As a child I knew I was different. I would fall asleep at night listening to Chopin and Tchaikovsky, and draw versions of the tutus I wanted to wear on stage someday. I traded play time for ballet class and was hyper focused on achieving my life’s greatest goal, performing for a living. 
Through my 10-plus years as a professional ballerina, my relationship with my body has evolved from one of self-loathing and self-discipline to the deepest, closest, most intimate friendship I’ve ever had. I learn more from this relationship each day.
Here are seven big lessons I’ve learned over the years:
1. No pain, no gain works! Until it doesn’t.
During my career, I became so used to pain that I wasn’t always sure when an injury was serious or not. Ballet dancers must have a high pain threshold to stand on their toes and contort into unnatural positions, yet pain is the body’s signal that something is wrong, and ignoring it can lead to severe injuries…
