I woke up late today which wouldn't be a problem normally except today I was supposed to meet Ellis at 9.30 am and I woke up at 9.30 am. So I threw together a quick smoothie with the bananas in the fridge and the bananas in the freezer and the soy milk that is going to expire in a few days (So I'm desperately trying to soy milk EVERYTHING possible) and made a avocado and tomato sandwich for lunch and then flew out of the house on my bicycle.
Ellis and I had decided to join a one-day free trial at a gym, because, well, why not?
I knew there was going to be yoga and I have always wanted to try yoga and so I thought this was the perfect opportunity.
Because I was late we missed the zumba class, and started with pilates, which was a LOT of breathing. By the end of it, we felt a little stretched, but not exercised, so we ran 3.2 km on a treadmill (which I really liked because it measured my heart rate, and I think just the thought of my little heart ba-dumping around in my chest and keeping me alive makes me so happy)
After that, we talked about how we wish people could carry on deeper conversation and less selfish lives, which is something I've been thinking about, the former one because I miss having in depth discussion, no matter how tiring, with people, and the latter because I read about two people who have devoted their lives to refugee work in Sunday's papers and I thought of how literally and directly they were helping others (and I also felt worried - is working in NHB a selfish move? Is lit a selfish course?)
Then we went in for cardio latino, which is basically sexy dancing, and I discovered that I really cannot do a body wave. And then and THEN it was time for YOGA! Although this was the most painful class of the day, it was my favourite.
We started off with some meditation breathing, which felt really good, and I actually managed to relax a lot which is quite rare because worries and thoughts usually dart though my head like frightened rabbits. After that we did lots of stretching things - always including the downward dog position which I found pretty stressful. We also had to roll our arms backwards over our heads while holding on to a towel, and to my surprise I found that if I pushed my arms slightly past the place they naturally 'stopped' I could actually rotate them all the way round! That made them quite sore, but then again yoga in general made me sore in places I didn't even know existed in my body.
When it came to the final resting pose for yoga, we got to lie on the floor, focus on our breathing and relax. The lilting music and the stillness of the room and the silent stream of air in and out of me was so soporific that I actually fell asleep and HAD A DREAM of someone scolding me, and then I woke up just in time to roll back up to sitting pose for more meditating and then the end of class.
Ellis told me she also fell asleep which made me laugh and reminded me why I love trying new things out with friends.
As I stood under the warm water of the showers, I thought about how during the who gym session I had felt pretty competitive. I wanted to stretch further, run faster, pick up dance moves more quickly and gracefully, be stronger. It wasn't until yoga, something so completely new to me and something where I felt like technique was more important than performance, that I didn't compare myself to the people around me and try to improve myself against them. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed it most, because I could just focus on healthy competition within myself.
After my shower, Ellis and I went for a well deserved lunch, and had a long conversation. We also found out that Weixin passed her driving test! I'm so proud of her she's the first among us to be a licensed driver!
Trying new things with friends is one of the best things in the world.
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