Last week Chris and I road tripped over to Minneapolis for a fitness conference. These conferences always offer a variety of workshops to choose from that offer us both continuing education
hours as well as new ideas for fitness classes and workshops for Body. But this
conference also unknowingly offered both Chris and I an opportunity to break free from our individual comfort zones as well...ok maybe more like catapulted each of us into a place that was both uncomfortable and edgy.
For me it was the Rhythm and Soul dance class. The instructor was moving her body in ways I'm sure my body isn't capable of moving and my reflection in the mirror confirmed this reality. So while Chris was standing in front of me with seemingly way more comfort-ableness with her rhythm and soul I was trying to hide behind her hoping that a song from a Broadway musical would somehow find its way into the playlist...which would have been way more my speed.
Ok now fast forward to the next morning...Chris and I are registered to take a yoga class called "Uplift and Assist." Not exactly sure what we are in for but we show up. The instructor prefaces the class by giving us a heads up that the class we are attending is all about the value of touch. The power of touch... the importance of touch and the willingness to touch. Ok so at this point several of the students rolled up their mats and rapidly exited the yoga room totally uncomfortable with the unknown and the probability of being touched by others in the room. So it gets better...mind you those of you who know Chris know that she has a look of panic in her eyes at this point...BUT she's still glued to her mat. The class starts and the teacher tells us that first of all we have to get comfortable with learning to touch ourselves...ok NOT what you are thinking BUT totally what we are all thinking. He actually just incorporated postures into our flow that allowed us to massage our own forearms and calves while stretching. So next we are instructed to partner up and sit cross legged back to back and just breath. No big deal right because we are friends and thank goodness we came with someone we were comfortable with. But now comes the part that had the potential to catapult my little buddy out of the room. We were assigned groups of 5 and one person at a time was instructed to lay on a mat while the other 4 hovered around them and applied varying amount a pressure to the laying down individuals arms, legs, shoulders, and temples...I knew that at this point Chris was climbing out of her skin by this invasion of space and yet she stuck it out and played the game.
Afterwards we chatted and chuckled about both of our experiences and just marveled at how we had both been pushed way out of our comfort zones in two very different ways and yet we both survived! We survived the unfamiliar....the unknown and the uncomfortable ness to arrive at the other side.
Just thought it might be a tangible reminder to all of us that we can survive and even become stronger from these experiences in life that are unfamiliar or at first uncomfortable and potentially even benefit from or at least get a few giggles from them along the way.
Maybe its something as simple as trying a new class or venturing over to the "other" side of Body Language. Today's the day to shake it up...try something new...give yourself permission to be catapulted or at least nudged into doing something that takes you out of your comfort zone!! Find us in The Link...would love to hear about your new experience!!
