Insanity report.

[rivka]

I woke up at 5:45 this morning for a 6:15 Pilates class.

I'm not a morning person. I'm really not a morning person. I'm usually up until around 1am, and then I reluctantly drag myself out of bed at 7:15 and wake up very, very slowly via a hot shower, a cup of tea, and the Internet. I'm lucky if I'm alert by the time I'm facing my first client. Not a morning person, okay?

Last night I went to sleep by 11 so that I'd have a fighting chance of making it to the class. At one, I jolted awake: I have to get up! I looked at the clock and fell back asleep, but it was pretty much like that all night. Somehow I'd imprinted too strongly on the fact that I had to get up early, and I kept jerking awake to check the time. Ironically, when the alarm actually rang at 5:45, I lay in bed for several minutes trying to decide if I really wanted to get up. (Answer: no, but I did it anyway.)

Here's the insane part: I think I'm going to go again next week.

I really liked the instructor. She's a physical therapist by training, and teaches a form of Pilates that's been slightly modified for use in rehab settings. As she taught each exercise, she offered us alternatives: "If you have back problems, just do [this]. If this is too hard for you, go back to doing [previous]. If you want a little more challenge, try [modification]." I really liked that she didn't assume that everyone should be on the same level.

This is the first exercise class I've ever taken. All my exercise to date has been individually paced - even when I've exercised with someone else (hiking with wcg, working with my personal trainer), it's been geared to my specific ability level. I had no idea whether I'd be able to keep up with a class, but I surprised myself by doing very well. I mean, I don't think I did all the exercises perfectly - there's a lot to keep track of in Pilates, and having the right form will take practice - but I didn't ever have to drop out and rest, and I did everything but one brief exercise that involved something orthopedically forbidden. My strength training has obviously made a dramatic difference in my abilities - there's no way I could have done this class when I first started exercising last summer.

Pilates feels very right for me. It's focused on strength, flexibility, balance, muscle control, posture - all things that I want to improve. I can tell that it will teach me to be more mindful of my body, how it's positioned and how it moves. There's no bouncing or impact or sudden movements that might strain my hip. Today's class made me work hard, but it didn't exhaust me or push me to pain or focus my attention on my limitations. It felt good. Really good.

Comments

where

[ksta.livejournal.com]

where does your username come from?
you don't have to answer that if you don't want to, just curious, as it reminds me of some of my old ones.

Re: where

[rivka.livejournal.com]

where does your username come from?

It's the Hebrew form of my given name, and as such it's been a nickname of mine since childhood.

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

I'm a disgusting morning person, and I hate having to get up early. If I don't need to be up, I'll be chipper and bright at 06:45. If I have to set the alarm for 07:30, though, I'll sleep like crap and get woken by the alarm and not want to get out of bed.

All appointments should be in the middle of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, to minimise the horror of alarm clocks.

I hope to get back to aikido once we're moved, for many of the same reasons as you cite for going on with Pilates. (Not as in Pontius, I assume :-)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I'm a disgusting morning person, and I hate having to get up early. If I don't need to be up, I'll be chipper and bright at 06:45. If I have to set the alarm for 07:30, though, I'll sleep like crap and get woken by the alarm and not want to get out of bed.

Oh, that's fascinating. So I guess that on days when you're hoping to get some extra rest, the best thing to do is schedule an early morning appointment to ensure that you sleep in?

I hope to get back to aikido once we're moved, for many of the same reasons as you cite for going on with Pilates. (Not as in Pontius, I assume :-)

Heh, no. "Pih-LAH-tees." But now I'm tempted to pronounce it the other way.

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's fascinating.

It's not all a bed of roses, being a morning person :-) The obvious corollary is being a narcoleptic dormouse after about 21:00. But my big problem is being a neurotic lark.

So I guess that on days when you're hoping to get some extra rest, the best thing to do is schedule an early morning appointment to ensure that you sleep in?

I obviously mis-explained myself :-) I generally get good rest when I don't have a lie-in. If I have a lie-in, it is almost exclusively because I slept badly, and I still feel like crap even after the lie-in. My partners are still trying to teach me to do "I'm beautifully rested, but I'm just going to lounge around here with you some more" type lie-ins.

Heh, no. "Pih-LAH-tees." But now I'm tempted to pronounce it the other way.

I live to deprave :-)

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

I found myself cringing as you described your ordeal with the alarm clock. This happens to me before every flight. Argh.

And wow, go you for taking an exercise class. You're a better man than I, Gunga Din.

-J

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

*bounce* Wonderful!

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

you are definitely insane. but i like that about you. :)

i just started a tai chi class, and when i was researching the school, i relaxed a lot when i found out one of their instructors (coincidentally the one who is teaching my class!) is disabled. okay! these people understand about dealing with disabled people! i'll go here! whee!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

i just started a tai chi class, and when i was researching the school, i relaxed a lot when i found out one of their instructors (coincidentally the one who is teaching my class!) is disabled. okay! these people understand about dealing with disabled people! i'll go here! whee!

That's so cool! I'll be interested in hearing all about it, and especially about how well it adapts, because tai chi is something I've wanted to try for a while now. I've been reluctant to pay for a whole course without having any idea about whether I'd actually be able to do it, though.

I'm excited that your tai chi teacher will be disabled. It's a cool thing about my gym that a number of disabled people work out there -at the very least, there's me, a couple of guys in wheelchairs, and a guy with CP, and almost certainly there are other folks whose disabilities are invisible. It makes me so much more comfortable hanging out there.

I went up to the Pilates instructor after class and told her that I had an artificial hip and a lower spinal fusion, and that if she saw me modifying exercises, that was why. She said, "Oh! Okay. So you feel like you know what the best modifications are for you? Great, let me know if you want any suggestions." I was pleased that she trusted me to know what I can do - I have fewer restrictions on my movement than many people with artificial hips, because my joint placement was so good, and I don't like being second-guessed.

[iamjw.livejournal.com]

I think Tai Chi can be adapted to suit your needs. I know when I tore the ligaments in my knee a couple of years ago, some of the exercises they gave me were very reminiscent of the way one moves when doing the forms. There is a certain amount of swivelling, but should be done on the ball of the foot, so I'm not sure how that would work for you.

I've been doing Pilates at home, and really enjoy it. In winter I ride an exercycle for aerobic work, but while that's doing great things to my legs I need some form of strength training as well, and it's highly unlikely I'm ever going to take myself to a gym.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Dunno if you remember my burbling about similar experience from my initial introduction to Pilates, but yeah, that's all part of the philosophy. (Something I'm stressing just in case anyone reading the comments thinks that it's *just* part of what your particular instructor does.) Isn't it great?

I had problems with my own time trying tai chi because I found a course that was an extension of a kung fu schoo, and they didn't want to adapt, and tried to get me to do things that would really hurt my hip.

betnoir and I are going to try out a local Pilates class on Thursday nights, and I'm hoping it will work out. I hurt myself in Tucson last week and I can use the rehab. I really wish I'd been able to take in a few Pilates classes with the PNW Ballet in Seattle, though.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

-grin-

I'm so very, very glad that you enjoyed your Pilates class. It sounds like the instructor is very good, but I'm also not surprised. That sort of "alternative levels given during a group class" is at the core of Pilates method philosophy.

If you managed to complete the hundred on your first run through, I'm very impressed. I forgave myself for the lack of stamina when I started, because I had just come out of a run of bronchitis, but it was hard!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I'm so very, very glad that you enjoyed your Pilates class.

Yeah, I figured you would be. How many years has it been since you started urging me to take one? *grin*

If you managed to complete the hundred on your first run through, I'm very impressed. I forgave myself for the lack of stamina when I started, because I had just come out of a run of bronchitis, but it was hard!

I'm tempted to just sit here soaking up credit, but I should probably clarify instead. The instructor said that one of the differences between the Pilates method she was trained in and "classic" Pilates is that we won't be doing specific set routines. So you may be referring to something I didn't have to do.

The hundred

[trinker.livejournal.com]

It's actually the traditional starting exercise in Pilates. Gets your heartrate up, because what you do is curl up and pump your arms while breathing in five breaths and then out five breaths, until you finish 20 reps.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

If you managed to complete the hundred on your first run through, I'm very impressed. I forgave myself for the lack of stamina when I started, because I had just come out of a run of bronchitis, but it was hard!

It occurs to me that, since you were traveling all summer, you may not know that I've been exercising several times a week since May, including weight training three times a week since September. I'm in better physical condition than I've ever been in my life.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing your early mentions of exercise, but I didn't know how much effect it had had. I'm also in better physical shape than I've been in years, thanks to running away with the circus.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Sounds like your Pilates class has many of the features I like about my Iyengar yoga classes. Yay exercise! (Never thought I'd be saying that!)

[saoba.livejournal.com]

I have a video for Pilates and a coupla books and am running down a lead on a class I can afford.

Yay exercise indeed.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

When I was taking Pilates the first time, I found that the local community college had a really cheap series.

[elusis.livejournal.com]

I've really enjoyed the Pilates tapes I've done. I'd like to go to one of the Pilates or Pi-Yo (Pilates and yoga) classes at our gym, but right now none of them meet at terribly convenient times and the yoga classes I've seen seem to be... overrun.

I appreciate the focus on core strength (which helps my back a lot), flexibility, and balance. Given that out of all the physical disciplines I've had contact with, the two things that fit the best for me are ballet and belly dance, Pilates slots very neatly into my areas of semi-competency and, er... best grokking?

I need to get out my videos and the new DVD I bought and run through the routines again this weekend.

I empathize with you on the "waking up all night" thing. I think that's the reason that I inevitably have insomnia/frequent awakenings on Monday nights, because Tuesday is my one day that I have to be up at a wickedly early hour. I also get that when I have an early morning plane flight. It's murder.