The only part of my Sunday evening that didn’t make me feel like a complete sloth was the end. We did a hanging “beat” from the trapeze. Dangling from my knees, arms straight, it only required me to swing back, arch and swing forward, bending at the waist as high as i could. It was the only thing that felt like what it looked like. It reminded me of swinging from the monkey bars in grade school…wind in my braids and my giggling to myself.
In my head, the whole evening was going to be like that. I was going to take to the air and recall simpler times. And while the purpose of taking classes from kinetic arts center was to get into some semblance of shape, i somehow forgot to factor in the workout component into my little fantasy.
So there i was, limply hanging from a trapeze no more than five feet of the ground, my palms aching from the friction, my shoulders hurting from the strain, my forearms shaking from exhaustion.
When i walked into the gym (what else can i call it?) i was caught up in the incredible view of people doing things with their bodies that i have only seen on television. A woman was balanced on the head of a man (who would later lie flat on his back and hold her spread eagled in his palm, and then rise –her still in his palm- to a sort of tripod), a woman spinning in a ring and dangling in various positions, and another…beautiful body art trailing her back and arms…wrapping herself in red ribbon pooling on the floor from the ceiling, her body arced and limbs long. I momentarily forgot, despite the receptionist’s warning, that they have been working at it for years. They have been spinning and climbing and balancing and sweating for years.
i was a newbie.
I was winded at warm-up. Breath heavy, i was reminded that i need to get a new inhaler. But i persevered and was introduced to the pike and straddle. Introduced to the “easy” way to climb the rope.
It all takes core muscle. It all takes the body overcoming physics (a body at rest…) and it takes more than a living social coupon that fuels momentary excitement.
I have two more classes. And with callasuing hands and emerging soreness i’m sure i’ll feel in the morning, i am curious what those classes will feel like.
Tags: bay, crazystuff