Body talk: Balancing habit with novelty

Body talk:  

I don’t like exercise that is noisy.  Group instructors who bark orders as if I’m Special Forces or cheerful, chirpy leaders who encourage me to be peppy make me skeptic.

            I resist.

While others may zumba or jazzercise, I prefer yoga and silence, or at most new agey yoga music.

            It’s who I am—quiet, reserved and not given to social interaction when moving.

I’ve tried water aerobics, but the music is too loud, too upbeat – and all those bobbing  heads-- some chattering away as if  it’s a coffee klatch  --  make me feel anti-social  --- and old.

My swimming is meditative – I stroke long laps the way I have since I was 10. My gray hair’s tucked under a cap – and my ears are covered in noise- reducing water.  

No one, it seems, is watching me.

I also like long walks – and on them, I enjoy being with a friend – and talking as I walk – the exception to the no social interaction while moving need.

Convinced I may not be getting the benefits of interval training, I’ve tried treadmills and bikes, stairsteppers and ellipticals.

            They bore me. 

Thinking I might need more weight-bearing exercise to keep my bones strong, I’ve worked with a trainer and planned a weight sequence.

             I quit.

             I've tried barre classes and pilates. 

             Both feel like  ---  exercise.

Conclusions:

• At 65, I’m not likely to change. I know what I like, know what I don’t and should keep doing those things that benefit me, give me pleasure and are so familiar they feel almost effortless once I've begun: swimming, yoga, walking.
• At 65, I should try new things, get out of lifetime ruts, and comfort zones. Otherwise, I'm going to be  a cranky old woman.

Prognosis: I will likely continue to do both – the same old things and occasional experiments in new or other exercise that reinforce my beliefs in doing the same old things.   But temporarily, I'll keep trying to mix it up. Next up: Nia, maybe?