Tae Boy that hurts...

I got dragged off to a Tae Bo class by a friend this week. Man, it's a lot tougher than it looks on youtube... My very first day in class, I worked hard and tried to keep up with the instructor. I sweated more than I have sweated this entire summer (how unladylike of me!) and about 15min into class I felt like I was going to throw up. Apparently this is a sign that I am doing it right. A bit puzzling, since throwing up is usually not desirable... oh well!

The next day, my back and legs are so tired. Not sore, just exhausted. I felt like they were saying 'go on without us!'. Even sitting at my desk was a mission and a half. The day after that was archery. One of my arrows rebounded off the butt and I had to bend to pick it up - owww! Man, my thighs were killing me! And that night it was back to the torturer, I mean Tae Bo class.

But, wonder above wonders, class number 2 was a little bit easier. I didn't feel like throwing up and even though I still sweated like a slave (thanks to a friend of ours for this gem), I could do a lot of the class without taking a break or passing out. Amazing! I actually felt invigorated afterwards. I left class feeling like I had accomplished something.

Sure I can't do all the moves yet, but I do try my best. There is a second instructor that comes around to help you with moves that are too advanced. I can say one thing for sure - this is not like some internet get-fit-quick scam. When you are in that class, you know without a doubt that ever muscle in your body is getting the fat kicked out of them! It is hard work, but I always suspected that there are no easy routes to a healthy, slim body. You've got to just suck it up and submit to the torture! Which turned out to be kind of fun reallly :).

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions per se, but here's to a size 36 bod by December 2012. Man now I hope the world doesn't really end on the 21st...

My Body is a Cage

One of my new favourite songs - I could listen to it over and over and I have - is "My Body is a Cage" by Arcade Fire. Why do I like it? Well, I do like the genre, but the major thing is the words. Words are very important to me - I don't just sing along to a song. I have to know what's being said and I have to agree. The chorus of this song:

My body is a cage that keeps me
From dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key

I sometimes catch myself walking through the house just singing those lines, over and over. It makes me think of our walk with God. The more I get to know Jesus, the more I realise that our whole life here is like a dance, a beautiful, romantic dance with the creator of the universe. The dance is where we learn to trust our 'partner', let Him lead, and finally just to let go and enjoy life. He takes us on sudden turns, exhilirating whirls and through steps we didn't think we could handle. But we make it. And it is beautiful. But sometimes it feels like the music is just turned down too low, or we seem to get interrupted too often. There's something in the way. Usually the world; either things we love above Him or people mocking our passion...

I'm living in an age
That laughs
When I'm dancing
With the one I love
But my mind holds the key

Well... didn't Paul say we see now as through a glass darkly, but then we will see clearly? That's how I feel then about this romance, this dance that is Christianity. Life, this human body, keeps me from dancing with Him the way I want to, from experiencing Him the way I want to.

Sometimes I cry thinking about it. But it is a bittersweet ache. This body is a cage that keeps me from dancing with the One I love, the One who loves me... We never get to do the whole dance here. Just a few steps, now and then. Just enough to make me long for more. But one day, one day the dance will be danced in all its splendour.

For now, I see the dance in my mind's eye. And I am so happy when I'm dancing with Him. But I weep when the dance is cut short. My body is a cage, set my spirit free, set my spirit free...

20 Yards!

So last year I started going for archery lessons. It's something I've wanted to do most of my life - I could just never find a class close to home. I finally found a place and it feels like... destiny! Haha, very dramatic I know, but sometimes it's like you just know that you were made to do something. I cannot describe the feeling... well, I can try :)

It's somewhere between sheer joy and empowerment. Holding that bow up makes you feel powerful and capable. It is such a unique feeling, that there really is nothing like it in the world. You have to pick up a bow once in your life and just experience the weight and the feel of it in your hands. And then when you draw it out - wow, pure magic. Like the world holds its breath at that whisper-soft sound of the string drawing tight. Of course the best is yet to come. You hold for 3 seconds, carefully taking aim and then release. Pure joy as you feel the power of the string move that arrow and you hear a perfect thud! on the target. Ah, there is nothing like it :)

Wow, I distracted myself. My point was that yesterday class started up again for 2012. I got to shoot 20 yards for the first time. Quite proud of myself - I shot it without a sight and I'm doing pretty ok. Now I am just waiting for the lovely Hoyt bow we ordered in Nov 2011 to actually get here. Then I shall kick ass and take names :P

Is this thing on?

I've forgotten that I even had this blog... but a good friend of mine is such an avid blogger that I recently got reminded of it. It seems cathartic and somewhat liberating to blog, from what I can tell. So hopefully this will be the first post of many.