Getting There
This blog was written by our beloved NuPower Teacher, Kim Whiteman.
Kim is vulnerable and honest about the difficulties of quarantine.
If you have been missing your routine and have felt disquieted in this season, we hope Kim’s words comfort you. You are not alone.
The global pandemic of 2020 has swiftly and dramatically changed the shape of our lives. In this world of social distancing, every person and every business has had their routine disrupted and now find themselves in uncharted territory. We are, after all, creatures of habit. Habit and routine provide a sense of stability and comfort and control. We know what’s going to happen and when (or like to think we do). And when all that changes on a dime, it’s disquieting, it’s confusing and uncomfortable.
Along with that also comes a lack of direction or feelings of helplessness, not knowing what to do. I am fortunate enough to still be working, but from my home and not the office. But I find that the lines between work and personal life are very blurred. My routine prior to Coronavirus was to get up early with my husband and go to the gym, come home to shower and leave for work. A couple of days after work I would teach yoga, come home, eat dinner and then to bed. Lather, rinse, repeat. It was a great routine. That gym is now closed. That yoga studio is now closed. My routine is now closed.
I find myself sleeping in and not getting up to exercise to start my day like I once did. My yoga studio, like so many others, offer recorded classes and I try to do those. But even though there is an almost limitless supply of online workouts at my disposal at any hour of any day, it’s been a struggle to get into any sort of routine.
As I reflect on why I can’t seem to find that new rhythm, I realize I’ve never really been any good at home workouts. There is always something better to do, or something that needs done. Certainly the connection with people is missing. But more than that, for me, I realize, is the action of getting there. I always was more dedicated to my fitness when there was a class a certain time, with a certain instructor that I needed to get to. I carved out that time in my day. No. I planned my day around that. There was EFFORT involved. Because I knew that getting there was the hardest part. But once I was there, I was committed to that practice.
Last night, I made a point to “take” an online class offered by my yoga studio. This is a “live” class, meaning the instructor is in real time, practicing at the same time the viewers are. It airs at a specific time. And something about knowing that the class was going to start at this time, that I needed to get there, motivated me. I ended a work call so that I could join. I rushed to change and get the video set up so I wouldn’t be late. Now, I could have just as easily watched that video later … it becomes part of the ever-growing library of online classes … but in my mind, I needed to go to the actual class.
As I start to navigate this new normal, I realize getting there is the hardest part…but makes all the difference.
If you are longing for community and routine, please join us for a live class. There is something special about practicing with your tribe, even remotely.