, and the importance of video, of course, for them to have that feedback is really important. So the idea of manipulating image, I think, is really important. And then as they're getting ready to start performing and getting on stages, then we can start thinking about, okay, remember that venue we were at two years ago, do you remember what it looks like, you know, trying to see if they can see themselves there, right? And what does it feel like?

Dr Leisha Strachan  23:26  
And you know, is your heart racing when you think about this, and how are you going to calm that down, and having having those types of conversations, because we know what's going to happen, right? So then we have to think about how do we use imagery then to also help decrease anxiety, which imagery can be used for. It's not just for skills or just for routines, but it's also for building confidence and also for reducing anxiety.

Loren  23:53  
Leisha, would you have a resource that the teachers could access that deals with imagery?

Dr Leisha Strachan  23:59  
Yeah, that's that's great. That's a really great question. The first one that comes to mind is actually an old book that you might be able to just find on Amazon, but it's from the late Terry Orlick, and it's called Psyching for Sport, and it is like an older, you know, very focused on sports psych, but one thing that he was fantastic at doing is really giving some good scripts, and really sort of explaining, I guess, concrete ways of teaching imagery, particularly to children. He's really well known for that, for, you know, how to explain things for kids, particularly if they're younger. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  24:34  
And also, one book that I, I quoted a lot, and I really love is The Mental Athlete from Kay Porter, that book I just really love, because it has such specific imagery scripts in it, so specific ones for confidence, specific ones for dealing with fear, specific ones for even healing and injuries, and so I think those ones have been really valuable to me, I've actually. Sent them to students and had them record them themselves on their phones because their phones are with them all the time and and when they're at competitions it gives them something that they can listen to you know you'll hear the script I want you to like say it on your phone so you have a voice file voice memo of it and then we're at a competition, you know, before they go on, or as they're getting warmed up. I'll just tell them, you'll sit and listen to that script for a few minutes, right, and get yourself sort of in the mindset that you need to be in, in order for you to perform your best, whatever that best is for you. Those are two things. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  25:36  
There's another website called Sports Psychology for coaches.ca it's a Canadian website. It also has a ton of resources, particularly dealing with visualization and self-talk, or any type of applied sports psychology. It's free, it's very research-based. Some of my Canadian colleagues have been putting it together over the last five or six years, or so. So that would be another, I think, really good resource to get some of this information.

Loren  26:05  
Thanks, that's lots. This process will take time, and if you haven't started with your students from the beginning, it will be a work in progress, but a great way to get those scripts in your classroom is to do it as part of your cool down, because that way you can do it all together, and it won't take up so much time. I guess in your class, that's how I would suggest getting it in.

Dr Leisha Strachan  26:32  
Yeah, that's that's a great suggestion. Definitely, I think using cool downs is a great way, even if you wanted to record yourself on a voice memo, and you have it just like piping into your class for the last four minutes, and you can do it while they're cooling down, especially if they're a little bit older, and they can do it while they're even stretching, right? Just, and some of them might just like want to just close their eyes, lying on their back, doing some stretching, but actually doing the script as well. 

Dr Leisha Strachan  26:59  
I would also say that it's important to not just do it once, and don't get frustrated if they can't do it, as you said. Does happen over time. It is a work in progress, and it's okay to use the same script over and over and over again, just like we would want them to do their progressions and their skills over and over and over again, and those don't change, because it is a habit we're building habits. It's okay for them to have listened to it so much that they know what's coming up, because when they need it in the moment, they'll be able to recall that, and so it's okay for like the next six weeks. We're gonna be using this, you know, confidence imagery script, you know, at the end of class, and I find even using the same breathing script over and over again, they know what's coming up, they know what to expect, and it allows them to relax in it, right. It's very akin to us as dance teachers doing the same warm up all year, for example. Right, we know that when we keep the same warm up all year, even if it's the same music, exact same order of stretches and movements they don't have to watch us after a while, and they can actually just actually warm up properly, and know that this is coming up next, and I can really get into this stretch, and I know I'm holding it for this long, and then coming out of it, so it's the same thing, and it's just now practicing those mental skills, they need to be practiced, it's so important.

Loren  28:22  
That's fantastic information. Well, Dr. Leisha Strachan, is there anything else you would like to add for the teachers and the dancers?

Dr Leisha Strachan  28:31  
Just a reminder for teachers to also have some self-compassion on yourself, you know. We put a lot of energy into our students, and I appreciate that about this whole community. Everyone's so focused on wanting their students to get better, and that's awesome too. But at the same time, you really need to take care of yourself. Mental health is definitely a thing for coaches as well. A lot of research around that. Try to find those times where that you can give yourself some grace, and also think about what those finish lines are for you, and you know, trying to reward yourself at those little finish lines, whether it's you finished a costume order, and it's finally in, like, do something for yourself, you know, if you finished choreography, and like it's been on your mind for a long time, and you got to a point where, like, okay, got all the choreography out I needed find that time to just celebrate those little wins, and really just be aware of your own mental health, because your students need you as much as you need them.

Loren  29:32  
That's so nice. I agree, we have to celebrate our little successes much more than we do. So, Leisha, thank you so much for sharing your time with us today, and providing some wonderful tools for mental imagery and mental health.

Dr Leisha Strachan  29:49  
Thanks so much for having me. 

Loren  29:55  
If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to subscribe and follow. So you never miss an episode, and if you know a dance teacher, student, or parent who would love to hear this discussion, send it their way. Sharing the show is one of the best ways to support the podcast. 

Loren  30:14  
Until next time, find power in your strength, freedom in your flexibility, and know that we are here to support you on your acro journey. 

Loren  30:23  
Thanks for listening, everyone. And have a great day!