Thoughts on Bike-riding, Bikram and Botox
By Fiona Cosgrove
By the way, botox is only in the title because it fits well and let’s face it, it’s a bit of an attention grabber. Why do you think that is? Botox is still a controversial treatment and not everyone wants to try it. But a lot of us are mildly interested in these alternative treatments. Strangely it does fit the theme of this article because I am writing about trying new things. I have been thinking of all the assumptions we make, how we define ourselves and how easy it is make a judgment with limited information. The end result – we make our world smaller than it is. Not to say that a wrinkle-free face would make your world any larger, but who knows?!
The real point of this article is to raise a few questions about how we see ourselves. If anyone asked you right now, “Who are you?” What would you answer? Your name might be a start but you would probably go on to list some roles that you play in life. For me, I am a mother, a partner, a coach, a speaker, a friend, a daughter, a writer, and high on the list would be a bike-rider. Because these are all things that I value about myself. I like to think of myself as an above average bike rider, and possibly even “good for a girl.” High self praise indeed. Self knowledge is a good thing. So what if someone asked you “Who are you not that you would like to be?” How would you respond to that? Trickier isn’t it? Possibly a bit uncomfortable too. After all, we are touching on unfulfilled dreams and goals.
So to play it safe, I might refer to something in the fitness realm that I have failed to accomplish and with a cough I would mutter, “I’m not very flexible”. Which three months ago would have been true. Absolutely. I have spent most of my exercising life moving in a straight line. Unless I was carrying a hockey stick in which case I would swerve when necessary, but only when necessary. If asked a few years ago, I would have also listed “marathon runner” in my response. In recent years this sport has had to be replaced with bike-riding. I am somewhat proud of my limited ability to move quickly – in a straight line but I am aware that it has caused some anatomical problems. I have tried to stretch - with a trainer, on my own, in a class - but to no avail. It just didn’t excite me. Until a few months ago when I was encouraged to try Bikram yoga.
Now for those who don’t know what Bikram yoga is, think of a room the temperature of a hot bread oven, many sweaty near naked bodies of all shapes, sizes and ages and an instructor asking us to get into positions that seem to go against what nature intended. And there I found myself. 90 minutes later, one word came out of my mouth when I left the class and it wasn’t, “Wonderful!” But being stubborn I was determined to do at least three classes before giving up.
Now those three classes took me into uncharted territory. First, I was useless. Strong legs help but don’t cut it when you’re as inflexible as I am. My dignity suffered, My competitive nature was flattened. To simply survive some of those classes required more discipline and tenacity than anything I had done in a while. I was sharing space with people who seemingly were born with a different anatomical make up to me and I doubted that I was of the same species. It was humbling.
Three classes ticked off and I was free. But no, I found myself there again. And again. And again! A few weeks later and my 10 pass needed renewing. I realized that I had done 4 of these 90 minute sessions in 8 days! I was shocked and wondered if there was some subtly addictive foul play at foot. But no, the reason I kept going back for more was that I felt so amazingly good afterwards. I slept well, I felt more relaxed than I had in years and lo and behold, getting on the back of the vespa no longer was an embarrassing struggle. I leapt on in one smooth movement. Inexplicably, I was becoming stronger on the bike.
So what did I learn from this experience? The fact that we box ourselves in with our own idea of who we are. We think of what we are rather than what we could be. As we get older, this gets worse. Our self esteem and value system are set around our accomplishments. We stop taking risks that aren’t logical or safe. We ignore possibilities and narrow our experiences.
The moral of the tale? Try something new. Do something you know you won’t excel at and do it for reasons that are bigger than your need to be the best. I hope that my new found interest will help me live longer, move more freely and provide something in my life that was missing around stillness, calm and freedom of movement. Perhaps it will, perhaps it won’t. Give yourself chance to explore, be someone new and you too may find the hidden yogi within! And if you do, chances are you won’t need botox.
Fiona Cosgrove has over 20 years experience in the wellness & fitness industry - owning and managing clubs in Australia and Asia, including No 1 Martin Place, NSW Fitness Centre of the Year, 2006. Fiona is the author of Coach Yourself to Wellness and she regularly runs corporate seminars and workshops in the areas of healthy lifestyle, motivation and wellness.