This time around, now that I've found my groove and have settled into my routine I've taken it upon myself to educate myself better in the mysteries of my functional ways. I have goals that I want to achieve and maybe I'm taking my sense of physical experimentation to another level. Not in a hectic 'let's eat all the mushrooms and look at the pretty lights' kind of way. More in a sense of what can I do to synergystically hone all aspects of my physique.....and get some God damn Abs while I'm at it.
My diet is one thing ~ but training, that is my one true love. I don't get how people can't like it. Whether I'm doing my morning cardio, hanging out in downward dog, trying not to decaptitate myself with Gyro cables, crawling around the floor at Zuu or throwing around dumbells, I can honestly say I love every moment of it. Each aspect of my training takes me to a far away place where body~mind~spirit collide. It is my sanctuary. My commune with the devine.
Starting with morning cardio. It's 4 :30am. It's dark. Lately it's been raining. It is my most favourite part of my day. My only moment of perfect peace. I get the opportunity to watch the moon sink behind the mountains and the sun gently rise to kiss the sea. I get to feel the mood of the day while the rest of you are still sleeping. I think about my precision timing for my day~ what to eat, what to drink and when to do it. I day dream about the handsome man I'm going to marry one day. I wonder if I ever get a dog, would I really call him "Rufuss" or would that only work if he was an Irish Setter? What should I have for my reward meal this Sunday? I haven't seen my hairbrush for days so I'll probably have to braid my hair again....As you can see all the important stuff gets sorted right here.
Yoga is my saviour. My light if I ever feel I'm lingering in the dark. Yoga is my opportunity to allow myself to get emotional. That might come as a bit of a surprise to some of you. Because I know I'm animated and seem very exhuberant and love to tell a story and wave my arms about passionately. That's just being entertaining. Being emotional is a luxury I rarely afford myself. Tears freak me out. I'm not saying they never happen~ I just make a concerted effort to make sure nobody else has to see them. Yoga is about realising what is true ~ completely true about you, this earthly experience, and the universe and loving all of it. Even the painful parts. Despite all the physical benefits of yoga, it is my spiritual strength that inspires me to continue to practice. We are, are we not~ spiritual beings having a physical experience?
Gyrotonics has to be my next most favourite experience in the sublime. At first it was my numero uno secret weapon in getting Abs of Maximum Definition. Now as the weeks go by and I feel myself elongating and embracing my inner balerina~ my Spondylothesis is gradually giving up it's vice~like grip on my lumbar spine. There are days when Gyro makes me want to cry with frustration. I'm never doing it right. NEVER! It is a complex series of circular motions~ often movements are moving in synchronised
opposite directions. It is sometimes much more an exercise of concious muscle control than it is a physical one. Every yoga class I teach, I always find myself saying "Your body will do anything if your mind allows it". I guess because I'm super flexy it didn't occur to me that this sounds awesome in theory, not always true in practice! This becomes particularly evident when Richard (the Gyro master!) grabs me by the ribcage and proceeds to rotate, lift and lengthen my spine with a series of tugs and vicious little jabs with his index finger. The best way I can describe Gyro is that it makes you feel like you're dancing under water....out of the water. Once it's over~ it's bliss.
Now let me tell you about The Zuu. I first heard about it from a client, then from Adam. They were both pretty vague about what it actually entailed except to say that it's "different. Unlike anything you've ever done in a gym before." Now that it's my turn to describe it~ I'm having the same problem! It's all very animalistic (hence the name). All of the moves have names, the bear walk, the iguana (favourite), the crocodile (definately not my favourite), the donkey etc~ you get my drift. All of it you use your own body weight with the exception of using chains to pump the bi's n tri's. It's 45mins- to an hour and my first session, I can honestly say my mind was excreting a whistle~blowing "Faaaaaaaaaaark!" For the
entire session. When I first went into the gym, I'm not going to lie~ I had a pretty bad case of nervoustummy-itis. I'd looked it up on facebook and checked out the website. I was shitting myself. On the website, Nathan the owner/creator of Zuu looks really staunch and quite intimidating. I've never made it a secret that I live by the rule that I don't want to miss out on anything for fear of trying. That doesn't mean that I don't get really nervous and shy in new situations. Most of what I do comes from a solid 5minutes of tough talk with myself in my car outside of whatever it is I'm trying next. I wish being brave got easier. Turns out I needn't have worried. Nathan greeted me with an open smile and warm handshake~ not so scarey afterall! Once there, I knew I'd found a new favourite place to be. As much as there were moments when I wished Nathan would turn his back and wrack off just for a moment so I could collapse face down on the floor for a moment ~ that bastard stuck to me like glue, guiding me through the moves and giving much appreciated encouragement when I felt like a total spaz and wanted to give up. I was delighted with myself after I'd finished (and survived). The next day I felt like I'd been beaten with 1000 sticks and I'm not entirely sure my kidneys hadn't left the renal wall during one of the seemingly never ending handstands we did. But never underestimate the power of a good old fashioned shock to the system to really get things humming. My body feels like it's finally sorted its shit out and I feel like a serious contender now for my comp. This week I realised why Zuu training resonates so well with me. The free and instinctual movements over ride any strength issues you might have. You have to just be in the moment and trust your body to support you. Don't think~ just do. I guess it's a bit like Yoga. On amphetamines.
Last but not least: my heavy, dirty, angry friend, Lady Weight. I don't know why, but I loose my sense of humour when I do weights. I just want to get down to fucking business. I still talk Adz ears off and have a giggle, but when I'm by myself it's like I turn into this little woman with all this pent up rage. "Don't touch my stuff, no I don't want to do alternate sets with you, leave those plates on~I'm only going to add more anyway, and if you're not going to use it, don't drape yourself across it and have a ten minute conversation with your boyfriends about how many egg whites you put in your morning omlette." Get it? I like to think I'm channelling 'the force'. I feel like I'm a furnace generating all this energy and the only way to release it is through smashing out big lifts. This picture I've included is a chick called Dana Linn Bailey. I LOVE the sentiment. It pays to train angry....
But only if you balance it with long walks on the beach at sunrise.....and Yoga....and Gyro....and Zuu.
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