I smile looking back at this photo which was taken six years ago; looking at the young woman, I find myself whispering, 'if only you knew.'
Back then, yoga was my only form of exercise.
'Never! I don't believe in cardio,' I'd reply to those who asked whether I did any form of high-intensity workouts. There were times, I'll admit, cardio attempted to seduce me with beautiful adverts of rock-hard-and-glossed-to-the-heavens abs, Beyoncé bums and model-esque legs, but I found pure joy in sassily saying, 'I'm going to take a hard pass,' when someone would invite me to join them in a HIIT class. Frankly, I wasn't here for cardio.
I didn't feel as though we understood one another; I wanted to be fit and healthy without any of the pain. Yoga was my sweet friend that softly built up the strength of my muscles and gently increased my flexibility, but cardio? Cardio was punishment that I saw as the child of Hades.
Fast forward to the present and the uncertain end of Covid-19, and cardio is a must in my exercise regime. I needed to keep healthy during our first lockdown - we're on lockdown 2.0 here in the UK - especially as I didn't know when I would be allowed out, so it was imperative that I begun doing cardio as I didn't want my body to slowly break down from an inactive lifestyle. Now, I can't imagine not doing it!
From this, I learned that sometimes you have to change the angle with which you look at things; I couldn't understand why people would purposefully put themselves through pain in order to be fit. I was looking at cardio from the perspective of voluntary torture and not from the view of a fun challenge that will greatly benefit me.
When I shifted my angle, my opinion as a result changed. I looked specifically for workouts that wouldn't feel like workouts, and came across plenty that I found myself wanting to do right then and there (I'll leave a few of my favourites below), never mind the fact I have a ton of work that needs completing. It's a large lesson I learned in a minor situation - I can only imagine the effect this lesson will have when I apply it in a more pressing situation.
The young lady in the picture above would've laughed if you'd told her that in six years, she'd love cardio - well, love is a strong word; tolerate is a better word.
I try not to regret my past actions as I did things based on how I felt at that particular time; if whatever it was didn't work out, I'd search for lessons, apply them and move forward. It would be easy for me to say why didn't I just do it? I could've been much further in my fitness journey if I had. But what would that do for me now besides make me upset with myself? This thought serves no purpose. I wasn't ready at that time and that's okay.
It's perfectly okay.
When the time was right for me, it happened. No coercion, no bullying myself and no comparing myself with others. I adopted cardio into my routine in a natural and organic way, and that's the best way it could have and should have happened. It would mean that this decision would stick (more than likely) because I wasn't doing it to keep up with Beyoncé or because it's trendy.
Another lesson I learned? To never say never - yes, it would seem Justin Bieber was spot on. Well, apart from skydiving. I can say a confident never to that.
☾
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