I love exercising. I love sweating and feeling like your taking your body to the limit, where you can’t give anymore. But, I’m sometimes not that consistent. I push myself too hard, exercising almost every day, until I take a break and, without me realizing it, that break becomes longer than I wish it had. I then have a real tough time getting back into the routine.
This July, I tried out an exercise class I fell in love with it immediately. It’s a mix of Pilates and a bit of high intensity cardio dance. The perfect combo to burn calories, tone muscle and have some fun. It’s called TEMPO, a Barralates class by Mafer Pacheco.
I tried it for a week in July and instantly fell in love with it. I immediately decided I was going to pay for the classes once they started in August. The class is Monday through Thursday from 7:00PM to 7:45PM. And, for those of us who love to dance and miss dance classes from when we were younger, there’s a bonus 30 minutes where Mafer teaches a choreography. For me, those additional 30 minutes are the prize after the Barralates section of the class. It lets me have fun and imagine I’m a professional ballet dancer. Although the choreography can sometimes be challenging, Mafer works to make the class a place where you may feel comfortable and at ease. There’s no stress about it, you just need to try your best and, if you miss a step, just glide along with the music.
During the month of September, I missed a whole week of class. It was my sister’s birthday and my mom and I were busy prepping for her surprise party. I was unable to make class for the whole week.
Monday finally came along and I started feeling those feelings which are way too familiar to me: doubt, laziness, excuses… Do I really want to go to class? I wish I could have more time to work on my blog… I miss being able to do other things after work…
I talked to my husband and my mom about how I was feeling. What should I do? Should I go back? Should I pay for less classes? Should I maybe only stay for the first part of class and skip the last 30 minutes? They were both witness to how much I had been loving the class. They knew it was good for me and I was enjoying it so much. I would constantly come to them with videos from class and show them the new dances. All this was way too familiar; I knew it was the beginning of me sabotaging something good.
I decided to be strong and ignore all my excuses and went to class. Boy was I glad I did, I enjoyed it so much! Mafer does not cease to amaze me with her choice in music and her ability to coordinate every exercise movement to the rhythm of it. It makes you forget you’re exercising. I thanked myself for having worked through that and giving myself a second chance. I knew it was the type of class I had been looking for, for such a long time and shouldn’t take it for granted.
I don’t want this to happen to me again. This class is too important to me, but I know I’m prone to taking too long breaks and then sometimes never coming back. This time I decided I would do something different. I realized my problem happened when I started to become obsessed with something and did it intensely without rest. So, I promised myself I would give myself permission to take a day off, if I felt like it, during the week and work on or do whatever I felt like doing: working on my blog, having dinner with friends, watching a TV series… anything.
To my surprise, just by having a free day planned out on my week I immediately felt less pressure and more joy in attending class. I know I’ll eventually have a free day to do what I want, so it makes me work harder on the days I do go.
I think this is similar to what some people might experience dieting. There’s people who work better when they have diets that allow them a “cheat meal”. They stick to their diet pretty well throughout the week because they know they´ll be able to indulge during their “cheat meal” and then get back to their diet.
Of course, this doesn’t work for everyone. Some people can’t waver at all, otherwise they’ll never get back to their routine. I thought I was one of those people, but now I realize this might not be the case. I think I need to know that I’m allowed to slack off a bit, otherwise I put too much pressure on myself and give up entirely.
I love my TEMPO class, I’m constantly telling my friends and family about it. I wish everyone had the opportunity to try it out sometime because I’m sure they would love it as much as I do. I feel like there should be replicas of Mafer around the world so that everyone could enjoy her class. But, because I love it so much, I know I need to take a break sometimes so that I don´t give it up entirely.
What’s your style?
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