New shoes in the gym

I never really know what the topic of my next article is going to be.  I've often said this is one of the joys of writing for me...that endless discovery and enjoyment of the unexpected moments of inspiration.  Today, inspiration visited in the form of a quote:

Don't be afraid if things seem difficult in the beginning. That's only the initial impression. The important thing is not to retreat; you have to master yourself.  - Olga Korbut, Olympic Gold Gymnastics Medalist

This quote immediately brought to mind the days when I used to work out with a personal trainer at my gym.  I was assigned a trainer who eventually became one of my dearest friends.  Two people could not be more different.  I'm not athletically inclined and I do not enjoy exercising.  I do it because I know it's important and necessary.  I chose to go the trainer route so that I was accountable to someone and wouldn't tank on the intention to stick with a program.  My trainer turned out to be a 6'5" muscle bound guy who truly loves exercise.  Loves it so much, he calls a ten minute stint on the exercise bike at Level 8 a "cardio break".  As in, "Okay Dawn, let's finish up this set on your triceps and then go over to the bike and have a Cardio Break...it'll be fun!  We'll do Level 8!" 

Photo courtesy of
http://www.pycfitness.com/

Picture me shooting said bike a look of pure loathing as I climbed on and groaned, complained and grumbled my way through Level 8 for ten minutes.  If you haven't tried Level 8, let me just share with you that it feels like pedaling through mud....hip deep, half dried, very thick mud.  It never felt like a break to me.  Breaks are something that give you rest, right?  Pedaling through hip deep, half dried, very thick mud is not a 'break'.  It is torture.  Unless you have a very strange person next to you who thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread and you love that person.  Then you do your best to get through ten minutes of torture without too much whining and complaining.  I admit, I whined and complained plenty; I laughed too. 

But I digress.  My point in bringing up the gym and personal trainers is that each time my trainer would introduce a new exercise, I would have a curious reaction.  Almost 100% of the time, my body would try to throw a proverbial tantrum which manifested in the form of nausea.  Serious, gut grinding nausea that had me positive I was on the verge of throwing up.  Sorry to be graphic, but it's true.  For some reason, a new demand on my physical body would result in that reaction.  It put me in mind of a child throwing a fit to avoid some unpleasant task or chore.  I had a mental image of my stomach saying, in cartoon balloon text, "Okay, that's not fun.  In fact, that hurts.  What she's doing hurts!  What can we do to make her stop doing that thing that hurts? Let's make her sick.  Seriously sick.  She'll stop if we make her feel like crud.  Bring on the extreme nausea!"

I learned that if I breathed through the nausea and kept right on with the thing that hurt, usually within about 5 minutes, the nausea would recede to a manageable level.  With continued activity of this new exercise, the nausea would finally stop.  My trainer must've had experience with this phenomenon, because he would gently, but firmly keep pushing me to continue.  While sometimes it was downright unpleasant, it taught me something about myself.  Although this was a reflex reaction that I was experiencing, it also underscored what Ms. Korbut's quote mentions - new things can give us pause.

Fear of the unknown, even with something as simple as a new exercise being introduced in the gym, can cause myriad responses on both an emotional and physical level.  Most of the time, we're so busy with the detritus of daily living that we don't always pay attention to those micro-moments of unease.  Because I tend to be one to ponder, when this experience happened at the gym, I paid attention.  I wondered about it, studied it, even went home and dragged out my old anatomy and physiology books to understand the mechanics behind that knee jerk physical reaction.  While most people aren't going to go to those lengths to understand a short moment of discomfort and unease, I believe it can definitely benefit every single one of us to stop and pay attention when something feels bad or unusual.

In this case, I discovered that I have a tendency to react on a primitive level to new physical challenges.  My body and my emotional persona want to STOP THAT NOW!  The good thing is that I'm fairly stubborn and really dislike admitting defeat.  I also was blessed with this wonderful personal trainer and friend who was so cheerful and happy as he put me through 90 minutes of torture that I felt badly if I didn't at least try when he asked me to do something new.  So, I would grit my teeth, push through the nausea and force my body and mind to adapt to a new experience.

This is something I've carried with me many years later.  I no longer have a membership at that gym, and my trainer friend is now working full time at a local university in the athletic department.  Our friendship is still solid, but I admit that I've slacked on daily workouts such as we used to tackle three times a week.  What I took from that time in my life was, first and foremost, a beautiful friendship, and secondly, a newly discovered way to identify when I was reacting in a fear-based manner. 

The mind is an incredibly complex organ that is constantly changing and adapting to new stimuli and experiences.  We grow as long as we are drawing breath.  The primitive reactions that we all feel, if we take time to stop and analyze them, can be quite handy tools as we go about our daily lives.  There are always going to be new experiences to weather, new people to meet, new challenges to embrace and lessons....always lessons to learn.  Paying attention to those reflex reactions can give us valuable insight if we just pay attention! 

I used the analogy of a gym workout, but I can also say that by recognizing this specific reaction, I came to realize that in business situations the same reaction sometimes surfaced.  It wasn't the same full blown attack of nausea, but it was enough of a twinge in my stomach that it would always catch my attention.  I would then take that extra couple of minutes to silently reflect on the situation and people involved and invariably would realize that 'gut reaction' was a warning flag.  Pay attention to those little twinges, my friends.  They are happening for a reason.

Photo courtesy of
http://www.7luxuryshoes.com/

Going beyond that visceral reaction, and revisiting Ms. Korbut's quote above, adversity isn't always a bad thing.  Difficulties, as her quote so wisely indicates, aren't necessarily a reason to stop and give up!  New things can feel strange and uncomfortable, but so can a new pair of shoes.  Look at those challenges that may seem scary as a reason to try on a proverbial new pair of shoes.  Think of how differently you walk when you are wearing a new item of clothing.  There's that extra bounce to your walk, that extra sparkle in your eye.  The same can be true of persevering through what initially feels like a situation that will never make sense to you.  Mastering your fears and putting them to use for you, rather than allowing them to convince to you stop before you even get started, can give you that same bounce to your step, that same sparkle in your eye.

So, when those uncomfortable moments hit your life, remember Olga Korbut's quote above.  Take a moment and step back.  Breathe through it, give thought to what you're feeling and identify the reason for the unease or fear-based reaction.  Nine times out of ten, you'll realize that the fear-based reaction is just a primitive response to something that seems scary only because it is new.  Challenge yourself and resolve to push through that moment and discover the exhilaration of conquering that fear.  Recognize the power this puts into your hands to manifest your own success!  Then congratulate yourself on the fact that you've had a bit of an "A-ha!" moment, a graduation of sorts, and you're now wearing some proverbial new shoes in the gym.

Give judicious attention also to those twinges when it is clear your instincts are clamoring and jangling away to prevent you from making a mistake or blunder in judgment.  Our instincts are there to protect us, after all.  Now, you may be sitting there thinking, "How do I know which is a fear-based feeling and which is an instinctive warning flag?"  That's where being a responsible human being comes into play.  It is up to you to decipher your body's reactions and interpret what means what.  It isn't as complex as you may think, and with care and attention, you'll quickly learn to read those tell tale inward signs that your body and emotions are giving you.  In time, probably much more quickly than you would imagine, you'll grow to recognize the varying degrees of internal dialogue.  With a bit of practice, you'll be able to adapt quickly and maneuver through those daily bumps, obstacles and unexpected turns with ease.  And I daresay those proverbial, spiritual new shoes and clothing will add that extra sparkle to your eyes and that extra snap of energy to your walk!

So, when something feels unusual, strange, perhaps uncomfortable...take a moment to identify it.  React accordingly and move forward, rather than retreating in fear or confusion.  Push through with that new-to-you exercise.  Those new shoes are waiting to be tried on, after all!
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This post was the result of an invitation to become a contributing writer for the Australian ezine publication, Aromatique Essentials, of Julie Nelson.

Too long shoe laces

Earlier in the week I was walking at a local park. We've had an extended period of rainy, overcast days in East Tennessee and I felt the need to get out and get some fresh air, despite the drizzle. The park I chose has a pretty loop that covers a good amount of acreage and has a soccer and baseball field in the center of the walking track. I will digress for a moment and ask this important question - why did shoestring manufacturers decide that shoestrings for tennis shoes must be long enough to lace all the way up your calf to your knee, gladiator style??? My laces are always dragging the ground when I exercise, even if I double bow and double knot them.

This same thing occurred while I was walking in the park, so I made a pitstop. Rather than stopping in the middle of the track and getting in the way of other walkers, or stepping off the track to deal with the ornery shoe laces in the mud, I went over to the swings and sat down. After attending to the shoe laces, I sat there for a minute and did the inevitable....I gave myself a gentle push. I sat there for a good ten minutes, just slowly swaying on the swing, the only inhabitant of the playground area. I had forgotten the simple peacefulness that can be derived from sitting on a swing and just contemplating the scenery around you. Porch swings can provide a similar simple comfort to the soul, and I already have a porch swing blog in the works. Stay tuned for that installment!

After maybe fifteen minutes of quiet swing contemplation, another walker stopped and smiled at me. "You look like you're enjoying that much more than I'm enjoying walking - care if I join you?" This happy woman stepped over and sat in the swing next to mine and we chatted for a few moments. Then we started to swing in earnest. It was wonderful! I am happy to report that should you find yourself in a gloomy mood that nothing seems to make better, scope out a local playground and hop on a swing. I can promise, if you swing for even five minutes, you're going to feel better. We were both laughing within seconds, swinging higher and higher. The exhilaration of swooping back and forth, seeing your feet touching the sky, laughing breathlessly with a newfound friend...I had honestly forgotten the pure and simple fun of swinging.

Another surprising fact - swinging works your abdominal and lower back muscles! Plus, the motion of swinging and laughing at the same time proved to be a really good cardio workout. In fact, the very next day, I could feel a whole slew of sore muscles....arms, stomach, lower back, quads. No wonder kids are always so skinny. Playing can be hard work! The beauty of this whole experience was that it didn't feel like work, or exercise at all. I think I'm going to become a big proponent of visiting the park to use the swings in addition to walking.

That moment with this new friend had us both musing about other childhood play that can translate to an adult body and we started talking about Hula Hoops. When I got home, I typed in a search for Hula Hoops and sure enough, there are weighted hoops and exercise DVD's out there. Who knew?!? I think that my impromptu visit to the park has helped me stumble upon a great new approach to exercise. I know many people love the process of a hard workout, getting sweaty and feeling exhausted at the end. I'm not in that category. If I'm going to get exercise, I want it to be something I enjoy, rather than endless reps on a machine, or plodding along on a walking track for hours.

It was a happy, joyful interlude on a soft, misty, gray day in Tennessee. We all tend to forget the inner child we carry inside ourselves. Give this a try yourselves - embrace a simple moment of play in the coming days and concentrate on the way it makes you feel. I have too long shoe laces to thank for this rediscovery, and a new friendship to boot!