Staying In Shape
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Now that Sonny-boy is properly installed at school and out of my hair we have some semblence of a routine, I've been indulging myself with classes of Vinyasa Flow Yoga, Pilates and belly-dancing with the former two in the afternoon and the latter in the evening. All this courtesy of the gym and fitness club membership that came with the apartment. The club, a well-known franchise in Beijing, is conveniently located within the condominium compound and is just a few minutes' walk away from our unit.
With chronic backache due to a previous slipped disc, I was hoping to strengthen my spinal column with yoga. I've been at it twice weekly for almost a month now and I can sense some kind of improvement in my back. My posture is better, my back has been trouble free. When it feels tight, I practice one or two of the stretching moves learnt at class and get some sort of relief. I have to be honest and say I'm not very bendy and am one of the worst two in class. The other lady has an excuse - she's 58. However, what I lack in flexibility, I make up for it in enthusiasm. The instructress has been very encouraging; she says she sees potential and tells me to work at it. The first lesson so hard and many a time I thought I had pulled all the wrong muscles and permanently destroyed my back. Also, being unused to all that blood flowing to my head, I was tripping with oxygen for a couple of hours. The next day, my arms and legs ached pitifully but strangely, my back, even a certain trouble spot, was unscathed. If anything, it felt good. I didn't want to rejoice too soon so I thought I'd go with the program for a while more to see if that was the case. It was, so yoga's definitely on my must-do list now.
The same can be said for Pilates. The abdominal workout is a killer but again, we have a dedicated instructress and that makes all the difference. She is so nice you feel like you want to lift that much higher or hold your position for longer. Although there was one instance when she came over to my mat to motivate me into an extra repetition. "One more time - lift!" she enthused. "Not happening...!" I bleated pathetically.
And because lessons are held in Mandarin, I've been getting extra tuition for the language as well. Sometimes I get confused and I inhale when I should exhale and vice versa or stick out the wrong limb but no matter, we're getting there.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 12:29 am
