But as luck would have it, among the first 5 suggestions I received, 3 were invites to Pilates classes. Lovely. My week had filled up with exiting and exhausting sounding activities, and I felt that one evening of restful restage wouldn't do me any damage, so I accepted.
In the true spirit of the "say yes before you think about it" women I am trying to become, I did not google "Pilates" to avoid panicking about it or deciding that it might be too hard.
(Ok, that might be a tiny little lie. I did google it but I only looked at images. I was a little freaked out by people standing on one hand, but figured that might be the intermediate to my complete beginners level.)
So I rocked up at the local council run gym, at best feeling slightly worried that I might fall asleep in class due to lack of physical effort required.
Well. Well, Ladies and gentlemen, if you were under any illusion that Pilates is purely relaxing, let me tell you: you are SO wrong. It was flippin' hard. Not "I'm gonna die" hard, but definitely "she can't expect me to hold this position for another 5 seconds, surely!" kind of hard. The whole situation may have been made worse by my innate arrogance of assuming that it would be super easy. So when the instructor suggested that I might be best sticking to difficulty level 1 for my first class, I decided that I just wasn't a level one kinda gal and that level 3 sounded just fine, thank you very much. I know. So wrong.
The first few stretches and poses went fairly well, and I did manage to hold them for the appropriate number of "breath in... and breath out". However, when I started to feel my core shaking I decided to sneakily glace at the clock to check if we had 5 or 10 minutes left, I nearly allowed my belly button to touch the mat: 20 minutes to go!
At that point I also learnt an important lesson about my rebellious self: I don't like following instructions. I don't mean consciously going against a command, no, because that would land me in trouble. Instead, it is as if my body sneakily revolts by breathing out when she clearly said "breath in!". The harder I tried to focus on fitting in with the Lycra clad masses, the more I fell out of sync and ultimately off my one knee that was holding me in place. It took all my remaining core muscle strength not to get the giggles.
Reading this, you might think that Pilates really wasn't for me, and that I'd never go again. However, surprisingly, I actually really enjoyed it. I enjoyed feeling the stretch in my limbs, and whilst I wouldn't say I "enjoyed" feeling my sore core muscles for the following 3 days, I enjoyed the feeling that I had worked really hard. And I also enjoyed the final 5 minutes, where we just got to lay on the floor and let our minds drift. I drifted straight to dinner, although I'm not sure that was quite what she had in mind.
"So should I go to Pilates if I want to build up my fitness?" I hear you ask. Here are my thoughts:
1. Classes are very popular and offered in a number of church- and community halls. There will be one near you, I'm sure.
2. The only piece of equipment you may have to buy is a mat, although all the classes I've looked at provide mats for you.
3. Comfi gym-wear is perfect, no need for special clothing
4. The pace is very gentle - you have more than enough time to watch the instructor and replicate his/her movements before they move on. No Bridget Jones moments here.
5. It is low impact; I'm no medical professional but there is no heavy thudding on your knees or anything like that.
6. My favourite aspect was that - despite working really hard and feeling that I was working hard - I never was out of breath or sweaty. Out of rhythm, but never out of air.
7. With everyone so busy focusing on the instructions, the breathing, the music and the movements, no-one has time to watch what you're doing. So if you need to have a little rest, just rest.
8. Do not fret if you haven't got a buddy to go with you - although of course it's always nicer if you do already know someone, the way the class is laid out, there is no real space for chatting. You go in, lay out your mat (make sure you face the same way as everyone else), and just follow the instructions until they say "pack up".
9. You may get to lay on the floor for the last 5 minutes and just do nothing. I mean, it's a winner.
