Time to refuel

Good morning all :)

Picture this:

You are on a road trip with an amazingly fun trip ahead of you - lots of things to see and do! You get in the car/camper/van and go, go, go. You go through town after town, passing each and every gas station. Meanwhile, your tank is getting lower and lower until you are on the side of the road out of gas and unable to proceed on your amazing trip!

Point: You've got to refuel sometime!

I relate this concept also to what my husband tells me about working out/exercising. He says that when he is lifting weights, the downtime is just as important as the weight lifting. The rest period is when the muscle builds back up so that it can continue on. Otherwise, your muscles get overworked and broken down.

I relate these concepts to what happens when we don't have downtime.

One of my sweet little clients this past week really got a lot out of scheduled downtime within session. Knowing that he has had a bit of a hectic summer thus far with extended school, camp, family vacations, and lots of pool/park/beach time (judging from some of his recent behaviors), I decided to implement this downtime within session. We had an activity toward the beginning of session where he was to choose (he was given two choices) what he wanted to do during that activity. The activity was so basic, and required only two main components, those being 1) relaxation music and 2) opportunity for free play within the structure of the song and within the boundary of activity choice. Giving him specific choices gave some sort of boundary and structure to the activity, and giving him the choice of the activity provided him with some control and opportunity for independence. Although this is not a relaxation activity, it does tend to have some of the same effects. I often will repeat this for several sessions (or for as long as it is needed), and I make a point to let the client know that he/she will get to have "free time" in session the next week as well. I think this gets them through (mentally) times during the week when the client is feeling stressed and/or overwhelmed. Just knowing that there is some free time coming is helpful.

Sometimes we are so busy planning the "fun stuff" for the summer that we forget our little moments of peace. There has got to be some time to refuel. We all run into this ... I did, myself, recently (see recent posting!). Our little ones can't always make the connection enough to formally say, "We are doing too much, and I need a break!"

So, make sure to provide downtime even if you have to schedule it in. Actually, perhaps scheduling it in will give it the importance it deserves, and will ensure that it gets done.

In regards to the session I mentioned above, this type of activity (which I usually implement toward the beginning of the session) often helps the rest of the session to go more smoothly. I find that after these types of activities, the client is more calm, focused, and willing. I often schedule these types of "free time" activities during the school year for clients who have their Music Therapy sessions directly after school so that they can have some sort of down time between.

So, rest those tired muscles, and stop for gas sometime!

Jessica