Building Practice Habits

Good practice habits means you will go deeper into the juggling, you will progress more and your brain will continually be working mentally. Here are a few quick ideas that make practice more of a habit than a chore.

7 tips for good practice habits:

1. Keep a ball in sight so it reminds you to pick it up.
2. Build a space where it’s ok to practice. A 6′ x 6′ space in your house is good. It should be easy to jump into, so you don’t need to take too many steps to get into it. Small ornaments that can break or furniture that you have to move are practice obstacles, the fewer obstacles you have in your way, the more likely you will play!
3. Build a reward system. Sometimes practice is slow and what you want to do isn’t achievable at this moment. Reward yourself for doing the work rather than getting the trick.
4. Consider doing a 30 day challenge for yourself : for 30 days, for 30 minutes a day, commit to practicing every day. This helps you make time in your schedule, shows you when your best practice times are, and forces you to put the time in ! It’s great for habit building, and at the end you’ll want to continue!
5. Allow for a lapse day – forgiveness is a huge part of the practice, we can’t always be the best, and that’s normal. Make sure you forgive yourself because beating yourself up can become another obstacle to practicing! Tell yourself it’s ok as long as you get up and try again the next day !
6. Connect with others – Make a juggle club that you go to every week, join people online, make videos and post them to Instagram for conversations. Don’t just show off, show your practice and tell people what it means to you. Ask others questions about their practices and how they got to where they are now. Go to juggling festivals, meet people in real life as much as possible!
7. Keep it playful, light and fun! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, and make fun of yourself wherever possible. If you are grumpy, say it out loud and play with the grumps. There is nothing funnier than finally allowing yourself to stomp around the room and say “I DON’T WANT TO PRACTICE!” like you are a small child. Why not? Not wanting to practice is in fact part of the practice! Allowing yourself space to feel it opens up the space for more possibilities!

This time is for you and you only, and you can be yourself, your real self, without holding back. So allow it to come out and see what happens!