Decide (again) to skate

Overcome fear. “As a child, I skated well,” recalls 37-year-old Olga, “but when I grew up, no matter how many friends called me, and then colleagues, I refused. I was worried that I would break my leg or hit the side. Came out on the ice only after 20 years. I ride uncertainly, but the fear gradually disappears. But every time there is a special feeling: I am present in the world at this particular moment! “In fear of pain, there is much more memory of pain than fear itself,” explains coach Vladimir Dashevsky. – In childhood, adolescence, we still do not know about many risks, which means we cannot be afraid of them. In addition, we are afraid of our own failure, and this is a painful feeling. After all, if I am not able to do what I used to do with ease, then I am getting old – unconsciously this is perceived as the inevitability of death. Special protective equipment (knee pads, elbow pads …) will help to cope with the fear of injury, and a good company will soften the stress of the first exit on the ice. Do not wait for a special invitation – arrange a meeting yourself at the rink with those people in whose company you feel comfortable.

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• Get on your skis!

Laugh at yourself. “As a teenager, I gained a lot of weight and stopped going to the skating rink. I was afraid that I would break the ice, and the girls would see it. I put on skates only two years ago: my children became my teachers. And it is an incomparable pleasure to fall with them into the snowdrifts after an unsuccessful turn!” – admits 40-year-old Andrei. “It is not easy for each of us to laugh at ourselves,” notes Vladimir Dashevsky. – To shake off seriousness, do something that you have not allowed yourself for many years. For example, going to the skating rink, dress extravagantly, and then allow yourself, having lost your balance, to lean on the shoulder of a stranger and laugh out loud … You will see, it will become much easier for you!

Experience the joy of sliding. By skating, we seem to find ourselves in another dimension, in which it is not the position or social status that matters, but something else. For example, the pleasure of sliding – after all, this movement is as pleasant and natural as sliding on water or … swaying in the arms of a mother. “From our own childhood, we remember this feeling of blissful soaring. Ice gives the same feeling of peace and tranquility: we glide as if we are floating on mother’s hands, without any effort,” psychoanalyst Svetlana Fedorova smiles. But let’s be honest: to achieve such an effect, some efforts will still have to be made.

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