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Starting Ballet in My 30s — My Experience
27 Plays9 months ago
In this episode of The Intuitive Move, I share what it’s really like to start ballet as an adult — the nerves of my first class, the surprises along the way, and the lessons of discipline, grace, and presence that extend far beyond the studio. Whether you’ve ever dreamed of trying something new later in life, or you’re just curious about what ballet can teach us about resilience and self-trust, this one’s for you.
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Transcript
Introduction to Intuitive Move Podcast
00:00:00
Nadia Stejskal
Welcome to another episode of the Intuitive Move podcast, the place where we shut our minds, open our hearts, so we can overshare.
00:00:11
Nadia Stejskal
My name is Nadia, and this is your space to find your truth, trust your inner voice, and hopefully laugh of your latest meltdown.
Listener Feedback and Moving to Australia
00:00:21
Nadia Stejskal
Before starting in today's episode, I want to take a moment to say a big thank you to everyone that has reached out After the latest episode, why I moved to Australia.
00:00:33
Nadia Stejskal
I received so many messages and I i just want to say ah big thank you to everyone that shared really nice words with me. I hope you like this episode as well.
Intuition vs Anxiety: Understanding the Difference
00:00:44
Nadia Stejskal
since this podcast is all about trusting your own intuition, trust that voice that comes from within, I received a couple of questions regarding how do I know that it's really my intuition and not maybe my anxiety or maybe not my mind trying to defend myself from whatever threat it finds.
00:01:10
Nadia Stejskal
that's a really good question. We should really try to slowly understand when is our mind, when is our intuition. it's come if it comes from a place of anxiety.
00:01:22
Nadia Stejskal
So how do I know that is the anxiety and not my inner voice? And the easiest way that I found it helps me differentiate the both of them is that, the voice of the intuition is a voice that is very gentle, is a voice that is calm and says things Not always straightforward and not always nice things, but always the message is calm, clear, and assertive. That's the word.
00:02:00
Nadia Stejskal
The messages that I hear from my what the voice of my intuition, they are always good for me in the long run. and On the other hand, the messages that I hear from coming from my anxiety or my mind or the brain, all in all, those messages come across a little harsh, a little more, you know, and a little aggressive, not always kind,
00:02:28
Nadia Stejskal
ah really quick way of knowing if it's the anxiety is that the messages come like like it's your own enemy, maybe sometimes.
00:02:39
Nadia Stejskal
And this voice of the anxiety is full of worst case scenarios as well as getting conclusions that are always black and white, like always and never...
00:02:54
Nadia Stejskal
type of sentences. and for example, oh, you're always looking so badly in the morning, or you're always in a bad mood, or oh, what if you lose your key and then you can't come back to your house? direct Those messages are not coming from the intuition. They are messages that come from the brain.
00:03:14
Nadia Stejskal
And these messages, the voice of the anxiety is not always bad. In fact, this voice, it's good in some cases where it comes to survival and fight for our own life.
00:03:29
Nadia Stejskal
So it's not like it's always bad, but it's only it's good to understand when it's a place to listen to the voice of the anxiety and when it's not.
00:03:40
Nadia Stejskal
So if we're asking questions to our own intuition and then we listen the answers from the anxiety, so that will not take us to a good place.
Listening to Intuition and Managing Anxiety
00:03:50
Nadia Stejskal
In summary, I will say that the anxiety helps us survive and the intuition helps us thrive. depending on what questions we have is who are we going to listen to?
00:04:04
Nadia Stejskal
I think that's a good thing to start knowing in theory and then start to incorporate this knowledge slowly into our everyday life. So if I have a question, does this feel right?
00:04:17
Nadia Stejskal
Yes, sometimes we need to ask the mind sometimes we need to ask our intuitions. So I thought that's a good way of starting this episode number two, because we have so many episodes ahead of us. And this is a journey.
00:04:33
Nadia Stejskal
We are navigating and diving into these topics, but we are all learning together. We are learning at the same time. And slowly with all this year that come ahead,
00:04:47
Nadia Stejskal
We are going to learn and we will differentiate the intuition from the anxiety. I promise you.
Starting Ballet in Adulthood
00:04:54
Nadia Stejskal
Another thing that I wanted to share today is the topic of the episode. Learning ballet in my thirties.
00:05:01
Nadia Stejskal
So story time. One year ago, I found myself in a period of life for the first time in my life where I was between jobs, so I didn't have a full-time job for a few months.
00:05:16
Nadia Stejskal
This made me realize that I had so much free time for the first time in my life. And I started trying new things. So I decided to take advantage of this time and enrolled to so many activities, disciplines, sports, everything that you could imagine.
00:05:33
Nadia Stejskal
At the point that I had so much time that I was trying yoga classes at different places because maybe I didn't like one place so I tried another and another.
00:05:45
Nadia Stejskal
I was with so much so so much free time that I tried so many new things. I was trying to connect more with the voice from within and I was trying to listen, okay, what should I try next? Or is this a good week to maybe rest more? Or is this a good week to try new things every day?
00:06:04
Nadia Stejskal
I was doing all that. One day i was scrolling on my couch and I come across to this ad about ballet workout.
00:06:14
Nadia Stejskal
And i was I saw it and I thought, hmm, I've never seen this before. i never heard of this ballet workout before. I wonder. So i as we all know, ballet is a discipline, is a dance and...
00:06:29
Nadia Stejskal
that it takes so much physical effort and endurance and and it takes so many, the whole body and muscles and makes, I assumed, as everyone could appreciate, that ballet, you know, makes you work out a lot. So I thought, okay, well, no, why not give it a try?
00:06:50
Nadia Stejskal
So I come to this place and I enrolled. This place that I went here in Perth wasn't like a dance studio. It was more like a hybrid, a little workout, hybrid with a little dance, but the place was focused on the workout that comes from ballet.
00:07:12
Nadia Stejskal
And I came to this class, I think it was called Ballet Workout. That was the name of the class. And I cannot explain very well what happened in this class.
00:07:21
Nadia Stejskal
So I come and I start this lesson, even though I normally worked out in the previous days before that, I felt so stiff and like that I couldn't really move well according to the movements.
00:07:36
Nadia Stejskal
But I still did the lesson lesson ah but from the best of my abilities. And something happened. So when the class started, I looked at the time and it was 6.15.
00:07:46
Nadia Stejskal
six fifteen So 15 minutes after the class started. And then when I looked again, it was 7.15. So I remember some of the exercise exercise that we did, but not really, I don't really know how the time went so quickly.
00:08:04
Nadia Stejskal
And I wonder if that ever happened to you when you're enjoying so much an activity that the time goes by and you you think, what happened? Like, what was I doing in this period of time?
00:08:17
Nadia Stejskal
That's when I realized, oh, I'm really enjoying this.
Finding Community and Affordable Ballet Classes
00:08:21
Nadia Stejskal
And I decided to pay attention to that feeling of, okay, I'm really enjoying this. Maybe I should take make a note and then hopefully practice again.
00:08:32
Nadia Stejskal
Unfortunately, after that class, I realized that that that place was a little expensive for what I consider the class value should be. so I didn't come back to that place. However, I did make a note about, okay, I really like ballet workout.
00:08:51
Nadia Stejskal
And I started a campaign of finding a place that I really like and maybe a little more community-based because I was looking for that as well. Then I come across to this dance studio, which did a lot of all the disciplines, all the styles from dancing.
00:09:11
Nadia Stejskal
But it was a place that it was only for all of us. And I really liked that because sometimes, you know, When you're practicing in a place and you're looking around and there there are kids that are better than you.
00:09:24
Nadia Stejskal
I know sometimes, you know, it kicks your ego. And if you're not ready to see all that, maybe it's challenging. But this place was all for adults. And I felt very welcome.
00:09:37
Nadia Stejskal
And I enjoyed it. So one year ago, exactly one year ago, enrolled to ballet beginners. It was a course that was fully focused on the ballet style.
00:09:52
Nadia Stejskal
So I started learning ballet one year ago. The thing is, I cannot explain how many things I learned. So I'm gonna answer some questions that I got from this crazy thing about starting ballet in my 30s.
00:10:11
Nadia Stejskal
Because really, when I say that I do ballet for only one year, people say, really? Like, did you just started? You were grown up and everything. And I said, yes, I'm happy to answer all the questions that I got.
00:10:26
Nadia Stejskal
So first, what first sparked your interest in learning ballet as an adult? And the answer is, I didn't know that I had an interest of learning ballet as an adult.
00:10:41
Nadia Stejskal
I just got the interest after practicing a little bit. And I think this is so important understand. realize that sometimes when people ask you what do you like and you don't know, that doesn't mean that you don't like anything.
00:10:58
Nadia Stejskal
That means that you should get exposed to new things. And from all those new things, you will find something that you really like. so one thing I can say is, in general, my background from Argentina So I'm a Latin American girl and i in general, I love dancing, ballet was never, never, I never practiced ballet before.
00:11:24
Nadia Stejskal
I only practice like social dances like salsa, bachata, all those things that are more free and don't have like a huge structure.
00:11:34
Nadia Stejskal
And that answers the second question. Have you ever done any kind of dance before or was it a completely new territory? So not fully a new territory, but it was the first time in my life that I practiced a dance in a studio with an instructor, like properly learning. learning if i have If I recall well, I only went to two or three reggaeton lessons back in argentina when i was around 20 years old and that was the only dance that i practiced so as you can see i only danced reggaeton salsa bachata so these styles that are not hit don't have a huge structure or that's what i think because i didn't practice them professionally
00:12:25
Nadia Stejskal
And another question I got is, how did you feel walking into your very first ballet class?
Reflections on Learning Ballet as a Beginner
00:12:33
Nadia Stejskal
I love this question because during my first ballet class, I felt like I was back in uni in the first first subject.
00:12:45
Nadia Stejskal
I felt like, wow, I know nothing about this and I want to learn everything. That's what I got. i was so excited about feeling that, craving the learning and not only the knowledge, but the experience.
00:13:02
Nadia Stejskal
So unlike when I first started university back then when I was 18 years old in Argentina, I felt, okay, I want to learn everything. I want to become an engineer.
00:13:15
Nadia Stejskal
Here, i am like, I want to experience everything. I want to see what my body is capable of. So that's the difference.
00:13:26
Nadia Stejskal
But at the same time, I find similarities about not knowing anything about this style and wanting to learn everything. So that's that's what I feel.
00:13:38
Nadia Stejskal
i really I really love talking about this because I wouldn't have known any of this if I hadn't tried that first workout ballet workout class.
00:13:50
Nadia Stejskal
So I'm so grateful that I clicked on that Insta ad. So not all Insta ads are bad. So imagine, see how I clicked on the ad, and added my details, then the place contacted me and I got started.
00:14:09
Nadia Stejskal
And I think that's when it comes the time of listening to my, your own intuition. So you can get exposed to millions of millions of bits of information.
00:14:23
Nadia Stejskal
We, in our brain, we process information just like a computer, just like a drive. And we store, we store, but now we have the duty also of filtering.
00:14:37
Nadia Stejskal
So how do we filter these millions of millions of bits of information that we get exposed to every single day with our inner voice, with our senses, know, what makes sense for you and where it doesn't make sense for you.
00:14:53
Nadia Stejskal
So I trusted that I really wanted to try that and I did it. And I'm so glad I did. because of all the things that I'm going to share right now.
00:15:04
Nadia Stejskal
Another question I got asked a lot is, what surprised you the most about that first class? I want to say this. Well, the thing that surprised me the most is that I thought during the class, oh my God, I i was looking at myself and other the other ladies in the mirror,
00:15:26
Nadia Stejskal
And I thought, oh my God, we already look like we are dancing ballet. That was the first thought. Because, you know, when you think of ballet, you think of the performances and acts from the theater, that they are extremely professional and perfect.
00:15:43
Nadia Stejskal
But you never think of that you will already look like you dance ballet if you're in your first class. I never would have thought so. However, was watching ourselves in the mirror and I thought, this is so nice. We are already, you know, but ah positioning the hands and learning to correct the shoulders and the back, like so many little things.
00:16:10
Nadia Stejskal
And we already, overall, we already look like we dance ballet. And that was mind-blowing because it was only the first class.
00:16:18
Nadia Stejskal
Were there any moments where you thought, what have I gotten myself into? Not really.
00:16:30
Nadia Stejskal
i think during the last year, there were some lessons where I thought, that the teacher was maybe a little harsh. And I thought in those moments, I thought, oh, what why are you coming here to suffer? Like it was only a couple of the lessons.
00:16:48
Nadia Stejskal
And i I also thought that the teacher is human and he also can run out of patience. But in those times, which at the same time, I think I was having a hard time at work.
Physical and Personal Growth Through Ballet
00:17:00
Nadia Stejskal
So I thought, why are you, Nadia, are you choosing to suffer? That's or what I thought, but definitely 99% the time, I really enjoy myself during the lessons.
00:17:13
Nadia Stejskal
Another question get asked a lot is, how did your body respond to the training physically and mentally? And this is the the thing.
00:17:24
Nadia Stejskal
So my body started responding to the ballet classes after four months of practicing once a week.
00:17:34
Nadia Stejskal
after four months i noticed that i was more flexible my i wasn't so stiff anymore I noticed that my leg muscles in the whole leg, they improved.
00:17:48
Nadia Stejskal
I didn't have a lot of muscles there and I had new muscles. i'm I think I improved a little bit my posture.
00:18:00
Nadia Stejskal
Definitely, i feel I feel strong in my muscles. back, legs, and also in the glutes, so all that area, it's like never in my life I had so much muscle.
00:18:15
Nadia Stejskal
Another question I get asked a lot, did you see it as just a hobby or something deeper from the start?
00:18:23
Nadia Stejskal
at At the beginning, I thought, well, I love having this hobby. But then I thought, why can I not be that shows the world that it's possible to start ballet in your 30s?
00:18:36
Nadia Stejskal
So I thought maybe in five years I could do a presentation. I'm sure not as a professional. Well, actually, I don't know. But I can always, in five years, I could always be you know much better than and I can present.
00:18:52
Nadia Stejskal
Who knows what level I'll have in five years. But if you really want, I think everything is possible. So I want to be that person that shows the world.
00:19:03
Nadia Stejskal
You can start ballet in your 30s. and Maybe you will not have this completely open turnout and all this. body parts that adapt to ballet when you're very little.
00:19:16
Nadia Stejskal
But you can still dance and you can still do the style and you can still protect your body from injuries.
00:19:22
Nadia Stejskal
Another question I get asked a lot is how do the principles of ballet, like discipline, grace and presence, all these things that we know about ballet, show up in the outside of the studio?
00:19:37
Nadia Stejskal
So discipline, grace and presence. I've got a lot of things to say about this. Discipline, yes, it helps to be accountable with oneself and try to go every single week and to all the lessons.
00:19:53
Nadia Stejskal
That's the and one thing i'm I'm struggling at the moment. But as always, when you're I'm changing roles at the moment. I'm in the same organization, so that takes some effort.
00:20:06
Nadia Stejskal
However, I'm doing my best to go every single week. And so the discipline definitely, it keeps you accountable. When you skip one week, you definitely, you pay the tax in the following week.
00:20:20
Nadia Stejskal
Grace, well, this is a big one because I love the teacher. so my teacher is called Justin and he always says, Your face should look like, like, lit up. You know, the face that you put when you find a friend on the street, like you get excited, or the face that you put when you're touring in your house, say that you move to a new house and your friend comes to visit, you're showing the house and you are excited and, like, all energetic, showing the new place.
00:20:54
Nadia Stejskal
So that's the face that you should have while practicing ballet. And I definitely incorporated this into the office. Sometimes I will be looking around and all my coworkers will have this face of like dying and I'm like, okay, I can bring i can bring the ballet face.
00:21:16
Nadia Stejskal
And I was like like this, and people look at you like ah ah responding in the same way. And I feel like people treated me better because I had this happy, but not like smiley face. It's like lit up face kind of thing.
00:21:32
Nadia Stejskal
And the presence. One thing that from ballet you can bring to life, to the outside of the studio, is the presence Because you can do all the positions in ballet.
00:21:48
Nadia Stejskal
You can do it almost perfect. But if you don't have the presence, if you don't ground correctly, if you don't show, okay, this is me, I'm happy and I'm showing you in my best energy, the best of me, that presence that you learn from ballet can definitely bring to work, be can definitely be brought to work and can definitely be brought to all the aspects of your life.
00:22:17
Nadia Stejskal
And I really like i really like that. i I think, I know it sounds crazy, but, you know, as people compare life with a soccer match, like in Argentina, we always have examples like teamwork and things from soccer, and you can apply to life.
00:22:36
Nadia Stejskal
I found that ballet can also be applied to life. Maybe it's more individualistic, but why not? Why not bring things that you learn in one discipline and you bring to other areas of your life?
00:22:50
Nadia Stejskal
I really like that.
00:22:51
Nadia Stejskal
And what has ballet taught you about patience and progress?
Lessons from Ballet: Patience and Progress
00:22:57
Nadia Stejskal
Ooh, but in ballet, you have to have a lot of patience. So your body will respond, but will respond when it's the right time.
00:23:06
Nadia Stejskal
And that is so hard for someone that wants, you know, action and reaction, action and consequence. When you're like me, like you want to do things and see the result, oh, ballet will help you a lot to ground and connect.
00:23:23
Nadia Stejskal
to the process instead of connecting yourself with the result it helps you okay here you are and you're learning to get here but it ballet is perfect if you're like if you have anxiety for the future practice ballet because it will bring you okay you're here and then tomorrow you'll be a little better and the day after you'll be a little better and in one month theory you'll be a little better but Don't rush.
00:23:54
Nadia Stejskal
This is the right pace. You will not go faster unless the time a lot of time passes. So that's a great learning.
00:24:04
Nadia Stejskal
Patience and progress. Don't go in a speed. They go at the right time when they have to really go. How do you deal with moments where you feel like you're behind? Oh, compared to others in the class.
00:24:19
Nadia Stejskal
Oh, this is a really good question. Many times I felt like I was the worst, the worst person. I was the worst dancing in the whole studio. And I thought, OK, first of all, you're not coming every single week. So that's the price.
00:24:39
Nadia Stejskal
Secondly, even if you come every single week, you might be the worst and that's okay. that's And thirdly, maybe you're being too hard with yourself and you're not the worst.
00:24:52
Nadia Stejskal
Your mind is tricking you. So either way, I always try to come back. Okay, here you are. That's what you can do. And the teacher, the instructor always says,
00:25:04
Nadia Stejskal
Okay, I don't know that yet, but I'll get it next time. And I'll get it next time. It's okay, I'll get it next time. And I absolutely love that. Even though he's very strict and he wants us to give our best.
00:25:18
Nadia Stejskal
But he also says this and I feel like, okay, I'll get it next time. As long as you're trying your best, yes, you'll get it you the next time.
00:25:28
Nadia Stejskal
And another question is, did learning ballet at this stage of life feel like an intuitive decision?
Intuition's Role in Continuing Ballet
00:25:38
Nadia Stejskal
I think, yes, in a way.
00:25:40
Nadia Stejskal
it wasn't just like, oh, what should I do now? And the intuition said, practice ballet. It went like a little bit, m it was like the intuition was dropping the information little by little.
00:25:55
Nadia Stejskal
So the intuition first said, try this class. Yes, it feels right. Try the class. Then during the class, I was like, do I like it? Yes. So it was like a slow communication with my intuition.
00:26:09
Nadia Stejskal
And now every day that I go to ballet, it's a confirmation and a confirmation that this is the right place. And this is great for your body, for your mind, for your spirit.
00:26:21
Nadia Stejskal
Like sometimes you really feel like you're flying. I'm not joking. any funny or humbling moments from class you're willing to share well first i really want to share this the teacher justin says very often is look like you're expensive you know when when we he's trying to fix or help us fix our face and our posture and you know, you can do exact, two people can do exactly the same, but one has the presence and, you know, that charm and the other doesn't.
00:26:58
Nadia Stejskal
So the one that is, has the presence will look like it's expensive. And that's, I find that really funny. I can't stop laughing you when he keeps saying the same joke.
00:27:10
Nadia Stejskal
I keep laughing every single time because ah ah I'm not expecting he's saying that. I'm like, I'm in the position and he says, look like you're expensive. And I'm like, I laugh. So I think it's a really good thing to laugh at things that you're practicing or laugh when you can't really do things.
00:27:32
Nadia Stejskal
For example, in last lesson, we were trying to do, I i don't remember the positions still, I'm learning. But I said, i can't really do that. i need to jump I need to jump really high in order for me to you know do the pointing. He said, no, you don't really need to jump high. You need to jump and point faster. I'm like, oh my God, you're right. How did I not know that?
00:27:59
Nadia Stejskal
like I thought that I need to jump and then do the pointing. I needed more time to point, but no, I needed to be pointing faster. Oh my God. I see how these little things you don't realize and it's okay. It keeps you humble.
00:28:16
Nadia Stejskal
And that's another key thing I love about going to ballet.
Ballet's Humbling Effect and Lifelong Learning
00:28:20
Nadia Stejskal
Many times in my life, and I know this might sound arrogant, but you know, in the field of project management, in the field of planning, I'm normally...
00:28:31
Nadia Stejskal
the person that knows the most about that, where I'm working or maybe even with friends, because, you know, it's my job to train others.
00:28:42
Nadia Stejskal
So I found myself in sit situationches in situations where I was like, quote unquote, the smartest person in the room in that topic And I thought, no, I don't want to be really always this.
00:28:55
Nadia Stejskal
I want to stay humble. i want to learn from others. So going to ballet and any activity that you do that you go to learn keeps you humble, keeps you connected with the process and not so much with the result, keeps you connected with enjoying the during and not the finally.
00:29:17
Nadia Stejskal
And another question is, how do you see ballet fitting in your life in the future? So I think I can tell you from now, maybe in another year, I see myself doing a presentation, like from the school, talking about the school.
00:29:39
Nadia Stejskal
And I see myself keep practicing and going to different studios. I really hope to make friends in ballet.
00:29:50
Nadia Stejskal
You know, i live in Australia and it's a little hard to make friends. But since I'm going to the same places every day, I think I would love to make one or two friends in these places. Not always making friends from work, which I love, but also making friends at these hobby things.
00:30:08
Nadia Stejskal
What advice would I give to someone who is curious about trying ballet or anything later in life?
Encouragement to Explore New Activities
00:30:16
Nadia Stejskal
My advice is go for it if it feels right.
00:30:20
Nadia Stejskal
You don't need to feel like you need to be perfect and don't look at the end goal. Just try one class and see how you feel. That's my advice.
00:30:31
Nadia Stejskal
Well, I really hope that you enjoyed this episode of the Intuitive Move podcast. Here we are all learning together and we all want to connect with our intuition to make better decisions in our life and also to have an easier life.
00:30:46
Nadia Stejskal
That's our biggest hope for this podcast. Thank you so much and I'll see you next time.