Mind and Body

I love my latest addiction. I am glad my addiction isn't e-parties where friends wanted me to go. Not even games. Okay, well, slightly. My latest addiction is gym. Highly unlikely for me but there it is. Life is a grab bag of surprises.

You have to understand about me. Never one to look into a mirror and study my reflection. Not even in a pool of rainwater. Never one to bring a hand mirror or a comb. Never one to stare at one's reflection in shop windows or tin cans. Thus I could relate so much to Dead who had not a single looking glass in his entire pad. His reason? He hated looking at his reflection.

Hence my focus on things abstract like philosophy and existantialism. A tall, gangly geek who stumbles on her own feet. Who would not look in the mirror.

But Body Balance AND gym has changed that for me. Slowly, I am getting comfortable in my body. Learning to move with it and find the edge of the pose as Rommel says.

Body Balance is a program in Fitness First. It is a combination of Taichi, Pilates, and Yoga. Each pose is beautiful. Painful to achieve and yet beautiful in the extreme. I admire the lines and the form of the poses. Below are pictures of my instructor R, and a fellow Body Balance convert E. Now SHE is good. I am just winging it but getting better at it with each class I attend. Plus F - the Body Balance guru - is a real slavedriver.

Here R stays for a good hour to encourage us and correct our poses.

R and I do the Swan Pose? Not sure about the name. Will have to check with R. I love the tension on the back, buttocks, and legs.

Next, the Dancer's Pose. Isn't it beautiful? I should be able to do this soon. With a bit of perseverance. R paid me the compliment of saying me and E should try out for the Body Balance instructorship. Very off the mark for me but this is E's goal and I know she can make it.

Now, out of the group class. This is my Personal Trainor, P. We were very formal in the beginning but now we are reduced to friendly squabbles when he lets me bitch. It was a very difficult transition for me to start exercising but Paul was very patient. He would ask me for 20 and I would give him one dirty finger. Haha. Out of seventeen students, I have the record of being Number One Pasaway. But not so much lately. I am trying too hard to get from one set to the next. Plus he's sick so I'm being a good girl. Most of the time. But yeah, definitely, I love this guy for helping me.

Before the pics divert the purpose of this entry, the essence of Body Balance is achieving a connection between mind and body. In the semi-darkness of the group class, we move to beautiful music like Sting's Taking the Inside Rail or Texas' Say That You Want Me. The music just lifts me up and transforms.

From Conjure One's Center of the Sun:

I hear violins

When I close my eyes I am at the center of the sun

And I cannot be hurt by anything this wicked world has done