Finding an Exercise Routine (again)
Reaching the end of the pandemic tunnel means more time for movement.
In pre-pandemic life, I loved hot yoga. There was a studio only a few miles from my house. The classes were 90 minutes in a room that was 105 degrees with 40% humidity, but I found the sweat to be very cleansing.
My husband and I would also take walks, usually several times per week. We both work from home and around mid-morning, we would go for a walk around the neighborhood. There was a nearby park, and we could take a lap around the perimeter and make it back to the house in about 30 minutes.
Pandemic life changed all of that.
In the very early days — when information was unclear about how the virus spread — I would pace our backyard. Then I quickly became overwhelmed with my kids being home full time and that fell by the wayside. Hot yoga was closed at first and then when it reopened I wasn’t comfortable being in a room next to other people with so much heavy breathing. Walks were not an option with three kids home all day and trying to juggle work.
Just within the past month, I’ve started subscribing to obé fitness, which offers both live and on-demand classes. I can cast from the app to my tv to watch on a big screen. I have found that I’ve liked the accountability of a “live” class: it prevents my brain from thinking I could put it off until later.
Earlier this week, I did a HIIT dance class, and the next day my knee hurt. If that isn’t motivation to do more, I don’t know what is. When I started doing hot yoga years ago, I had sore knees, but the more I went to class, I eventually eased out the kinks of my out-of-shape body.
And today — for the first time in 391 days — all three kids will be out of the house at the same time. The three-year-old started part-day preschool, and the older two kids have hybrid learning for half a day. My husband and I plan to take a walk later this morning.
As with so many other things, it feels like we are reaching the end of the pandemic tunnel. Along with the movement toward whatever the new normal will look like in a vaccinated world, I’ll be able to find ways to incorporate movement into my days again.