Today I took the plunge into the new age Yoga/Pilates hyper popular new age excercise phenomenon. No more plunging. I have some gripes, not really about the class, except for it was boring as hell and I don't reccommend anyone else taking the Yoga/Pillates plunge unless they want to get no cardio workout anc contort their bodies into unatural positions.
In a nutshell, here's my personal situation. I started taking aerobics years ago when we lived in Las Vegas. Maranda (my sister) taught the class, and she was a really good teacher. She always made everyone feel welcome and there were days all of us in the class were laughing so hard we had to take a brief cardio pause moment. I liked her classes so much I decided to get myself certified and become an instructor. That and the fact that when you are teaching you tend to work out a tad harder than if you are in the class ... after all, you are the instructor and supposed to know and be all without breaking a sweat. = )
I taught for a few years, and I loved it. I loved my classes ... and my classes (not to sound self righteous here) loved me. At one point, I was teaching 6 days a week at three different gyms 8 different classes. Yes, I was a hard instructor (my classes were considered to be the "advanced" classes), yes I yelled, and yes I pushed them far past limits they ever dreamed possible ... but most importantly, I made sure they all felt welcome. There was a team mentality in all of my classes. Everyone pushed each other silently or in open. The term, "okay, just one more set" was met with groans of pain, but also an occasional, "come on, we can do this" from another class member. When a new person entered my class, I immediately introduced myself, and before class started I made sure everyone knew we had a new member of the class and introduced the names of each class member.
To this day, I have never (with the exception of Maranda) met an instructor that does this. I have never met an instructor that introduces themselves or the rest of the class. I have never met an instructor that greets you with a warm smile. I have never met an instructor that can see past her size 2 ass to understand the world does not revolve around her or her abilities to "teach aerobics". People come to classes to get in shape ... and in doing so better themselves, their health, and their overall look on life. They certainly don't come to classes to feel like the don't belong, have no support, and generally completely uncomfortable.
Teaching aerobics, yoga, pilates, spin, water aerobics, whatever is NOT rocket science. It takes a certification class. You do not have to be a size 2, you can be a size 8 or even a 14 and possibly a 16 or 18 and kick some butt as needed (which is a particular favorite of mine when the size 2's walk in and say to my size 10 behind, "uh, your the instructor" and sneer ... then you kick their butt so hard in class they are heaving and threatening to puke ... best days of my life .. sick I know).
I had a stroke when I was pregnant with my third child. I was still teaching aerobics 6 days a week. When I was 4 months pregnant, out of nowhere, I had a stroke. I was young, healthy, and it was bizarre to everyone. mostly my doctors. But at the end of the day, the baby and me were fine ... except for when I tried to start teaching again at 6 weeks postpartum. My brain communication center was affected by the stroke and I didn't realize how badly until I started to teach my first class. I would "call out" the move, "kick left" and my right foot would kick, "step right" and my left foot would step. My classes had been with me for a few years so it was just a funny haha that it had been a while and I needed to get back into teaching ... at first. But I realized after a few months this was a permanent situation that I wasn't sure would ever heal so I had to stop teaching.
I had a stroke again, one year later, interestingly enough right after taking an aerobics class. I felt wierd, and a few minutes later, I was on an ambulance. The stroke was minor, but the communication center in my brain shows permanent damage. I can talk, obviously, I can write, obviously, but teaching aerobics again ... I don't know if time will heal the communication scarring on my brain or not. So, I have feared the gym. I have feared taking classes. I got pregnant with #4 (a totally different story ... the holy crap baby for sure) and was told to do nothing the whole pregnancy because of the high risk nature of it all.
Today, for the first time, I went back to the gym. It's been three years, and admittedly the instructor doesn't know my history, the instructor doesn't know I'm certified, and the instructor doesn't know that me not being able to teach just about kills me. I hate taking other people's classes ... but what I hate more is feeling like I don't belong and am not welcome. So, instructors, get of your freaking size 2 high horses and get a personality that warrants people wanting to better themselves, wanting to take the "plunge" as it were to being healthy and strong and wanting to care about and get to know other people in the class. Trust me, you'll have bigger classes. Mine were FULL when I taught! And to my sister Maranda ... thank you for teaching me from the beginning that being an instructor meant caring about the people in your classes ... not just caring about your supposed high status of being the instructor.
If you're wondering ... I did join the gym ... Gold's Gym. I need a gym because convincing myself I will work out at home, certified or not, I KNOW isn't going to happen with 4 kids (I love gym daycare). It's a tad bit of a meat market ... but it has classes ... which I am now determined to make friends in despite the buttholio (my word) instructors who ignore everyone and make them uncomfortable. Honestly, again, a monkey could teach aerobics ... they just have to know how to count to 8 ... which I guess for some instructor's might be difficult ... but let's not go down that road. I'm on a roll right now.
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