Sometimes you just have to show up
When I sent my friend Adrianne a link to my first post she sent back a message we both laughed about: "Really excited to meet Relaxed Stacy". "Spoiler Alert," I told her, "there's no such thing as 'Relaxed Stacy'; in the end I realize I'm just built with an extra motor."
To be honest, on my drive up here I started to wonder if I was really going to do this at all. And when I said yes to that "extra" beer last night I was pretty sure Day 1 was going to be a massive bust.
But there I was this morning, waking up a little before 5 am, putting on my exercise clothes, and hearing my husband say "I'm super impressed with you right now." Just like that I was dressed, in the car, and catching the last bits of the foggy pink Maine sunrise.
Day 1, 5:30 am: Total Body Challenge
When I arrive at the desk an older gentleman expresses zero concern that I don't have my YMCA card. He has no idea where the Total Body Challenge happens. He says it might be outside, it might be in the studio, and I should walk around until I find it.
I check the indoor track quickly but it's empty, as are the two downstairs studios. There are a couple of middle aged guys lifting weights and a few others on the ellipticals.
I head back to the desk. "No idea," he says, "I guess you're on your own today."
For a few seconds I contemplate getting back into the car and driving home.
Not wanting this to be a total fail, I wander around a little more, throw my bag in a locker and head down to the ellipticals. I take my place on the treadmill behind the Elliptical People. This is kind of a bummer. I didn't bring my headphones so I watch the local news report "Outrage Over Cruise Ship".
But then the older gentleman comes into the room and approaches my treadmill. "This is it," he says, "This is the Total Body Challenge." He goes on to explain that the Elliptical People are the Total Body Challenge class members, and that in about 15 minutes they are going to move to the studio and do some weights and core strength. A man named Steve hops off of his elliptical and introduces himself to me and shakes my hand.
OK, I think. This is happening.
Studio time with weights and core strength turns out to be just the right amount of Total Body Challenge for me. I'm told I need to get weights, a stability ball, and a mat, but the Elliptical People get those for me. The middle aged woman to my right is obviously in much better shape than I am, and as the class ends she encourages me to return tomorrow when they'll be in the pool for aqua aerobics but with weights. Everyone smiles and waves goodbye and I grab my stuff from my locker and head home.
I'm pretty proud of myself as I pull out of the parking lot, but it's not lost on me that nearly 100% of the people at the Boothbay Harbor YMCA between 5:30 and 6:30 am went out of their way to help me complete my Total Body Challenge this Monday morning.
Sometimes, all you have to do is show up.
Also Day 1: Water Walking (or what I will from this point refer to as Mermaid Yoga)
I wake the girls up when I come home and we take the dog for a walk to the beach. They don't seem to be annoyed that it's 7 am, and I take them to the island store to get breakfast.
We come home and I take out my YMCA schedule, wondering if there is anything else I should try today. I send my friends a snapshot of the schedule with Total Body Challenge checked off. I note that Water Walking is happening at 9:15 and ask my friends if that should be next or if I should wait until 11 and do Cycling and something called TRX (whatever that is).
People love pools, but not me. My husband once told me "One out every 4 people pees in the pool." He was trying to be funny, but I'm pretty sure he's right.
Since I've committed myself to taking every class the Boothbay Harbor YMCA offers, and since I want to get a quick grocery run in before the afternoon, I figure I should get Water Walking in the Pee Pool out of the way, so it's back to the YMCA for me, and into the therapy pool.
The older ladies standing in a circle seem to be confused when the instructor tells everyone to start rolling their necks in a circular motion and I join in. But they smile, and make a space for me.
Later, when I'm describing Water Walking as more of a water stretching class Adrianne renames it "Mermaid Yoga", and that's exactly what it is. These ladies are super happy to be hopping up and down on their pool noodles. One by one, other older people walk by or join in, and they are met with the hugest hellos from my classmates. An older man arrives with a cane and a huge smile and all of the ladies are happy to see him and call out his name, "Look it's Harold! Hi Harold! Harold is here!"
It is time for my instructor's signature move. She instructs us to straddle the pool noodle, bend one knee, and lift one arm gracefully in the air while holding on with the other hand and bouncing up and down. She calls this "The Carosel" and we bounce around in the water like this for a while. I am so giddy I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
We do a bit more stretching and the ladies talk about various things: someone's grandson is studying to be a nurse (male nurses are highly regarded by this group), two of the ladies used to own small airplanes in the 90s. The kids are coming in for their swim lessons and I offer that my own children used to take lessons here, and upon completing the week I would let them pick a treat; for many years they listed "the vending machines" as their favorite part of Maine. That gets a chuckle and the instructor tells me I have beautiful eyes.
The class ends with a Namaste and all at once I realize: I am relaxed.
I will definitely be coming back to Mermaid Yoga.
To be honest, on my drive up here I started to wonder if I was really going to do this at all. And when I said yes to that "extra" beer last night I was pretty sure Day 1 was going to be a massive bust.
But there I was this morning, waking up a little before 5 am, putting on my exercise clothes, and hearing my husband say "I'm super impressed with you right now." Just like that I was dressed, in the car, and catching the last bits of the foggy pink Maine sunrise.
Day 1, 5:30 am: Total Body Challenge
When I arrive at the desk an older gentleman expresses zero concern that I don't have my YMCA card. He has no idea where the Total Body Challenge happens. He says it might be outside, it might be in the studio, and I should walk around until I find it.
I check the indoor track quickly but it's empty, as are the two downstairs studios. There are a couple of middle aged guys lifting weights and a few others on the ellipticals.
I head back to the desk. "No idea," he says, "I guess you're on your own today."
For a few seconds I contemplate getting back into the car and driving home.
Not wanting this to be a total fail, I wander around a little more, throw my bag in a locker and head down to the ellipticals. I take my place on the treadmill behind the Elliptical People. This is kind of a bummer. I didn't bring my headphones so I watch the local news report "Outrage Over Cruise Ship".
But then the older gentleman comes into the room and approaches my treadmill. "This is it," he says, "This is the Total Body Challenge." He goes on to explain that the Elliptical People are the Total Body Challenge class members, and that in about 15 minutes they are going to move to the studio and do some weights and core strength. A man named Steve hops off of his elliptical and introduces himself to me and shakes my hand.
OK, I think. This is happening.
Studio time with weights and core strength turns out to be just the right amount of Total Body Challenge for me. I'm told I need to get weights, a stability ball, and a mat, but the Elliptical People get those for me. The middle aged woman to my right is obviously in much better shape than I am, and as the class ends she encourages me to return tomorrow when they'll be in the pool for aqua aerobics but with weights. Everyone smiles and waves goodbye and I grab my stuff from my locker and head home.
I'm pretty proud of myself as I pull out of the parking lot, but it's not lost on me that nearly 100% of the people at the Boothbay Harbor YMCA between 5:30 and 6:30 am went out of their way to help me complete my Total Body Challenge this Monday morning.
Sometimes, all you have to do is show up.
Also Day 1: Water Walking (or what I will from this point refer to as Mermaid Yoga)
I wake the girls up when I come home and we take the dog for a walk to the beach. They don't seem to be annoyed that it's 7 am, and I take them to the island store to get breakfast.
We come home and I take out my YMCA schedule, wondering if there is anything else I should try today. I send my friends a snapshot of the schedule with Total Body Challenge checked off. I note that Water Walking is happening at 9:15 and ask my friends if that should be next or if I should wait until 11 and do Cycling and something called TRX (whatever that is).
People love pools, but not me. My husband once told me "One out every 4 people pees in the pool." He was trying to be funny, but I'm pretty sure he's right.
Since I've committed myself to taking every class the Boothbay Harbor YMCA offers, and since I want to get a quick grocery run in before the afternoon, I figure I should get Water Walking in the Pee Pool out of the way, so it's back to the YMCA for me, and into the therapy pool.
The older ladies standing in a circle seem to be confused when the instructor tells everyone to start rolling their necks in a circular motion and I join in. But they smile, and make a space for me.
Later, when I'm describing Water Walking as more of a water stretching class Adrianne renames it "Mermaid Yoga", and that's exactly what it is. These ladies are super happy to be hopping up and down on their pool noodles. One by one, other older people walk by or join in, and they are met with the hugest hellos from my classmates. An older man arrives with a cane and a huge smile and all of the ladies are happy to see him and call out his name, "Look it's Harold! Hi Harold! Harold is here!"
It is time for my instructor's signature move. She instructs us to straddle the pool noodle, bend one knee, and lift one arm gracefully in the air while holding on with the other hand and bouncing up and down. She calls this "The Carosel" and we bounce around in the water like this for a while. I am so giddy I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
We do a bit more stretching and the ladies talk about various things: someone's grandson is studying to be a nurse (male nurses are highly regarded by this group), two of the ladies used to own small airplanes in the 90s. The kids are coming in for their swim lessons and I offer that my own children used to take lessons here, and upon completing the week I would let them pick a treat; for many years they listed "the vending machines" as their favorite part of Maine. That gets a chuckle and the instructor tells me I have beautiful eyes.
The class ends with a Namaste and all at once I realize: I am relaxed.
I will definitely be coming back to Mermaid Yoga.
My mom and her BFF (also from Maine!) did water walking classes at the gated-retirement-community pool when they spent 3 months in Florida redoing my grandpa Lou's attached home in their own golden girls version of flip or flop and said it reminded her of when she competed on the synchronized swimming team at Ocean Beach in high school. Big background sentence. In short, she loved it.
ReplyDeleteI love this.
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