Soothing sessions

It was nice to go back to the gym today. I say back, because I haven’t been for the last week, on sole account of my current employment situation; during the day, I sell shoes in a Birkenstock shop, and at night I either bartend or run food at Jackson’s restaurant in Mount Lawley. It’s proving just as hard as I thought it would be to stay on top of my workout schedule while juggling two jobs at once. Even when I had a day off this week, I didn’t want to spend it pumping weights; after a fourteen-hour marathon with back-to-back seven hour shifts, there’s nothing more soothing than eating ice cream on the couch. Or watching the whole Jurassic Park trilogy. I’m pretty okay with that, though. Christmas is approaching, and I’m more concerned with making it one of my best yet than forcibly rushing myself to the gym in any old spare second. 

The perk of this, of only seeing the gym’s inside a couple of times a week, is the gratitude and comfort I feel upon entering it. Rather than a place for muscular semi-torture and push, push, push, it becomes a space in which to relax and thoroughly enjoy the training. Which was part of my goal in the first place; making the gym such an integral part of my well-being that going to it would be a treat, rather than a chore. So when I do go back, I’m happy it’s on a Sunday, which is my absolute favourite day of the week to train - the gym is practically empty, and filled with nothing but relaxed, almost meditative punters. There’s no rush, nowhere I have to be or something I should be remembering to do. When the car practically breaks down on the way home, I’m not fussed. My muscles gratefully stretch as we wait for the ’91 model to cool down and make casual talk about both big things and small. 

I think it’s incredibly important to take a small break every once in a while. It feels kind of like this magical, favourite time of mine called advent. My whole body takes deep, soothing breaths and the mind follows shortly after. I put on some quiet Christmas music, light a couple of candles, and sit down on the couch to write my blog after an intermediate session at the gym, which wasn’t really a session so much as a well-deserved pause from the rush of day to day life.