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Friday, September 18, 2009
A Meditation-Spin class
Posted by Caitlin Reagan on Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 2:54 PM
Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t like spin classes. Five years ago, when I was in college, a sorority sister of mine was a spinning instructor. She suggested I attend her class one afternoon. Being the naïve individual I was at the time, I took my young, skinny body to this class thinking it would be great and I would surely be the fastest spinner. Thirty minutes later, I had a cramp in my side, my foot kept slipping out of the pedal, I was cursing my sorority sister instructor under my breath each time she instructed us all to turn the knob up, and I jumped off the bike and quit. I walked away red-faced with my towel on my shoulder never to look back again… until last Thursday evening.
Upon moving to Tampa, I’ve joined the YMCA. So far, it has been great — especially if you are a single female under the age of 35. But that’s a whole other topic that I’ll explore later, maybe. With a little coaxing and shoving from my brother, Jib and his fiancé, Kristin, I joined the two of them for a spin class. After a lot of fiddling with the seat, disinfecting the handlebars, and tightening the shoe straps on the pedals, I began to feel my stomach twisting.
When I get nervous, I tend to get a little hyper and crack as many jokes as I can possibly crack without seeming obnoxious — and I do teeter along the line of being funny and being obnoxious. This seems to be a family trait that I’ve acquired from my mother’s side of the family. But, again, that’s a whole other topic that I’ll most likely not explore later.
Gary, the instructor, arrived and his voice sounded smooth and calming as he spoke to all of us. As he guided us through a forest with small hills, jumps, winding paths, and concluding with a mountain that felt as steep as Mt. Kilamanjaro, Dave Matthews Band played softly in the background. I was expecting to hear something like Paul Oakenfold or maybe Lady GaGa’s latest hit but instead, Gary was able to create a very peaceful environment amidst sweaty, aching bodies pushing their limits on stationery bikes. I said to Kristin and Jib as we were leaving, “I feel as though I just finished a relaxation yoga class.”
While I did walk away sore, sweaty, and out of breath, I felt completely rested and relaxed — a feeling I have never experienced after a cardio-intensive workout. To be honest, I have decided to include this particular spin class in my weekly workout routine, only, for me, I’ll think of it more as meditation and less of an actual workout.
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