On resting and stretching

The city I live in boasts a symphonic chorus that performs a great deal.  A typical season includes five or six productions, each running two to three performances.  The time commitment is demanding.  The chorus is made up of auditioned volunteers.  Every week people drive in from suburbs and neighboring cities to sing together.  After nine years of this, I was tired.  I needed my Tuesday nights back.  I needed production weeks back.  I needed time to devote to my students more consistently.  I needed rest.  I took a leave of absence.  

It's been necessary.  Of course I missed seeing the excited children in the audience during our holiday season offerings.  Of course I miss seeing friends I've spent three to fifteen hours a week with for years.  Of course I missed singing some old favorites.  But it was good to gain some needed rest time.  

It was also good to go back this past Tuesday night.  It was nice to feel missed.  It was fun to get many hugs and greetings.  It was good to sing something with a wider pitch range than the five note scale.  It felt like stretching.  Stretching after a great nap.  Stretching after breathing in savasana for twenty minutes.  

We humans need rest and we need stretching.  I've become more and more convinced as I grow that our bodies and brains should and often desire to follow the seasons.  They seek circadian rhythm.  We desire the ebb and the flow.  

After a long week, complete with stretching in numerous ways, I am grateful for the quiet of today's snow.  Rest, stretch, repeat.