5 Things I Learned From Ballet

Ballet lessons prepared me for life and my yoga path. Here’s how.

For several years throughout my childhood, I attended ballet lessons.

I danced through dozens of ballet shoes and costumes and performed in numerous on-stage performances.

The beauty of ballet spoke to me, and I was grateful to be introduced to it early on in life. I stopped taking classes right before transitioning to pointe. That’s when I enrolled in basketball and softball and eventually went on to become a fast-pitch softball pitcher. But my roots in ballet have been instrumental at every point and turn in my life.

Here are 5 key things ballet taught me:

• Grace

• Practice

• Discipline and diligence

• Confidence (stand up tall, look up, heart up)

• Flexibility

My experience with ballet was really the door to what would eventually become the beginning of my yoga path a decade later. Learn about my friend yoga. Today, I step on my mat to practice grace, discipline, confidence and patience thanks to my ballet background. From first position to fifth position, I am grateful ballet is part of my foundation.

Practice It: Try a Ballet Class

Attend an in-person or virtual ballet class or follow along with a video. Encourage a friend or partner to take a class with you.