How Ice Skating Made Me a Better Version of Myself

Three lessons I learnt during my ice skating days

Let me start out by saying it’s been a couple of years since I’ve been on the ice as at the moment I’m only able to skate when I travel. However, having begun my ice skating journey over a decade ago now, it’s been helpful to look back on that time and what I’ve learnt.

In this article, I’ll primarily focus on those lessons I learnt during my final year at university where during that season I significantly improved my skill & technique on this ice.

Being from a tropical island in the Caribbean, the closest I came to ice skating and ice rinks was watching one of The Mighty Ducks movies. However, I did have rollerblades which I enjoyed but ice skating wasn’t something I had thought much about as we didn’t have the climate for it.

Moving to the UK to attend university was my first exposure to winter, snow and ice rinks. Being curious to see how ice skating compared to rollerblading, I visited an indoor rink with other students during that first semester and never quite found the courage to move away from the rails.

The only reason I didn’t fall on my butt on that first visit was thanks to another student who held me until I regained my balance. Thus began my complicated relationship with ice skating.

It was another two years or so before I visited another indoor ice rink, this time in France. The design of this rink meant I HAD TO learn to skate without my trusty rail as the rink simply didn’t have a rail in one section. This was the start of my confidence boost on the ice as I realized that I could skate without using the rails at all.

After that first visit, I made a decision to return the following week and that evolved into me skating almost weekly for 2–3 months. Therefore, by summer time I was much more comfortable on the ice.

It was during that season that I decided to sign up for group coaching lessons when I returned to the UK for my final year of university.

This was the start of a fun but challenging season on the ice. Thanks to my weekly skating in France, I had a bit of a headstart when I began group coaching in the fall. As a result, I was able to complete Levels 1 & 2 of the Skate UK Programme in the time it usually takes to complete one level.

I was really pleased that I was able to complete the last level of the programme (Level 8) before I left the UK the following summer. I truly fell in love with ice skating that year as I improved my technique & footwork on the ice considerably and developed lasting friendships with other skaters.

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So how did ice skating help me in my personal growth? Here are three lessons that outlast my time on the ice:

What surprised me when I first started group coaching in ice skating was the variety of ages of my fellow skaters on the ice. The majority were children, however, there were other skaters there who were a lot older than me, in their 50’s and older. As I learnt more about skating, I realized that there were amateur competitions for more mature skaters which is awesome. Some skaters I personally knew participated in these competitions.

It was a realization for me that it’s never too late for me to start something new once I am ready to put in the work.

If you have a desire to try a new hobby or pursue a business idea, take that first step to start. Don’t let age or lack of skills or know-how limit you. As you start, you will learn and grow. Never starting keeps you exactly where you are.

This is the complicated part of ice skating for me. More than anything else, ice skating has been a physical way for me to confront fear. Going from rollerblading, with pads and guards to protect you when you fall, to ice skating with no protective gear when you fall on the ice was a big challenge for me.

Even now after all my hours of ice skating, I still have a very real fear of falling on the ice. Although I have fallen quite a few times AND I know the correct way to fall and stand up again on the ice, it’s a fear that I face every single time I step on the ice. I need to mentally push through to hit that zone where I’m gliding over the ice and enjoying the experience.

Digging a bit deeper, I discovered that my actual struggle is less about falling and more about losing control in those initial seconds when I start to lose my balance.

It mirrors an “off ice” struggle I also have in facing certain things that I find scary. Through skating, it’s an opportunity to physically go toe-to-toe with the fear and overcome it. This fear is a limitation for me on the ice as I tend to hold back rather than push forward as I don’t want to fall. However, from past experience I know that pushing through is where the gains are as that’s where I improve.

Each time I push out of my comfort zone, falling is certainly a possibility but never a certainty. More importantly, falling can become a great teacher as I have an opportunity to look at what I did and tweak accordingly to avoid a repeat of the situation.

This lesson has been the most applicable in multiple areas of my life from fitness & relationships to my career pursuits. Stacking up wins each time I overcome this fear on the ice gives me confidence off the ice.

This was a painful personal experience which showed up for me in an unexpected area.

I developed friendships with other ice skaters during my time at the rink in the UK as our shared passion for ice skating bonded us on and off the ice. When I left the UK, these were friendships that I was intentional about keeping. Choosing to go deep emotionally with other skaters during that year provided the opportunity to develop friendships that lasted beyond that year in my life. I was able to visit my closest friends and even stay with them and their families on later visits to the UK. As expected, time at the rink ice skating always formed a significant portion of our visits.

A few years ago, one of these ice skating friends passed away. As painful as this experience was, what really helped me through it was having those great memories of my visits and our times together. Our shared love for ice skating created a unique bond of friendship which has shaped my life.

I remember Sheri every time I get on the ice and it can be bittersweet. However, the joy outweighs the pain and skating in her memory allows me to remember our times together.

This experience ultimately served as an encouragement for me especially during my travels as I’ve learnt that close connections can be formed in extremely short periods of time if I allow myself be truly open with those I meet. As a result I’ve formed deep and meaningful friendships with people I physically met for timeframes ranging from a few days up to two weeks and my life is richer for it.

I never imagined that when I decided to ice skate in that small ice rink in the south of France that it would lead to an amazing “ice skating” year in the UK and become such a key part of my personal growth and learning. Even now when I haven’t been on the ice for quite a few years, I’m still reaping benefits from that initial decision and the season that followed.

The opportunities I’ve been blessed to have, including attending ice shows and meeting professional figure skaters have been highlights that I fondly remember. The connections I’ve formed around the world and most importantly my own personal growth which was shaped by that season of ice skating are crucial to the person I am today and it all came down to me taking that first step and starting.

What’s one small step that you can take to pursue a passion or dream?

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