Nancy’s barre debut

That is barre NOT bar. For those of you who aren’t as obsessed, er interested in barre, you may not know what it is. Barre is a combination of ballet, yoga, pilates and stretching. It is named after the ballet barre that is used in most exercises.

So I went to my first live barre class this week. What a trip! I thought you all would enjoy the story of my barre debut.

I like to think of myself as a graceful ballerina while doing these exercises.

The reality is more like Lucy doing ballet.

1. Getting dressed.

I realized that I can’t wear my old gym shorts and t-shirt to barre class. The dress code is more Lululemon. Being a cheap, er frugal person, I will not spend $100.00 for yoga pants and $80.00 for a top.

Luckily I had some running tight thingies that sort of look like yoga tights. I put them on, looked at myself in the mirror and almost went and canceled my class! Ouch, I’m not used to such tight clothes. I found a longish top so that made it better.

2. Arriving at the studio.

I felt like the new kid in school. Except I think I am the oldest one in the room. I’m not much for going up to complete strangers and talking to them.

The instructor was super nice though. She came up and greeted me and I told her that this was my first live class. So she said, well you can just come up here in the front right next to me, so I can keep an eye on you. Well, okay, but that means that everyone in the class can see me. I would much rather be hidden in the back corner.

3. The class.

Fun! The energy of a live class can’t compare to doing a DVD, which is what I am used to doing.

You know what? I held my own in the class. I could do those yoga poses with great form while most of the others were flailing around.

We used teeny tiny 1 pound weights for the upper body section. About halfway through this section, many people were going to no weights. But not yours truly! I made it to the end.

The abdominal section. Oh no, the dreaded plank! But once again I nailed it! Many of the others were doing planks on their knees or fore arms, but I was holding a straight arm plank until the end. Of course, my muscles were screaming, but I felt great!

So my lessons learned from all of this are:

1. Get outside of your comfort zone!

2. Be creative.

3. Laugh at yourself.

 

Image credits:

Graceful ballerina Soulkissed Blog.
Lululemon Sagar Singh’s Blog.
Plank Pop Sugar.