I am stretched. Really stretched. Getting settled in a new house. Claiming it with paint. Figuring out where to put the Christmas decorations. Parenting two young adult children. Keeping up with private practice clients; along with all the homemaking and administrative tasks of life. I am really stretched. Maybe you are, too.

Stretching for ease.

During Dr. Deborah Kern’s, PranaShakti dance class, my friend would remind us to “let the stretch feel good, let it feel GOOD.” Easing into some of those poses took concerted effort. Relaxation was beyond me then and is beyond me now. My intermediate goal right now is simply to be at ease—at ease with what I get to do next, at ease with what is happening around me, at ease with the distress I see in my family, friends and clients. Relaxation…maybe that’s my new year’s resolution.

This is so much like labor. From the first contraction (when I got it was real), on to the next one (when I got it was really real) and the one after that, I thought each step was the hardest...until the next came along.

When they told me I was nine centimeters dilated, I knew that if I could just take a nap, I could make it through this. A nap. Just a little nap. That’s all. Stretched thin, all I could think about was getting a nap so I could make it through to my daughter’s birth. Of course, I didn’t get a nap—not even a little nap. And I did make it through, though not without stretching even farther. So now, as then, relaxation is beyond me. But I can stretch toward being at ease. And for now that is enough.

How are you at ease with the stretching in you life? Please leave a comment below and let me know. I'll take all the help I can get.