
One of the things I tried while trying to escape myself was spin class.
Last winter, my yoga studio shut down once again because of covid. I didn’t know what to do with myself. This time, I was working, so I had less time to develop a home practice. This time, I was already struggling with my mental health, and yoga had been what was keeping me afloat.
For awhile I just floundered. Then my sisters urged me to try spin.
After the initial shock to my muscles, I found I liked it. It helped give me a focus, helped get me out of my head.
It wasn’t healing like yoga, though, so when a yoga teacher I knew starting offering classes, I was quick to sign up. Then my studio eventually reopened, so I started going there, too.
For several months, I attended classes at both yoga studios and spin every week. I thought I had it all figured out: just do it all and it would all help.
I was wrong.
Trying to get out of my head was making my head spin.
First I dropped spin. Sure, it had made me feel strong and confident, but it didn’t feel like me. I tried continuing with both yoga studios, out of loyalty and a feeling of obligation I’d created in my head. But when the new one stopped offering classes at convenient times, I let that go too.
Attending classes all over the place meant my attention was all over the place, too. With the return to a single studio, I was able to focus on a single path. I rediscovered the healing of yoga, and reconnected to my yoga community. One place, one headspace was all I needed.
I hope you, too, have a practice that feels like love, and a place to go that feels like home.