Big Time Stress

Thats a back handspring for those that don't know ^ :)

Sometimes its not multiple things, but one big event that can make your stress level rise.  For me, this type of stress came when I had to learn my back handspring. While it seemed like relatively simple thing, I was so  terrified to do it and trying to do it caused me so much stress. I was ALWAYS thinking about it; what could go wrong, what if i wasn't doing it right, etc. It was sooo frustrating! It even got to the point where I wouldn't even attempt to do it because I was just so stressed and nervous about it that I would just freeze mid way through. But with cheer tryouts approaching I knew I needed to figure something out. I tried everything, muscle conditioning, doing basic drills, using extra matts for protections, everything, but something was still preventing me from doing it. It wasn't until I finally thought about changing my attitude that I was able to achieve my back handspring. At first, I just tried channeling all my energy to motivating myself; I stopped saying that I couldn't do it and exchanged my all negative thoughts for positive ones. I also tried not to focus on it, or how scary it was, all the time. Instead,I just keep it off my mind with distractions, and when I did think about it I tried to remain neutral, not scared, not upset, just neutral (which is harder than it sounds, it defiantly takes a little practice- the trick is to just breathe when you start thinking about it). The last thing I would do was visualize my self doing it. And, eventually, it paid off. I got my back handspring. So thats why I shared this story, sometimes if something is stressing you out, the best way to deal with it is not nit picking the thing to death, but fixing your stress instead.