I went to a spin class yesterday.
And for all of those who know me and my distaste for intensive exercise, I say to you, RIGHT?
I’m undergoing a bunch of meds changes and I went to a spin class.
And I’ll be feeling the effects for quite some time now.
But it was for several good reasons:
- I got to be surrounded good people
- it was a fundraiser for Dysautonomia International
- I now get to say “yeah, I’ve taken a spin class before”
My current exercise routine is pretty basic: six days a week, I get on my recumbent bicycle and cycle for a designated amount of time while watching late night television. And every week, I up the amount of time by a minute. Yesterday was the 20 minute mark.
The class itself was 45 minutes, so for the half I couldn’t exercise, I was hanging out on the bike, wiping my forehead with the towel, rehydrating, and watching in awe at everyone’s energy. I was also playing the “see if I can balance on this seat without holding on” game—I’m proud to say that I won this round and I don’t know if I should tempt fate ever again. The stakes were too high.
It was a great environment—tons of energy, tons of positive reinforcement, lots of “no one is judging you!” which is one of my favorite types of statements. Normally when I exercise I like to either be alone or I imagine myself in a Harry Potter invisibility cloak. As it turns out, a spin class with the music booming and the lights off offers the same kind of effect.
I never imagined that this type of thing would be possible for me. Again, I completely tailored it to work for me, but that’s really what life with dysautonomia is about—making the things around you work for you because your body can’t do that for you all the time. Mine was such a Spin Class Lite experience, (most everyone else did the real deal), but I STILL DID IT, and I’m still going to be feeling the burn with every step probably for a few more days. (And the burn is so real.)
Huge thanks to Elyse Schwartz for organizing the event (all huge thanks to her for being an all around superstar human being) and a huge thanks to everyone there for being kind and supportive. It’s a good rule of thumb that you’re bound to run into superior humans at dysautonomia events.