Ballet dancers and all creative artists who have more Alpha brain waves suffer less tension and anxiety. The artistic lifestyle of competition and daily pressures produces stress, which suppresses your immune systems, diminishing the physical strength you rely on. If, in the teen years, during ballet training, you could train your brain and become familiar with Alpha waves and producing positive emotions, your adult years in ballet would be much more fulfilling.
Alpha waves help to produce a burst of creative inspiration, or revelation, in response to the demands of problem solving. Scientists have studied highly creative people and observed that they have different brain waves from non-artistic types.
For brain activity to result in inspirational ideas, the process needs to be able to produce a big burst of Alpha brain waves. This is a 'left- brained' activity.
One way to increase creativity is to increase Alpha wave production.
Peak athletic performance is enhanced by Alpha brain waves. Sports scientists have observed that the one key difference between beginner and elite athletes is in their brain function, and the ability to produce a burst of Alpha waves on the left side of their brain, exactly when needed. What's more, study of thought-wave activity showed that Alpha waves increased as athletes trained.
To experience less stress and anxiety during ballet training, you can learn how to increase the amount of your Alpha brain waves. If you are not a natural born mellow personality (and to my personal experience training dancers, most are not), learning how to train your brain for the Alpha wave activity of producing positive emotions, and positive imagery, will balance the pressure and stress you feel about ballet, performances, auditions, and your professional potential.
The teen brain especially produces a roller-coaster ride as the brain chemicals and resulting growth spurts change radically, disrupting the flow of dance training. Positive outlook becomes a challenge.
Train your brain, improve your creativity and enjoy life more!