9/17/13-10/2/13: Days 80-95

Moving, cleaning, and planks.

I’ll start with cleaning. How does cleaning relate to press handstands? Well, cleaning makes you stronger, and I need to be much, much stronger in order to do a press handstand. How does cleaning make you stronger? Well, if you’re out of shape and have lost a great deal of your muscle, then a few days of vigorous cleaning will make you sore. And if I’m sore, then I’m assuming my muscles are getting stronger, right? Is it a little sad that I’m sore from cleaning? Yes. But, it’s a step in the right direction. And one day I dream of cleaning without being sore the next day J Never thought I would gauge my strength level in this manner, but oh well.

Moving. Now moving is a more legitimate way to get sore muscles: at least in my book. And moving kicked my ass this past weekend! Holy cow. I’ve also realized that I probably own the world’s heaviest TV and maybe one of the oldest. While trying to carry that thing, I almost considered getting rid of it because hauling that massive thing around just wasn’t worth it (I’m feeling fortunate I didn’t take a tumble down the stairs with it-it was close).

Planks. So one of my facebook friends posted that she is doing a plank a day challenge for the month of October. And I thought, why not? That seems pretty manageable. And planks are awesome. I feel like they’re one of those core, invaluable strength exercises that work a bunch of important muscles. And one per day seems totally manageable.  So I’m going to step up and take the plank a day challenge for the month of October. Oh, and since it’s the 2^nd of the month, I did an extra plank today to account for yesterday. Actually I did two extra because I didn’t know what the date was. Ooops! Pretty sure if I keep that up, I’ll have a six-pack by Halloween J

Back to moving for a minute. Long story short, this move was a part of a big leap of faith, one of several big changes in my life. And I found myself dreading it. I loved my old apartment and my old neighborhood. I did not want to move at all. I was totally and completely in my comfort zone and I dug my heels in and resisted the change. In fact, I realized that I was terrified of the change. And then it occurred to me, “practice what you preach.” I lecture to my spin classes about the importance of going outside of your comfort zone. And here I was, totally terrified to step out of my comfort zone.  I realized that I am completely comfortable going outside of my comfort zone in the gym, so maybe I need to make sure I apply that skill to other areas of my life.  Every time I get a little scared or nervous or uncomfortable with what’s going on, I remind myself of the growth that happens outside of your comfort zone. I remind myself, that I know how to do this and that I practice this in my workouts all the time, and it makes me better.

I’m going off on a tangent here, but this was sort of an “Aha” moment for me. I was recently reading one of Martha Beck’s books and she talks about a few things that have really helped me with all of these changes in my life. One is the process of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. She describes the process in detail and equates it to making a big change or transformation in your life. One of the things she mentions, that I really like, is that at one point in the process, the caterpillar kind of dissolves into some sort of goo like substance (I’m probably not remembering or wording this accurately). And when it does this, it’s like it completely breaks down, and it doesn’t resemble a caterpillar or a butterfly at this point. It’s like it has to completely break down into something else before it can become what it is supposed to be. This just reminds me that sometimes things have to fall apart before they can be put back together into something newer, bigger, and better. And it’s not a bad thing; it’s an important part of the process. So sometimes when we think we’re moving backwards, we may just be going through an important step in the process, and it’s not a bad thing. It’s OK, and even more, it’s necessary.

Another thing Martha Beck talks about is feeling trapped in a situation. She talks about his image of a man behind cell bars. Then when you pan out, you see the man holding two cell bars in front of his face (again, I didn’t describe that as well as she did. But if you’re interested, I would highly recommend any of her books. I think the one I’m referring to is Finding Your Own North Star). Anyway, the idea is that he is not really imprisoned. All he has to do is set down the bars. I really felt like this in my old job. I felt totally trapped. But every once in a while, I would have this really strong urge to quit. And it was this little glimpse of freedom and a feeling of relief. The realization that I had a choice in the matter was really powerful; all I had to do was set down the bars and I would be free. Then, of course, the moment would pass and I would freak out and think of all the reasons that I couldn’t possibly quit my job and I would feel trapped again. There are absolutely consequences for setting the bars down or for making a decision like that, but the fact that you have a choice is really powerful.  Anyway, to make a long story longer, I finally set down the bars, and now I feel like I’m melting down into a goo like substance, and it’s scary and it’s uncomfortable, but I’m hopeful that it will result in positive change. And, if nothing else, it’s resulted in stronger muscles from moving and cleaning J