A day at the pool for me!

I spent some of my day off at the Victoria Pool in the beautiful Saratoga State Park near SPAC.  

 Yes, it's as relaxing as it looks! 

I decided this weekend I would try to practice what I've been preaching to my students -- that a little R&R goes a long way.  In order to perform at our best, we need to get plenty of rest to allow time for our muscles to repair themselves. 

I took a day and a half off (!) with no physical activity (other than carrying my laundry to the washer and sitting by the pool) since yesterday around 2pm.  It's been wonderful.  Over the past few days I've had some major pain creep up in my hip and my back where I have a long standing injury.  While I desired to head to the gym to walk it off, or grab some weights to work on my core, I pretended that I was one of my own students and gave my body what it really needed - a day off!!

Read what Dance Magazine has to say about the importance of rest in Your Body: The Rest Test.  The physical therapists interviewed for this article emphasize the need for "intentional rest" (not rest following an injury) and to look at the athletic model of periodization - planning your conditioning/performing schedule over time.

So let's try to remember the final statement in this fantastic article: "The performing body is blood and guts.  It needs its rest to do its best."