Owning My Workout Habit

Credit: DaPino-Colada

I had plans for blogging all week. I wanted to share more about how my goals are going. Well, as you can see, I was pretty much MIA for almost a week. Oh well...you know how it is...roads are paved with good intentions and all that. 

Anyway, about my goals. I've felt good about how I've embraced them. I know I didn't share my goals until last week, but they had been in my mind since the beginning of the year. I just wanted to make sure I framed them so that I can be encouraged and not have a fear of failure attached to them.

For example: Own a Workout Habit versus Go to the gym "x" times per week. Of course, going to the gym can very much be part of owning a workout habit...it can also be limiting. I don't want the "gym" connection to defeat me. What if I don't make it to the gym? Am I finished? Am I off the hook? Nope. It's a habit I'm forming. And I have to OWN it. So if I miss the gym, I own deciding if there is something else I want to do instead. And because I've given myself the power to choose in the moment...I have a higher sense of commitment. I don't want to let myself down (so to speak).

Here are the things I've done for the Workout Habit so far this month. I have worked out 3 x per week since the first Monday of the year. We have a workout space here at the apartment clubhouse. We also have a workout space at my office. I started out by going to the work gym after work and doing cardio before going home. I've alternated between the treadmill, stationary bike, and the elliptical. A lot of folks use the workout space during their lunchtime. I have chosen after work for a couple of reasons. The number one reason is that there are fewer people (typically just two others) there when I go. --I'm new to this workout thing. So I'm not keen on being seen when I'm all sweaty and wearing workout clothes and just hoping I don't die. I sort of hope they don't hear me wheezing as I push myself on my machine. 

I went to the work gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the first two weeks of the month. This week I changed it up a little. 

I had Monday off as a holiday and signed up for "Yin Yoga" at a local studio. It was a 75-minute class and I loved every minute of it. I'd never heard of "Yin" yoga before. It is a wonderfully smooth practice with poses that are held for several minutes. The first pose felt foreign to me. Several minutes in, the teacher said, "Remember to relax into this pose. Don't clench your glutes. They should be relaxed too." And I realized at that moment that my glutes were indeed clinched. To my surprise, I was able to relax them. And slowly I was able to deepen into the pose. 

I felt so relaxed and refreshed after! I kept thinking, "When I can do this again?"

It seems like kismet that I chose the word RELAX for 2015. Monday really allowed me to relax in more ways than one. I went home from the yoga class feeling calm and content. The day just seemed to embody the word "relax". 

How is your new year going?