Catalyst

I have posted a lot of blogs about my differing levels of activity and how difficult it is to get motivated and start something.  I'm not special in this regard.  I think starting something is much more difficult than maintaining something.  This is true for everyone.  What is that theory we learned in school...an object in motion tends to stay in motion, an object at rest tends to stay at rest...something like that anyway.  I have been an object at rest since last winter.  To get an object at rest to move, there must be some kind of catalyst.  When the object is as large as I have gotten, it better be a pretty strong catalyst!



Wendy demonstrating Catalyst Operation

 The good news is that I seem to have started the ball rolling, so to speak.  I found my catalyst(s).  First, there was the peer pressure (remember the Disney Half Marathon?).  Then there was a need for me to be a catalyst for someone else.  (I have found that the need to be needed is strong in me.)  And finally there was a bit of serendipity...I ended up in a Hot Yoga class on accident.

Hot Yoga?  I had never even really heard of it.  It was mentioned once by someone who was critical of it, but I didn't pay attention because I had no intention of doing it.  What I wanted to do (and still want to do) was Qigong.  I went online searching for a convenient time and place to do a Qigong class, but couldn't find one, so I decided to try a 'regular' yoga class.  I've heard a lot about yoga as a great exercise and also a way to improve mood.  The first place I went to was closed down (that will teach me to call first).  So the next night my friend and I went to another place. 

What we found when we got there surprised us both.  It was a small room lined with mirrors and it was literally 100 degrees.  So we just went with it and tried to do the best we could without passing out from the heat.  The instructor was great; very welcoming and attentive.  But after the class, I thought I would probably never go again.  It was brutal.  Then a funny thing happened.  When I woke up the next morning I felt great.  Better than I have felt in ages.  My blood pressure was way down and my mood was way up.  So I did some research into this Hot Yoga thing. 

What I found out was that it is a series of 26 (or maybe its 29, who can count in that heat) yoga movements done in 90 minutes in 100 to 104 degree heat.  That is it.  It never changes.  It is the exact same every time.  The challenge isn't to learn new moves and choreography.  The challenge is to perfect the moves; to take it a little bit farther than the time before; to use all of the muscles in your body together.  I am hooked. 



Tracking My Progress

 Why do I like it so much?  I'm certainly not good at it.  Most nights I am the only overweight person in the class.  But for that 90 minutes, it is just me against myself.  The rest of the world is gone.  There is no work tension, no grief, no chores waiting to get done.  It is just me and my image in the mirror fighting the heat and working my body into impossible positions.  Nobody talks, there is no banter, the only sounds in the room are the instructor correcting people's positions and breathing.  Not that it is an unfriendly place; quite the opposite, it is a completely non-judgemental environment and before and after the workout people are very supportive and encouraging and courteous.

I mentioned in the Peer Pressure blog that I had signed up for two 5k runs; the first one is in two weeks.  I am alternating yoga with walking.  Hopefully walking will become running at some point, but that isn't really the goal.  I am more interested in increasing my walking speed.  I want to do this half marathon in February, but I want to be able to do it right.  Sure, it is still hard to get up and get going when I would rather sit on the couch and read.  But the more I move the more I want to move.  I have a long way to go; several lifestyle changes that need to happen; several projects that I want to take on. 

But the ball is rolling and it will roll faster with every success.