A few days I discovered/invented an exercise philosophy that's new to me and that I think will work well for the rest of my life (haven't done any research to see if anyone else lives by this but I've never met/seen anyone so...).
The basic premise is this. You don't need to go to a special lace to exercise, nor do you need to wear special clothes or get special equipment. All you need is yourself and whatever everyday objects you have lying around.
I call this 'Life Exercise' because you do exercise at the same time as living your every day life. I don't know about you, but I hate the thought of having to go to the gym. Having to disrupt my normal life to drag myself to a public space and force myself to exercise. I hate how regimented it is. So instead, whenever I am waiting for something (a bus, the computer to load, standing in a queue), then I can do exercise.
Take yesterday. I was doing some walking around Jinan and I got onto a long stretch of road. It was very long and I new I was going to walk it. But instead of just walking I took my heavy backpack in my arms and started lifting it above my head twenty times. Then I started lifting it on just my right side, then my left side. This way I gave my arms a good workout, as well as my core muscles and my legs were working from the walking. Life exercise would also include using the stairs every time, instead of using the elevator.
You see here in China people stare at me wherever I go and whatever I do. Today wen I walked into the main gym area I thought I had walked into a photograph. I felt like everyone had stopped what they were doing to 'stare at the foreigner'. It really pisses me off most of the time because I hate public attention but on my walk home I got to thinking that I do get good things with looking like a foreigner, like certain privileges etc. plus the bonus of being able to play dumb whenever I don't like a situation I'm in. So I need to take the good with the bad, you can't have it all.
Back to my exercise philosophy. Yes, so you can do it anywhere. Even sitting on the bus, I started lifting my heels off the ground repeatedly, or tensing my abs. What this new philosophy does, is allow exercise to work in harmony with your life, instead of against it. I think the Chinese elders really inspired me with the regular exercise they do in parks and in streets.
I used to think that I had to put my body through hell to 'do exercise', this is a school of thought that was impregnated into me from my time as a competitive swimmer. But it doesn't have to be. It can be gentle and still give results. I'm going to look for a tai chi group to join. I heard there are lots of groups that meet up in parks at 6am to do it.
Now to the question of why exercise at all? It is my strong belief that when people exercise to lose weight, so that they can lease those around them/society/their granny Bingbing, then they are in a very destructive mindset. They see their body as an adversary to them, an enemy, and they do not have a good relationship with their body. That's why fr a few days I contemplated no exercise whatsoever because I wanted to free myself from the societal voice stomping round in my head that trumpeted the merits of having a beautiful, slender body. I thought I would just eat my way out of that mindset, and stop doing any form of exercise all together.
But then luckily I came to my senses, before I had become obese. Instead I started looking at my body as a friend. A friend that I have to look after so that it will look after me. If I don't exercise it, give it good food, then eventually it will fall into disrepair. The muscles that were not used, would grow weaker and weaker - if you don't use it you lose it, as the old adage goes. In time my body would grow weaker, I would be easy prey for disease and with disease comes a lot of mental and physical pain. I don't want to help put myself in pain. That kind of pain is not good. It leaves you feeling helpless and disables you from your normal life. And that's why Life Exercise is the way to go for me.
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Still on the theme of exercise, I went to the gym today. I decided against spinning this time so that I could spare myself the trauma of being blinded/deafened and releasing a torrent of hate directed at the spinning coach, the gym and the entire world in general, and instead opted for a class called Aero-BD on the timetable. Didn't know what BD was, didn't think it would matter.
A few minutes before the class was due to start, no one was in the aerobics hall. I went into the changing rooms and felt like I'd been transported to some old Sultan's harem. Inside was a half-naked woman, adjusting her bra-top and applying eyeliner. Then from behind her came two, three similarly dressed, half-naked women. Then it clicked. BD was Belly Dancing. My head automatically began rooting for excuses, ways to get out of this predicament I found myself in, but it was too late. One of the girls started talking to me and I was locked in.
It was strange doing belly dancing in China. We truly have become a global village. Two Arabic songs came on - one was Nancy 3gram - and I thought I would start welling up with tears. It was the first time I'd been exposed to a bit of Arab culture since leaving Egypt in August and I felt the pangs of homesickness.
I quite enjoyed the dancing and the thrusting, but I couldn't help thinking how this dance was/is a way of seducing men and demeaning women to objects in the process. I was quite impressed that no men were hovering by the glass doors of the hall, looking in at the half naked, beautiful belly dancing teacher and the other girls in the front row, all clad in bra-tops and tight skirts. It was a credit to the men of China. If it was Egypt (and depending on where exactly) you would have men drooling on the glass doors.
I let my feminist objections slide and just enjoyed the music and the shaking and waving. It really was fun. I made a new friend as well, who said she'd introduce me to a tai chi class at her university.
After the belly dancing class I did a Body Combat class. The belly dancing teacher made a quick change and became one of the Body Combat teachers, alongside a very muscular man. This class got me sweating and straining my muscles which I liked.
The basic premise is this. You don't need to go to a special lace to exercise, nor do you need to wear special clothes or get special equipment. All you need is yourself and whatever everyday objects you have lying around.
I call this 'Life Exercise' because you do exercise at the same time as living your every day life. I don't know about you, but I hate the thought of having to go to the gym. Having to disrupt my normal life to drag myself to a public space and force myself to exercise. I hate how regimented it is. So instead, whenever I am waiting for something (a bus, the computer to load, standing in a queue), then I can do exercise.
Take yesterday. I was doing some walking around Jinan and I got onto a long stretch of road. It was very long and I new I was going to walk it. But instead of just walking I took my heavy backpack in my arms and started lifting it above my head twenty times. Then I started lifting it on just my right side, then my left side. This way I gave my arms a good workout, as well as my core muscles and my legs were working from the walking. Life exercise would also include using the stairs every time, instead of using the elevator.
You see here in China people stare at me wherever I go and whatever I do. Today wen I walked into the main gym area I thought I had walked into a photograph. I felt like everyone had stopped what they were doing to 'stare at the foreigner'. It really pisses me off most of the time because I hate public attention but on my walk home I got to thinking that I do get good things with looking like a foreigner, like certain privileges etc. plus the bonus of being able to play dumb whenever I don't like a situation I'm in. So I need to take the good with the bad, you can't have it all.
Back to my exercise philosophy. Yes, so you can do it anywhere. Even sitting on the bus, I started lifting my heels off the ground repeatedly, or tensing my abs. What this new philosophy does, is allow exercise to work in harmony with your life, instead of against it. I think the Chinese elders really inspired me with the regular exercise they do in parks and in streets.
I used to think that I had to put my body through hell to 'do exercise', this is a school of thought that was impregnated into me from my time as a competitive swimmer. But it doesn't have to be. It can be gentle and still give results. I'm going to look for a tai chi group to join. I heard there are lots of groups that meet up in parks at 6am to do it.
Now to the question of why exercise at all? It is my strong belief that when people exercise to lose weight, so that they can lease those around them/society/their granny Bingbing, then they are in a very destructive mindset. They see their body as an adversary to them, an enemy, and they do not have a good relationship with their body. That's why fr a few days I contemplated no exercise whatsoever because I wanted to free myself from the societal voice stomping round in my head that trumpeted the merits of having a beautiful, slender body. I thought I would just eat my way out of that mindset, and stop doing any form of exercise all together.
But then luckily I came to my senses, before I had become obese. Instead I started looking at my body as a friend. A friend that I have to look after so that it will look after me. If I don't exercise it, give it good food, then eventually it will fall into disrepair. The muscles that were not used, would grow weaker and weaker - if you don't use it you lose it, as the old adage goes. In time my body would grow weaker, I would be easy prey for disease and with disease comes a lot of mental and physical pain. I don't want to help put myself in pain. That kind of pain is not good. It leaves you feeling helpless and disables you from your normal life. And that's why Life Exercise is the way to go for me.
************************************************************************************
Still on the theme of exercise, I went to the gym today. I decided against spinning this time so that I could spare myself the trauma of being blinded/deafened and releasing a torrent of hate directed at the spinning coach, the gym and the entire world in general, and instead opted for a class called Aero-BD on the timetable. Didn't know what BD was, didn't think it would matter.
A few minutes before the class was due to start, no one was in the aerobics hall. I went into the changing rooms and felt like I'd been transported to some old Sultan's harem. Inside was a half-naked woman, adjusting her bra-top and applying eyeliner. Then from behind her came two, three similarly dressed, half-naked women. Then it clicked. BD was Belly Dancing. My head automatically began rooting for excuses, ways to get out of this predicament I found myself in, but it was too late. One of the girls started talking to me and I was locked in.
It was strange doing belly dancing in China. We truly have become a global village. Two Arabic songs came on - one was Nancy 3gram - and I thought I would start welling up with tears. It was the first time I'd been exposed to a bit of Arab culture since leaving Egypt in August and I felt the pangs of homesickness.
I quite enjoyed the dancing and the thrusting, but I couldn't help thinking how this dance was/is a way of seducing men and demeaning women to objects in the process. I was quite impressed that no men were hovering by the glass doors of the hall, looking in at the half naked, beautiful belly dancing teacher and the other girls in the front row, all clad in bra-tops and tight skirts. It was a credit to the men of China. If it was Egypt (and depending on where exactly) you would have men drooling on the glass doors.
I let my feminist objections slide and just enjoyed the music and the shaking and waving. It really was fun. I made a new friend as well, who said she'd introduce me to a tai chi class at her university.
After the belly dancing class I did a Body Combat class. The belly dancing teacher made a quick change and became one of the Body Combat teachers, alongside a very muscular man. This class got me sweating and straining my muscles which I liked.
intresting. why dont you make video blogs, vlogs as well as writen?
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