Yoga and Other Fitness
I have a lot of energy. Anyone who has ever met me surely will not dispute this fact. As a consequence of such, I have always needed to find ways to channel this energy. Thank god I found a healthy outlet in fitness.
Through the years, my fitness journey has taken several paths, but the consistency and centrality in my life have never wavered.
It started when I was little running 5ks and doing triathlons with my parents. Nothing requiring much coordination, just me and my own body pushing my own limits. Other sports were never my forte because anything involving anything other than my own body was a lost cause (though I did play soccer for 7 years.)
When I hit high school, I joined the cross-country team. Cross Country takes a special kind of zen masochist. Running anything over 12 miles on a regular basis requires someone who enjoys pain, and can find a way through it, into a state of emptiness. I won’t try to dive into the psyche of long distance runners, though if you’re interested, Haruki Murakami (my favorite author,) wrote a very detailed memoir about it called “What I Talk About when I Talk About Running.”
I do think this strange love for pain, and the high that comes after it has been an essential part of my unwavering commitment to fitness. It always perplexes me when someone says they don’t work out because they don’t like the way it feels. It’s supposed to suck. Anyway, I’ll get off of my soapbox. After Cross-Country, I started doing P90X every morning before school in my friend Jake’s basement. Talk about pain. This kept me in very good shape through the rest of high school, though poor diet and sleep schedule always kept me on the edge of one overuse injury or another.
P90X showed me a new way of thinking, believe it or not. Tony Horton became, and remains something of an idol to me. His 11 laws have helped shape the way that I exist from day to day, and I know I can always count on some quote or video of his to inspire me just when I need it. I would also say that my sense of humor comes half from him, and half from John Mulaney.
P90X introduced me to what has become my greatest passion, which is Yoga. I really can’t explain what it is about it, but I dove headfirst into Yoga culture as soon as I hit college. It started as a physical practice, but it has evolved into the entire system in which I live my life. At the peak of my practice, I try to do at least half an hour every day, plus one or two ten minute meditations a day, though I know this is rarely achievable. I love the sense of clarity, relaxation, strength, and mindfulness that come after a good yoga practice. I love the way it centers me and lowers my expectations on everything for the rest of the day. Yoga definitely made me more flexible physically, but I would argue that it’s most important contributions to my life have been off the mat. No longer am I high-strung valedictorian type. Don’t get me wrong, I still try my hardest, and work as much as I can, but now if something doesn’t go my way, I’ve gotten very good at accepting it and moving on from their. This is the foundation of the lasting happiness I have tried to achieve over the last four years. I hope to get certified in yoga when I move to the city so that I can work in studios, passing on the gift that yoga has been to me.
Sadly, I don’t get to do as much yoga as I would like right now. I am trying to pack on as many pounds as I can since my drastic weight loss, so the weight room and I have gotten very close this year. I’ve really enjoyed my time lifting weights. It’s a different kind of exertion, but the feeling of satisfaction is the same. Watching your numbers gradually go up, and feeling more strong and steady is definitely a worthwhile reward.
Who knows where I’ll end up in the future. Maybe I’ll get really into squash or rock climbing. I don’t know. But I do know that some component of fitness will always be a part of my life. I’d go crazy without it.