What activities return us to a state of balance? As a society we push and encourage each other to go above and beyond on a daily basis. I am no exception. According to Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan in their Article “Resilience Is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure” a state of balance is achieved through recharging.  Not the message I received from my father. What I heard from him was all about endure and a little about recharge and that is what he modeled. When he died at 51 from cancer an otherwise health middle age man, I began to rethink his message. How could I change myself in a way that would allow me a long and healthy life and how could I do that in a field that is riddled with secondary and institutional trauma. I have served families through non-profits and as a human service civil servant for more than 30 years. I have learned from experience that recharge is necessary to staying healthy and hopeful. Recharging can mean many things to different people. For all of us as relationship animals it means we need each other to recover. I my experience it has also meant taking time in the middle of my day to get some exercise. I wasn’t able to do it every day but I made a conscious effort to do it at least three times during the work week. When I returned to my office I felt recharged. I embodied a resiliency that I didn’t see in my colleagues that worked through their lunch hour. Eventually, I adopted the monthly massage. How wonderful to have the opportunity to get out of my head and listen to what my body had to say. I attended to the tension and stress that was in my joints and muscles. I was gently guided to where I needed attention and remediation. Each part of my wellness plan was a strategic stopping. It gave me “resources to be tough by creating internal and external recovery periods.” Being a curious person I tried yoga back in the day, and have found that it allowed me to recover and helped me attend to both my mind and body. Community has always been an important opportunity to stop and recover, and for me that included my women friends. When we were together listening without judgement and encouraging each other I was felt connected and valued as a woman and returned to a state of balance that only happened in the company of these women. Twenty-five years in the making. Although it is only a beginning, I have been meditating almost every week for over a year.  Even though I don’t always want to go I always feel a sense of recovery by being present with myself in the moment. Most recently I have found recovery in Rosen Movement and Bodywork. I am a movement teacher and bodywork intern. In learning to be a movement teacher I began to know my body in a new way. I noticed where I was holding tension through moving to music with my class. It allowed for moving in community alone and in partnership with another. I feel joy and relaxation while building resiliency in movement. Regular Rosen Method Bodywork has enriched my life as well as bringing me to the present moment in my body. I have learned to feel not only where I hold the tension  but what lies beneath it. For example, during my last session I felt the catch in my breath due to my anxiety over a project I am working on and was able to be with it without judgement. I also could be present with both the tenderness and strengths in my shoulders. Stopping and recovering can be powerful stuff. To be present with what is deep inside us and not hide from it or judge it allows me to return to an original sense of balance. One I had, before life came and bounced me around. If you are interested in more about my story and Rosen Method please contact me at 920-360-0452 and Wisconsin Rosen Method on Facebook.