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As I had mentioned in an earlier blog post, entering into the Dance/Movement Therapy & Counseling MA program at Columbia College Chicago has not only taught me more about how to be a dance/movement therapist, but it has also taught me more about myself.  Just a few weeks ago, we were spending time consciously working through the concept of phrasing.  One of the points in the phrasing process is referred to as recuperation.  As we moved a combination that we had learned in one of our movement labs, I noticed that I was having problems with the final part of the phrase (recuperation).  When my instructor asked me if I ever “recuperated” in my daily life, I thought to myself, “not enough”.

As I had discussed in my last blog post, graduate school is a busy time, but I have found that it is important to take time for myself to truly “recuperate”.  It is easy to get carried away in how much there is to do, but, by taking time to just chill, I become more productive when revisiting unfinished work.  Without a healthy balance of work and play, one will only continue to get more stressed and, eventually, burnt out.  Keeping this realization in mind, I put down the books for a bit this weekend to spend time recuperating with friends.

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I have said it a million times, and I am going to say it at least once more: there are a ton of things to do in the city of Chicago!  So, this week, some fellow members of my cohort and I took some time to explore the city and enjoy the culturally stimulating atmosphere it embodies.

First, we went to the Randolph Street Market.  Admission was only $5.00 for students, and there were all sorts of crafty and unique things to look at and, of course, to buy.  We hung around there for a while, going from booth to booth to admire some of the work that different artists had on display.  There were quite a few cute items for sale that were not out of the price range of a graduate student’s “fun money”!  After we finished looking around the market and making purchases, we headed off to Chinatown for some dinner.

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Here we had an opportunity to check out some of the shops and explore the interesting features of this neighborhood.  It looked so pretty with the trees changing color. Eventually, we sat down to enjoy a feast (pictured below) that was delicious at the restaurant MingHin Cuisine.  I recommend it if you enjoy Chinese food and are looking for a new restaurant to check out.

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So, all in all, it was a good weekend to explore a little more of Chicago.  Allowing myself some time to unwind with friends was rewarding in regards to my health and ability to focus when I eventually did return back to the books.  Even though graduate school is a super busy time, it is important to make time for recuperation.