When you tend to the internal rhythms of your body, you strengthen one of the most valuable tools that supports the demands of social justice work: the human body. As a performer and organizer, I have learned how to survive long days, but they often have a ricochet effect where I’m exhausted and sick soon afterward. If you want to shift away from the burnout, bring your attention to your transitions.

When I was preparing for a recent performance, I knew that tech week - the final week before a show premieres - was going to require me to be in the theatre for 12+ hours a day. To avoid being sick, I shifted my sleep schedule a week beforehand, moving from 8 hours a night to 6 hours plus a nap. Then I started spreading my busy periods across my full day to practice being alert at any hour.

By the time tech week came I felt energized through the long days, and ready to fully utilize any rest breaks with a nap and food. When I finished the performance, I was tired, but there was no crash. Instead I had a couple slower days, and then picked back up to continue.

Conversations about self-care often center escape and pampering of the body and mind, but life is full of seasons that require you to be fully engaged like farmers throughout most of the year. So when you help your body transition into a busier season, you support your body to not get hurt while you take on demand work.

The human body is a highly flexible tool. I was speaking with an organizer who has taken on massive campaign, and she shared that her body had adapted 14 hour days and 7 day weeks well. She came out of a quieter period of life, and then she prepared her body to take on the new demands.

You can shift your pace. Right now I’m practicing by waking up earlier and meditating so I am ready for spring when I launch a new class and increase my travel. What in your life is getting ready to blossom? Comment below with how might you tend to that transition this week.