01/14/2026
I was not an athlete growing up. I didn't fall in love with fitness until I was an adult; and even that came as a byproduct of making myself show up. There were years, in the beginning, when I hated exercise. I did a lot of mindset work to get over my own resistance (no pun intended) to working out.
But I wanted the results enough to stick with it. I fell in love with it along the way, and have learned so much about myself, plus worked through so much garbage, by sweating it out on the mat, in a class, or at the gym.
My sister and I spent a weekend in Alexandria, Va in October and I was in awe of all the boutique fitness studios in the downtown area. Every style of workout you could imagine. Orange Theory, Pilates, Spin, Yoga. I was so jealous!!!
I couldn't imagine living in an area where I had so many choices about how to move! I may suffer from a wee bit of ADD, or I just love to move in different ways and be challenged out of my comfort zone, but I am so envious of a place like that where the options are endless!
Small town central PA is not Alexandria, but I appreciate that people are trying. I've seen places come and go, and it can be a hard area to get a successful space up and keep it running. This is my 3rd try at this. I'm older, hopefully a little wiser this time, and most importantly of all~ I am enjoying it!! Teaching classes is a labor of love for sure. You've got to be passionate to keep showing up through the ups and downs. Like when the weather finally breaks and everyone wants to be outside, not inside at a class. There are definitely ebbs and flows to class attendance.
And it can be hard, when you teach fitness yourself, to get to any other classes, but I recently decided I needed to get out and visit some of my friends classes. What I teach is higher intensity (Barre & Strength Training), so I know I need something slower and gentler to try to balance that out.
Last Friday night, I attended my first Yoga Nidra class with Sierra at Contrast Communications. Sierra is employed there and they let her use the space (and it's beautiful) in the evenings. These classes are held on Friday evenings at 6p.m. I wasn't really sure what to expect, and I'm not super great at relaxing. I'm definitely NOT that girl that could lay in savasana (or final relaxation at the end of class) all day. My mind is too squirrely, and I'm not a great sleeper, so there's no way I could ever fall asleep on my mat, although I have certainly heard people snoring in the quiet of savasana in various classes and I'm always amazed.
Hence, I knew this class would challenge me
b/c this is not a movement class. Yoga nidra is actually a guided meditation/quiet your mind type of practice. My sleep has been worse than usual, if that's possible, so I thought it would be a great time to try it out, and it was!
And I was thankful that I was able to really RELAX all tucked in on my mat on that cold Friday night. Pillows and blankets were provided, but I came armed with my own. I was not messing around and ready to do this!!! Sierra has a super calming presence and voice that guided the class, and I felt myself drift off....and then an arm flail a time or two as I slipped into sleep and then jolted myself awake. π³π
When we brought our awareness back to the room, I was shocked to find out 45 minutes had passed as I had laid there, breathing. The fact that it was a guided meditation really helped keep my brain occupied, rather than running all over the place like can be the case when you try to quiet your mind with no guidance.
I was back home again by 7:30pm and in bed by 9. I had a better night's sleep that night, and noticed that even in times of wakefulness, I was calm. Thoughts weren't racing, and I was better able to relax. I've been trying various things to help my mind shut down before bed over the past few weeks such as getting off my phone a couple of hours before bed and switching to reading, not watching True Crime immediately before falling asleep, laying in legs up the wall for 10 minutes before getting into bed, etc....
But sometimes we need a little extra help with body/mind/soul to learn how to relax, and even to go a step beyond, set aside pointed time for ourselves that maybe we take more seriously b/c we signed up, left our houses, and paid for. I know it works that way with classes. People are much more apt to get a good workout that challenges them when they come into a class for a lot of reasons. There's the financial aspect, but also the social aspect that you're more motivated and tend to work harder with a group of other people to hold you accountable and push you in times where you would've given up if you were at home alone trying to do a workout.
I'm so thankful I tried out this class, and I know I'll be back again soon as more focused relaxation is one of my intentions for 2026. I highly recommend checking this class out if you need time to chill out for yourself. It's conveniently located right in downtown Mifflinburg and is held on Friday evenings at 6pm. I'll try and find website or sign-up info and place it in the comments for easy reference.π₯°π₯±
**Photo is of my space in downtown Mifflinburg, all set up for Strength Training this morning. πββοΈπββοΈπββοΈ
