No one really loves doing scary things.
Well, maybe YOU do, but I don’t. I like having done them when they’re over.
Starting Pilates is definitely a scary thing. Even if you have experience, if you don't know the teacher or others in the class, or if you're doing a private session on your own, it's all unknown. Which your brain thinks is terrifying!
The trouble is, without doing scary things, you don’t get to find anything that lights your heart up. You don’t get to level up, whether that means meeting someone who will change your life, finding something that will change how you look at life, or how you feel, or just changing how you show up for yourself.
It's easy to avoid doing scary things. It’s a whole lot easier to binge Netflix than it is to try to learn a second language. It’s more fun to watch people put themselves out there on reality tv than it is to even consider meeting new people online by yourself.
Taking Pilates for the first time is scary. Joining anything for the first time is scary!
Did you know? I was terrified when I signed up for Pilates.
My very first class, I walked into a room full of strangers, not even having a CLUE what Pilates was. This was back in 1999, when Mari Windsor hadn’t released her DVDs yet (or was it still VHS then?), no one had really heard of Pilates, and I just knew I needed to do SOMETHING to keep moving. My job at the time involved a LOT of sitting, and I did a lot of commuting. Everyone in that class had a spot for their mat; it seemed like a lot of people already knew the instructor and had done the class before.
I felt like a fish out of water. Funny thing: I consider myself an ‘high-functioning introvert’, meaning that as much as I can interact with people and really enjoy the engagement, I’m actually pretty shy and love to be my own company at the same time. So that first day of class, I just sat on my mat, smiled at a few people, and felt really, REALLY nervous.
The instructor started class and I was mesmerized by the movements she was making. MESMERIZED. Everything was graceful. Everything was fluid. She looked like an angel.
AN ANGEL, my friend!!
She even had the beautiful long blonde hair to go with it. As I tried to follow along, I KNEW I did NOT look like an angel. I was not fluid. I was not graceful. I was a shaky, uncoordinated mess that could barely straighten my legs! And I literally fell in love with Pilates that day. It took time, but I went faithfully, and eventually, my legs straightened without shaking. My arms moved with my legs when they were supposed to. I could breathe, and relax, and connect ALL at the same time.
I met some people on the other mats.
One of my clients that I have TO THIS DAY was in that class with me! She’d started during the session before, so she was one of the ones with experience. When I eventually took over teaching the class, she cheered me on and came as regularly as she had before, even when I was terrible (Chris, I love you, and STILL appreciate that you keep cheering me on). Group class was no longer scary – at least, not until I started being the instructor, but that’s a whole other story! That’s the beauty of doing things scared. Think of all the times you’ve been absolutely panicked about doing something but did it anyway. Getting your driver’s license. Going away to school. Having kids. Going on that interview. Buying that house. Starting that course. If I hadn’t gone to that scary mat class, I wouldn’t have become an instructor. If I hadn’t become an instructor and done the very scary exams, I wouldn’t have met, helped, and enjoyed ALL the people I have over the years!
I wouldn’t even have connected with my bestie without Pilates.
Did I know it at the time when I was looking for a place to lay my mat?
Nope! I just wanted to feel better.
And I ended up feeling fabulous!
Starting Pilates changed my life – my body, my mind, AND the trajectory of my life!
The amazing thing I find about Pilates is that it connects people. We’ve all struggled with the exercises. We’ve all had a day where it felt like our body did not understand what our brain was trying to tell it.
People in a group cheer each other on or share their own struggle when someone else voices how much they hate an exercise. I look at my longest running group class and see how wonderful they are individually, AND together. It took all of them the courage to commit to something they weren’t sure of.
It’s amazing because they’re so supportive of each other, have friendships outside of class, and share their support on the hardest exercises.
They welcome new additions to the group with open arms and are happy to offer guidance when asked for advice. It’s amazing to watch the once-newbies transform into the sages!
I don’t think many of them realized they’d still be doing Pilates decades after their first class (I sure didn’t!). Starting Pilates can change YOUR life. How you look at exercise and staying healthy. How you feel about how your body moves.
New doors only open when you have the courage to step outside your comfort zone. Otherwise, you get trapped inside your own seemingly safe little box, which ultimately ALWAYS turns out to be the worst possible way to live. So, that Pilates class you’ve been thinking of joining? You need to sign up for it.
I promise, when you do it, you’ll feel AMAZING and ready to say yes to even more scary things. Our courage comes from doing things that scare us; it breeds with use – just like our muscles strengthen with every Pilates exercise.
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