Living in the COVID World ...and Beyond #49: Embracing the Uncomfortable

I had never done Pilates.  I had heard mention of it from some women friends.  They liked it a lot.  But I never thought it was something for me.  It seemed like it was something for women who were already quite flexible. And I have had some unpleasant experiences with trying yoga in group settings … so no thank you.

However, a Pilates studio opened a block and a half from me, and they offered a free class to anyone interested.  Never one to turn down an opportunity to try something for free, I signed up.  And lo and behold, the free class was a positive experience.   So, I joined the studio and have been taking a class or two each week since the beginning of January.

This month, in honor of Father’s Day, the studio is offering to all men free classes for the month of June with apprentices or novices (folks that are training to be Pilates instructors).   Operating again on the willingness to take advantage of stuff that is free, I have signed up for many classes in June and I just that had classes 4 days in a row.

My friends ask me: “How do you like Pilates?”  And my answer is that I don’t like it, it’s no fun, but I believe that it is good for me.   And I do really believe that it is helping me in quite a few ways that I want to list here:

-              I went for my annual physical last month and my doctor reported that I had regained a quarter of an inch in height that I had previously lost, and I and he both attribute this to doing Pilates.

-              I can feel some small changes in my body, especially related to building more strength in what Pilates calls “my core”, which I would have previously referred to as my stomach area.

-              When I do Pilates, I cannot think of anything else other than what I’m doing.  All other thoughts/worries/projects disappear from my mind.  All my attention is focused on doing the exercises.   And I think this focusing of my attention is very healthy for me.

My biggest point related to doing Pilates is about embracing doing what feels uncomfortable.   Pilates is definitely uncomfortable.   As I wrote above, I don’t like it, I don’t look forward to going, and I have no fun when I’m there.  It is hard work every minute.  Sometimes, I would even refer to Pilates as torture (and some of the instructors even joke about how they are going to torture me).   But I have grown, literally and figuratively, by doing what feels uncomfortable.    And I think there is a broader generalization here: we learn and grow by stepping out of our comfort zones and challenging ourselves to do things that feel uncomfortable.

What comfort zone do you want to break out of?   What would be a challenge that you could embrace that would be uncomfortable for you?