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Why We Love Skating: What the Ice Gives Us That Nothing Else Does · The Nadia Chapman Show

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  Hello there, skaters, parents, and coaches. This is the Nadia Chapman Show,
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  the figure skaters edition.
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  And today we're talking about our love for skating.
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  Why are we so addicted to the ice? Why do we keep coming back even when it's
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  hard? Because it's often very hard.
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  In a world full of sports and easier activities and things to do,
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  we, for some reason, all fell in love with the challenges and the gratification we get from skating.
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  And even at my old age, when you think that you're going to step away,
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  there's always something pulling you back into the rink, back into the skating
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  world, whether it's the people, whether it's what it feels in your body when
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  you step onto the ice, or maybe the reset it creates in your mind.
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  The fact that it seems like the world stopped when we get on the ice and that
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  all of our troubles, everything that makes us anxious can stay at the wall.
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  So we're going to be talking about why we love skating so much, even when it's hard.
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  And let me start with something I know almost every single skater has thought
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  of at some point, usually quietly. We don't always say it out loud.
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  Usually after maybe a long, painful practice or hitting a plateau when you feel
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  like all your work you're putting out there is not really paying off.
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  Maybe it's after a tough competition, when you're second guessing yourself,
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  or just one of those morning when you're tired and just questioning everything.
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  Why do I love skating so much when it's also this hard?
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  I mean, let's face it, it's difficult, it's expensive, it takes a lot to get to a certain level.
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  Now, if you only looked at skating from the outside, so the early morning practices.
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  You know, the repetition, the pressure, the injuries, the cost,
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  the mental battles, the way one little mistake can be so loud,
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  it wouldn't really make sense.
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  And yet here you are, still showing up, still caring, still putting the work, still trying so hard.
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  So this episode is not about motivation or, you know, motivating you or convincing
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  you to love skating more. I know you're here because you love skating.
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  It's just about understanding why you already do, even when you feel frustrated,
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  when you're tired and when you're questioning things.
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  It's something that really puzzled me because even myself after spending so
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  many years at the ice rink I never thought that by this time I would still lace
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  up my skates every day and I do It's this love-hate relationship.
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  I'm still here. I think if I wouldn't be at the rink I would be miserable.
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  There's something in my dna.
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  There's something inside of me that would feel off So let's go back to the moment
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  that you first started to skate I'm sure you had a good time,
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  but you know, you probably fell a lot and maybe it was painful.
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  You also didn't fall in love just because of medals and scores and rankings.
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  You fell in love, and this is going to be powerful.
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  You fell in love with skating because of how it made you feel inside your body, but also in your mind.
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  That moment when something finally clicks, that little quiet pride after doing
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  something so hard that took so long that no one see.
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  And I know you know what I'm talking about. That little feeling of being fully
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  focused on something when the noise in your head has no room because your body's working so hard.
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  So skating gives you a relationship with yourself, if I can say.
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  And that's why it becomes so personal.
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  What most skaters don't realize is that this connection is not just emotional. it's also biological.
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  So when you skate, your brain is doing a huge amount of work all at once.
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  Balance, coordination, timing, speed, spatial awareness, decision making,
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  emotional regulation, and you're supposed to put in there, you know,
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  jump spins and skills and make it look easy and have expression. It's crazy.
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  This is not easy. And this is really high level complex neuromuscular work.
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  So when you're skating, especially when you're focused on the present,
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  your body releases chemicals that help you with focus, motivation.
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  Your mood, your stress release.
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  And that's why skating can feel so calming, but also so intense at the same time.
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  It can feel like therapy, meditation, and challenge, but all wrapped together.
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  A lot of you feel just the same way.
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  You show up at the rink and it's like therapy. It's an addiction. You need it.
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  It's your me time. it's your freedom your nervous
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  system actually recognizes that skating has something so meaningful for you
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  and that's why skating feels so good but it can also be so overwhelming because
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  movement helps you regulate your nervous system but then you also have the pressure
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  yikes and that pressure can absolutely dysregulate everything.
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  When skating is layered with fear of mistakes and comparison and judgment or
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  the feeling that every single session has to prove something to you or to somebody,
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  your body stays on high alert.
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  And that's when skating starts feeling heavy instead of fun, instead of grounding.
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  Not because you're weak and you're a drama queen or drama king,
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  not because you're too sensitive, but just because your body is responding exactly
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  the way it's designed to. And this is why some days you'll leave the rink feeling
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  absolutely proud and everything is clear.
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  And other days you leave like you're an emotional wreck.
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  You're emotionally exhausted. And when that happened, a lot of skaters start
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  thinking something is wrong with them.
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  Maybe skating is not for me. Maybe I don't love skating anymore.
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  If I really love skating, this wouldn't feel this hard. But that's not true.
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  Love for skating doesn't just disappear. It gets buried.
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  Often it gets buried. Buried under expectations, maybe.
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  Buried under pressure. And buried under this idea that you're supposed to want
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  this the same way you always did.
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  Sometimes skating feels hard because you care. Because you're so invested.
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  Because you're growing beyond the version of you that first step onto the ice.
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  Think about that. Give it perspective. And here's something important I want you to hear.
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  Even skaters who take breaks or step away or maybe change their relationship
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  with skating, they often miss it. They miss skating.
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  And not because they miss competing necessarily, but because they miss how skating
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  made them feel inside their body.
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  I know we're all addicted to the smell of
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  the ice and the cold on our cheeks but skaters that
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  take a step back miss the movement they
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  miss focusing on something they miss the flow the
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  way your mind quiet when your body's fully engaged and your nervous system remembers
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  skating forever so if you ever felt maybe a little bit restless or emotional
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  or off when skating changes in your life, in your career, or pauses,
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  that's not weakness. That's biology.
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  I love how skating teaches you to commit without any guarantees,
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  or how to get back up after a mistake, after a fall, how to regulate emotions
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  instead of running from them.
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  Yikes! How to trust yourself under pressure. That's huge. How to keep going
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  long before the results show up.
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  Right? So people who don't skate don't experience growth like this,
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  or at least not in the same way.
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  This is why us skaters are so amazing.
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  Oh, Lordy. And loving skating doesn't mean that you've got to push all the time either.
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  It doesn't mean ignoring your body or any injuries or pain and aches.
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  It doesn't mean forcing your motivation if you don't feel like it.
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  It doesn't even mean pretending it's always fun because sometimes it's not as fun.
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  Sometimes love looks like maybe adjusting expectations or it looks like reconnecting
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  with small wins. Can that be useful?
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  And sometimes it looks like skating for feel instead of skating for outcome.
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  Maybe as you get older, that's something you'll experience.
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  So if you're listening to this and you feel may be unsure about where you're
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  at with your skating, may be unsure about motivation, about where you're heading with all this.
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  You don't need answers today. You don't even need a label this season,
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  to be honest. You don't even need rush.
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  If skating is still calling you, even after so many years, even quietly, there's a reason.
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  And if skating feels different than it used to, that's okay.
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  It doesn't mean it's over. It means that you're growing.
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  Because we know, Skating is
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  not just something we do. It's something that shapes who we are becoming.
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  And whether you are in a journey of competing or questioning or rebuilding or
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  simply showing up, just trust us.
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  You don't love skating because it's easy. You love it because of who it's teaching you to become.
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  If skating were just about fun, you'd have quit a long time ago, I'm telling you.
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  So go out there, go skate, have fun, be grateful.
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  I'm telling you, sometimes we get so caught up in the pressure and the hard
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  days and all the mental battles that we're going through as skaters that we
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  forget how incredibly lucky we are to be skaters.
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  Lucky to have something that asks so much of us, but also gives us so much back.
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  Lucky to experience a sport that doesn't just strain your body.
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  Holy moly it shapes our heart our
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  discipline our emotional depth skating is amazing
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  it teaches us how to feel feel deeply how to
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  stay with this comfort how to trust ourself when nothing is guaranteed it teaches
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  us patience and courage and grace so not everyone gets to experience that but
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  you and me being skaters it means that you know effort you know commitment and you know resilience.
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  Oh boy, it takes a lot of resilience to be a figure skater.
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  And whether skating stays at the center of your life forever or not,
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  or becomes something that maybe you carry you in a different way,
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  this experience is such a gift.
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  So on the day that everything feels hard, I want you to remember this.
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  You're not just training for programs and medals and competitions.
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  You are becoming someone strong, aware, and deeply, deeply capable.
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  And that is amazing. And that's truly special. So lace up, go have fun.
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  I'll talk to you next time.