One of the most beautiful aspects of leading a fitness-oriented life is noticing how your body can change and become more capable over time. My body has amazed me over and over throughout the past few years, and today was no exception.
I started my morning with a long slow round of the T'ai Chi solo form. The style I practice can take several months to learn and a lifetime to master. After six years of practice, I just now am starting to regularly make it through the form without a choregraphical error, but my mind still wanders and my balance still falters. I have so far to go on that journey.
Afterwards, I took the dog on a six mile jog to a nearby park. Two and a half years ago, six miles was the longest distance I could run, let alone with a dog in tow. A month ago I had the joy of setting a personal record on my 10K time (6.2 miles), taking nearly two minutes off my prior PR. That morning I had tears in my eyes as I sprinted through the finishing chute, knowing my body had bested itself. The feeling was overwhelming: I am now better at something than I was a year ago.
My workout ended with a yoga class at the local big-box gym. A year and a half ago, yoga surprised me with its difficulty. I used to look down on it, that it was an "easy" workout for people who did not want to put in the time and sweat that fitness requires. Was I ever wrong. It's not unusual for me to sweat during yoga, nor is it unusual for my legs to be shakey in some of the poses or triceps on fire after a handful of chatrangas (a slow lowering motion from a push-up position, either to the floor or a hover at elbow height).
As I was standing in tree pose, I realized my ankle wasn't swerving back and forth like a branches on a windy day. My core was tight, my breath deep yet easy. Something clicked for the first time. My body again amazed me: I am better at something than I was a week ago.
No matter what your activity of choice is, I hope you have had the pleasure of feeling surprised by your body. Our bodies are so capable and so amazing, that with correct and consistent training every one can and will improve. We all respond at different rates depending on our current fitness levels, activity of choice, genetics, and consistency; but I promise any reader wishing to find out how amazing her or his body can be that you will feel it. And when you do, feeling is amongst the most incredible our internal chemistries are able to do.
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