Day 20: Exercise Part Three

In case you missed them: Part One and Part Two

In the fall of 2009, we found out we were leaving North Dakota, which meant I was going to have to leave my job. I gave my notice in the spring and left at the end of April. I had been taking a class at the local community college, so I planned to leave my job the week before my final portfolio and paper was due. It worked out well. I continued my workouts until we moved, and said a reluctant goodbye to the friends I'd made there over the past 3 1/2 years.

Curves headquarters is in Waco, Texas, and I had it in my head that the Texas clubs would be hard-core into sales. Because we were fairly certain we'd only be in Texas for a year, I didn't pursue employment. Instead, we used the gym on base (convenient because I drove the girls to school there each day), where I could take yoga classes. I bought a punch-card, which lasted me all year, and I took yoga at the base gym.

Now there's been a lot of talk about yoga in the Christian community. To be honest, I have waffled about it for years--is it okay, is it not okay, for Christians to take yoga classes. I did not feel uncomfortable taking classes at the gym, because the instructor was strictly working on muscles. She rarely used the Sanskrit names for poses, and she talked all the time about the muscle groups we were working. It took me a few weeks, but I could gradually see improvement and felt more comfortable with the process of going through the classes. My flexibility improved quite a bit!

We found out we were moving again, this time to Alaska. When I began exploring my exercise options, I was not comfortable with yoga. There are many yoga studios here in the area, but they all seem to be very focused on the religious aspects of yoga, rather than the exercise-centered classes I'd been attending (that's my perception alone, not based on anything but my gut feeling after overhearing at the dance studio and visiting websites). Curves costs quite a bit more here, as well.

I found out about the Jazzercise studio from one of my new friends here who loves going. I found out about their special, and even the unlimited classes at the 12-month contract was a significant cost cut from Curves here in town--and less than driving to the base gym.

So I stumble and make mistakes, and am feeling sore muscles from not being used in this way for a long time! But I'm slowly starting to get the hang of it, after only taking a class every summer or two with my sister (who has been Jazzercising for something like 13 years).

So there it is: my exercise autobiography. :D My ultimate goals are: to keep from gaining weight, and improve my cholesterol levels, and improve my heart strength. I want to be healthier than I am without exercise. No sluggishness for me! Plus, with the darkness of winter upon us, I want to stay happy too.