Lefty Loosey

Where Haven't I Been?
I haven't been a lot of places, like Tahiti or Hawaii, or Kansas.  And lately, I haven't been to the gym.

I am trying - no! going! - to change that, and it all started last week.  Again.

Ahem.

It is very very easy to divert myself from this goal, and I LIKE going to the gym.  For instance, tonight, I wanted to vote.  This requires that I drive near my home, and then drive away from my home to the gym.  It also requires that I attend a much dreaded class called Body Jam due to the change in schedule.  Even with careful pre-planning and mental pep talks about how Body Jam is not totally terrible and I might be able to keep up, I still found myself sitting in the car after voting, at a traffic light without a turn signal.  (For you Marylanders out there - this signifies that a car intends to go straight through the light.)  "Hey, Slacker!!" my brain yelled, "the gym's THAT way!"  My left hand flicked on the turn signal just in time.  (Once again Folks - the blinking light on the left?  Means I'm turning left.  Crazy, I know.)

So there I stood in Body Jam.  This is a class that uses dance moves to trick participants into exercising.  Personally, I think its stupid because you are already at a gym so you'd think it was obvious that your motive is to exercise.  Also, it is too hard.  But mostly stupid.

Putting the negativity away, I resolved to really try this time.

The class was going pretty much as it always does to about halfway through.  The instructor was yelling out "Now, flick!  And twirl! And step, step, glide!"  And I was having trouble flicking on the correct foot, leaving me to miss the twirl, causing my neighbors to gracefully crash into my non-moving patoot while I hurried to the final "glide" position.  This would all be fine except (for me) that when I spend most of my time avoiding being stepped on and looking confusedly at my flawless classmates, I don't break much of a sweat.  Granted, I'm not exactly sitting on the sofa eating leftover Halloween candy (mmmm...Butterfingers....)* but I'm still not getting the workout I hoped for.

So right about then, I had an epiphany of sorts.  Use the left brain.  It's the left brain that's creative and artsy and natural.  It's the right brain that's practical and learned and uses correct grammar.  I thought maybe, if I could concentrate less on the actual steps and more on the movement, I might be on to something.

You see, my job makes me use the right brain waaay more often than the left, and poor Lefty is a little neglected.

But then I remembered a scene from wedding I attended this past summer:
HIM:  Why are you wearing those shoes if they hurt when you walk?
ME:  (flicking foot in the light)  Dude!  Look how glittery they are!

So, Lefty's still in there.  She just has to hunker down and hide as I navigate my way though the male dominated office space on a daily basis.  Today in Body Jam, I let 'er loose.

And it actually worked.  I realized I didn't have to look at the instructor's feet or arm movements as much.  I listened for the verbal cues and heard the music.  Suddenly, the class was becoming fun and I didn't even have to watch the girl in front who never missed a step.

and then THUD!

The girl was writhing on the floor because her knee popped out of socket (or something - I actually tried not to listen too much as this kind of talk tends to make me feel like I will pass out).  Point is that the class stopped because the girl was injured and she said this awful thing with her knee happens all the time and it was suddenly all better and then she walked out.  She didn't even limp.

I feared all this knee popping talk might cause me to lose my zen, but it didn't.  When class resumed I was back on track, not necessarily getting every step right but at least not crashing into people.  And I was actually having fun and breaking a sweat.  It was great!

I think I will stop avoiding this class so much.  It might be good for me to step out of the comfort zone and let 'Ole Lefty out for a spin now and again.


*and I forgot how yummy Twix are!!