This post has been difficult to write; my mind feels all over the place and I am not sure which direction I want to take. I want to share so much of what has helped me over the past little while but I think I need to start from where I am at now and I need to tell you all about my new obsession: spin classes.
It all started in January, I had a week off and I was looking to spice up my fitness game. I was getting bored with weight training and since the gym I’d train at is at my work place that made it extra hard to go. One morning, I woke up and watched a vlog on YouTube, and the girl I was watching was talking about her fitness journey. She touched on the fact that she loves doing classes because she is held accountable to them and all she has to do is show up. I related to this. I am definitely someone who is more accountable to external forces than my own self. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this but I know that I need to adapt my life in a way that takes that into consideration.
After I finished watching that video, I was inspired to try something new. I looked up some local fitness studio’s and stumbled across an opening at a Cycle Studio for that evening. I’ve done spin classes before and I always viewed them as a once in a while type of thing. The ones I’ve done were always super high energy, lots of hype, and they had upper body choreography that I was never a fan of, but once in a while and with a friend was fun, so with all that in my head (plus the class would be free) I thought sure why not.
Boy was I surprised.
I walked in and was greeted kindly by the front desk person. The music wasn’t blaring and no one was running around trying to hype up a crowd. I was guided to my bike and the instructor showed me how to set it up and then the class started.
The class was 45 minutes, NO choreography, everyone got to view their bike stats on the screens in the room and the music was super fun too. I had a great time and a great workout, my endorphins were high and that carried with me through the rest of the evening.
So, I started considering signing up for their trial membership. I figured, a) I liked the class and the energy of the studio, b) I was so not motivated to do weights and this was a way to keep me active, and c) this would keep me excited about something while my partner leaves on a 3 week vacation.
When my partner left I signed up for a 2 week trial membership. I attended 10 classes in that two week period. I was all in. I felt amazing after each class. My endorphins were high and I was noticing I was a lot more productive, my energy throughout the day was higher, and my mood was so much more stabilized.
As someone who always felt the affects of seasonal affective disorder and also felt like she needed to rely on her partner for fun and excitement, this was a whole new territory for me. I was finding myself and my spark. Everyday I would wake up excited for spin class. I found that I had more time to even do the things I wanted to get done. Before, I would make excuses and have such little energy but now I cross almost everything off my to do list everyday.
If it wasn’t for these classes, I wouldn’t have even been inspired to write these posts again.
I even wake up early now! Which says a lot for me.
I’ve always been an advocate for exercise, but I also have this structured mind that limited me to thinking that exercise needs to be done a certain way for a certain length of time. This held me back and over the course of 2023 I started to let that all-or-nothing mindset go. I began realizing that something is always better than nothing and a little bit everyday goes along way. Throughout 2023, I became comfortable with just going for walks, doing a 20 minute Pilates workout from YouTube, going for runs or bike rides outside, but also giving myself grace whenever I didn’t do any of those things.
I used to feel that if I had a bad day one day that made me a bad person. I realize now that, that belief was holding me back. I recognize now that bad days are temporary and don’t define me as a person. I also realize now that there are so many factors outside of exercise that can determine the day I will have like my sleep quality, nutrition, where I am at in my menstrual cycle, and even the clients I have a work. So, when any of those things are not in alignment with me for whatever reason, I can just blame the bad day on that and know that there is always hope for tomorrow.
I feel grateful now, for the body and mind that I have and all that they can do. I feel secure in listening to my body and not push it too hard but also not baby it either. I feel strong in putting my basic needs first before putting anything or anyone else ahead of that.
Knowing me, there will be a time when I need to change it up. Right now that is hard to grasp but it is a reality I face as someone who needs variety every so often. I know that its okay though and that I will pivot to do something that would be in alignment with me for that period of my life.
I think the point I am trying to make in this post isn’t go do a spin class (although 10/10 recommend) but its that doing one small thing everyday that makes you feel good and is just for you will set you up to live the life you want to live. For me that has been getting my zone 2 cardio six times a week but for you that might be something else and know that whatever it is, its enough.
Wishing you well,
~Felicia
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