9 Serious Life Problems I Solved With Breakdance (Part 1)
'Breaking' the norm makes life easier.
Human life is littered with problems.
Feeling weak
Lack of discipline
Stagnation
Poor self-image
We need to overcome problems to live fulfilling lives. However, they are not easy to resolve.
Using Breakdance to solve our issues may sound crazy.
After all, it’s just a bunch of cool moves, right?
But after 16 years of Breaking, I realize that few activities are powerful enough to trigger transformation like this dance.
In this three-part article, I’ll ‘break’ down a few life problems that are easier to deal with thanks to Breakdance.
If you’ve faced stagnation, low self-esteem, mental weakness, and issues that will make your life 120% better if resolved, you may find the answer in Breakdance.
1. Struggling To Commit
Commitment is one of the biggest issues we face in the modern world.
Whether learning a new skill, building a loving relationship, or sticking to a habit, we try things without going all the way because of the work involved.
We make excuses, switch between pursuits, and never make meaningful progress.
Being unable to commit seeps into every aspect of our lives.
When we start something new, we get bored quickly. We constantly experience shiny-object syndrome and assume we will be committed to the next thing.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
- Chris Williamson
Commitment is a skill. One that can be developed through practice.
It’s the act of sticking to something that may feel unpleasant. It’s the strength to ignore the lack of results or meaningful change for a long time. It’s being able to show up consistently and with intention.
Breakdance quickly teaches you that real progress requires commitment. You need consistent action to learn the basic movements. And you need to return to practice to cement what you’ve learned.
You stick to it without noticing any change for a while.
Until suddenly, your work pays off.
You learn the basics.
You catch the groove of the music.
You hold your freezes effortlessly.
In the process, you understand that commitment leads to results.
Once you know this in your body, committing to things becomes exciting. Because you know that doing something long enough gives you fluency.
And when you learn what commitment feels like, you can bring this energy to every aspect of your life.
2. Physical And Mental Weakness
We are not born mentally and physically strong.
For most of us (myself included) weakness and fragility are the norm.
We crumble under pressure.
Our bodies ache after a workout.
We struggle to bounce back from negative events.
We are chained by our physical and mental limitations.
The problem isn’t our inherent weakness.
It’s that we are never allowed to explore the depths of our strength.
Some of us are fortunate enough to be pushed into a mentally or physically challenging field when we are young, and we develop some resilience.
But this resilience is often built on accolades or external rewards.
This sort of strength lacks foundation.
Because unless you voluntarily decide to overcome your weaknesses, they will continue to operate beneath the surface. And you only get so far without a strong foundation.
The problem with weakness is that it seeps into every aspect of your life.
Challenges are scary
Physical activity is daunting
Emotional discomfort is intolerable
True strength can only be built through voluntary discomfort. By putting yourself in situations where you are forced to grow. Or quit.
And few activities build mental and physical strength like Breakdancing.
I remember being terrible at sports.
I never had the ‘talent’ for it, and didn’t care to engage in anything physical. As a result, I quietly accepted the belief that I was not physically capable.
But after a decade of Breakdancing, my body has developed to meet the demands of nearly any physical activity.
Disclaimer: I’m not good at any particular sport, because each sport demands specific motor skills.
But I am confident in my ability to meet the physical demands of any sport.
Unlike other physical activities, Breaking requires a holistic approach to fitness.
Strength, mobility, stability, agility, coordination, spatial awareness, and several other specs are developed at the same time.
The dance slowly and steadily builds your physical capabilities, making you more confident and comfortable in your body.
It’s a workout for every body part and will create the body awareness you can feel deep inside your bones.
This dance will expose your weaknesses like nothing else.
A weak core will make it difficult to stabilize yourself.
Weak arms will ache after a few minutes of dancing.
Weak legs will buckle after a short session.
And once you feel weakness in such a visceral way, it’s impossible not to do something about it.
You WILL find a way to strengthen your body.
And you don’t need years of practice to feel physical change.
The best part of Breaking is how it tests your mind.
The mental resilience you develop is unparalleled.
Failure, frustration, and setbacks are the norm. Some moves take months or even years to master and you need to keep going without evidence that what you’re doing will work.
The things that expose your insecurities are a never-ending list.
Practicing till your body aches all over
Dancing in front of people
Accepting your weaknesses
Realizing you aren’t as good as you thought
To name a few.
You are compelled to face your flaws and realize how mentally weak you are.
When you confront how weak you are without running from the reality, you build mental strength.
You also realize that mental strength isn’t the lack of fear, self-doubt, or insecurity.
It’s acknowledging the presence of your weaknesses and being able to take action anyway.
It’s knowing that you are inherently flawed and being at peace with it.
Understanding and befriending yourself in this way, you get to explore how strong you truly are.
Breaking exposes you to physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual pain. It presents challenges that will test you in every way imaginable.
But without challenge, you will never know how strong you truly are.
Without developing this strength, you will avoid hard things because you don’t believe you can overcome them.
3. Zero Self-Confidence
Building mental and physical strength will significantly shift your self-image positively.
In the modern world, confidence looks like external beauty, acting cool, talking loudly, or having things other people want.
But real confidence comes from within. From a deep connection to yourself and having spent time in various situations.
Accumulating several life experiences quickly is difficult if, like most people, you don’t have abundant resources.
But Breaking exposes you to a range of internal experiences.
Looking stupid in front of people
Learning a new move after failing several times
Expressing yourself
Feeling fear and doing it anyway
Connecting with people through movement and seeing that they accept you for who you are
Experiences like this build a deep-seated confidence you won’t find anywhere else.
This isn’t the confidence of showing people what you have.
It’s confidence gained from competence.
From regularly returning to a practice without knowing what results will come from it.
From pushing past frustration and challenge to learn something new.
From elevating your physical health, focus, discipline, and ability to do hard things.
From putting yourself out there, failing miserably, and realizing the world didn’t come crashing down.
This kind of confidence can’t be bought or developed through words. It is earned. And once you have been through the fire and earned it, it stays forever.
There are so many ways Breaking can positively transform your life. Stay tuned for the next edition of this article!
If you want some of these benefits, start your Breakdance journey with my course, Strength In Stillness, where I break down the fundamentals of this dance.
You will learn seven basic freezes to create a strong core and upper body while building focus, discipline, and the ability to do hard things. See you on the other side!
Beautifully put. 😍