Throughout my life, exercise of any form of it has intimidated me. I always felt judged, and I felt that I didn’t have the willpower to do it. I’m trying to break that cycle, but it has been more difficult than I thought it was going to be.
I wanted to start exercising at the beginning of March, but it took a couple of weeks to get me to find something that I would like. I started by doing a yoga video on YouTube in my dorm room. I liked it, but the space wasn’t ideal, and I wanted to explore pilates because I took a class in the past and enjoyed it. Trying to find a pilates studio was rough, but I finally ended up hearing back from a place I was looking into. I took a pilates class and I’m not going to lie; it kicked my butt. It was probably the hardest pilates class I’ve ever been to in my life and I kind of enjoyed that because it made me feel a sense of accomplishment afterwards. I liked the class, but I want to explore other options that I might enjoy, and that has been a struggle in itself. I’m trying to find studios with Zumba and other classes that I could try before I decide to get a membership somewhere. Another challenge has been trying to find a good time to go. I feel like time is always against me. As a college student, I have a lot of assignments and academic stuff going on. The main struggle that I’ve been facing is that I still have this mindset of being judged whenever I try to exercise in any way. I find myself finding excuses not to go or feeling anxious at the thought of going to the gym, especially here at school.
I know how important physical activity is and as hard as I’m trying, I’m feeling discouraged. I’m still doing my research on other options that I would enjoy, but I’m not finding much. Maybe I’ll try going to the gym, but I feel like I wouldn’t know what to do or where to start, but I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. I’m going to keep trying and if all else fails, I’ll get a membership at the pilates studio. If you have ever felt that anxious or scared about taking that step, I hope this helps in knowing that you are not alone.