Taking a Break

I'm going to be honest; this post is just as much for myself as it is for you guys! This past weekend we finished our spring season at the New York City Ballet, which means going from performing every night to no shows or rehearsals for three weeks. I, being a workaholic and slightly neurotic about taking class and staying in shape, always have a small feeling of panic as soon as the curtain comes down and I realize I'm supposed to take a break. 

Don't get me wrong, I love a good vacation, but in my mind, after day three of lounging around and being a "normal person" as we dancers say, I'm ready to get back in the studio working again. Therefore, this post is dedicated to explaining the importance of resting, and I mean really resting… and I promise I'm going to take my own advice.

All of us here agree that dancing is our favorite way to spend the day, but in order to be able to continue dancing our best, we all need to take a break from time to time. Physical therapists and psychologists, like Dr. Linda Hamilton, suggest aiming for at least two weeks of continuous rest in order to truly reap the benefits and recharge. This is because the body takes about one week to adjust and calm down from its hectic routine. During these two weeks, turn off the guilt! Don't let yourself think that you're lazy for sitting around instead of hitting the gym or think that you're going to be terrible and out of shape when you return. It's just not true! Resting will only aid your performance abilities.

Continuous training, or overtraining, wears your body down more each day and actually makes you weaker instead of stronger. Overtraining also puts you at risk of central fatigue, meaning that you are at risk for serious injuries because your body is working past its limits. At about week four of our six-week season, I start to feel sore and worn out all over, which is the the start of central fatigue. What's crazy is that my body sort of gets used to that feeling as it becomes the “new normal.” By the time we are able to take a break, I think that I don’t need it. But that's a lie!

Taking proper time to rest allows your body to replenish energy stores, repair damaged tissues and rebuild muscles that break down while working out. If you continue to break down your muscles and use up all of your energy day in and day out, what will you be left with? For me, that is the biggest reason to rest­–the fear of what might happen to my body if I don’t. My body is so good to me and lets me do what I love all day almost every day. In return, I think I can give it a few weeks of rest.

This guy's living the life!

Now I've convinced myself, and hopefully you, that it’s okay to rest, but the bigger and better question is, "What are we going to do with all of our time?" 

First of all, as much as I love ballet, these next two weeks will be devoted to anything but that (besides this blog of course). Stepping away from something I am so invested in helps me remember why I love it. Resting gives me time to miss dancing because it would be kind of hard to miss something if it was always there. Also, vacation is a great time to find other things that interest you. I know I'll be spending my time learning to play the guitar (third times a charm, right?) hitting the pool with friends, cooking, and finding that perfect summer book. Maybe I'll even see what the city of Pittsburgh has to offer!

Vacation doesn't have to mean sitting in front of the TV, you're a dancer so obviously you like to be active, creative, and engaged. Go out and do things while you have the time. Because, we all know that, as dancers, extra time can be pretty scarce!