On A Bad Day

November is such a tired month. It's nearly the end of the year, but the holidays are still quite a while away, and everyone is stressed out and broke. For me, it also marks the start of the birthday season in my family. Nearly everyone was born over the summer months. Add Christmas stress and it can get a bit much.

My children's birthday is next week and their party this weekend. We are also getting ready for our end of year showcase and finances are really tight due to unforeseen circumstances. Needless to say I'm stressed. When I arrived for the advanced class on Monday, I had no energy or will to do anything. We warmed up, did some strengthening exercises and headed into practicing the class choreography. Everyone was dead, just going through the motions. I was feeling annoyed, not only because no one was really putting a big effort into it, but also because I had no energy to try and motivate them. So we stopped practicing the dance and took out our zills.

I don't think the others felt the same way as I did (their faces told the story), but it lifted my spirits just a tad. We did some dances we usually dance without zills and layered triplets over them, and then had a bit of a play session. There's something about playing those little cymbals.

I've had students tell me that no matter what their day has been like, they always come to class, because they know they'll feel better afterwards. There's the endorphins released during exercise that help you to feel happy, but there's something more when it comes to dance. You can express yourself, work through the stress and emotions of the day, healing your soul and replenishing your emotional energy. Of course it's all undone the moment you get home to find the kids are still not in bed, but at least for a short while you could have some peace within.

Another concept comes in here: self-care. I'm not talking about going to the doctor, taking showers and cutting your toe nails. I talking about taking care of your mental and spiritual health. Most women (that I know) don't take time for themselves. They are putting all their energy into their children, their partners and/or their work and nothing for themselves. Belly dance classes can be that break we all need to get away from our bad day, and have some "me time".

It is recommended that you take 1 hour a day for "me time". Where you find that time is not really disclosed, but that's what they recommend. Some people lie in the bath, some read a book, some go to the gym, and some of us dance. That time to yourself is really needed on a bad day. If you can't manage 1 hour straight, then break it up into smaller bits. Perhaps do some yoga when you wake up, go for a walk during your lunch, do some relaxation mediation when you get home from work and read a bit before going to sleep. If each activity is 15 minutes, then you've made up your hour of "me time".

I still can't fit in these 15 minute breaks into my day but I must work out how to get them in. Right now, the moment I try to sit down, I have 2 kids on top of me demanding my attention, and relaxation mediation makes me fall asleep. I guess that just goes to show how incredibly tired I am all the time.

It's important to take care of your emotional and spiritual selves. So ... on bad day, get out your zills and play.