Alejandro is spirited and bright. His smile lights up everyone around him. At times anxiety and fear of failure can make him afraid to try new things, even things he is innately good at. I have been working with Alejandro for several years, and each time he overcomes his fears I am rewarded with his dazzling smile, his immediate willingness to help other students in the class overcome the same fears. We begin each session with a check-in: How is he feeling in the moment? How is he experiencing his breath?

For the past three years we have been swimming and learning together. Not only is he trying more complicated strokes, he has overcome a past trauma of jumping into the pool the wrong way and is now perfecting his diving technique. He learns best with a relaxed, kinesthetic approach. When it came to riding a bike, I taught him to find safety by breaking down the movements step by step: getting on and off the bike, walking and pushing the bike, pedaling while the bike is stationary, etc. Once he learned to pedal with his own bike we got him to try a different bike. With each step I stayed attuned to his body language, facial cues, the tone of his speech to make sure he felt supported. Once he was given the space to practice as long as he wanted to, he felt safe and made huge breakthroughs.

These days Alejandro loves riding a bike. He looks forward to getting on any bike. We continue working on being flexible and trying new things. Our journey together reminds me that fear of failure is present in each of us, at all stages of our lives. He teaches me to stay courageous and smile back at the world.