Amy Renee

Today was my first Pilates training class. yippeee!

I enrolled at Carpe Diem, a local fitness center here in Eugene. They specialize in Pilates and personal training. They are different because they offer more one-on-one attention. Which is great for people like me who need reminding as well as a trainer to really show me what I’m doing. It makes me feel like I’m actually doing things right, and making progress.

Lately my back and shoulders have really been bothering me because of my work posture. This also changes my standing posture because I’m hunched over too much. My hip still has some issues from my car accident back in November. So, I’m hoping Pilates will help me out with all these issues, as well as just help me to strengthen and tone my body - just to be in better shape. I don’t want a “hard bod” - just a healthy one, so I don’t get crippled as I age and I can enjoy life to the fullest.

I have also decided to start running and/or walking again - whether that means getting outdoors (not a bad time of year to do so), or buying a treadmill for our spare room. I like the treadmill idea for the rainy days, but I don’t mind getting outside with my dogs when it’s nice. It is really pretty here when the weather is cooperating.

So, all that to say, today was my first training session. My trainer is Sandra, a petite woman in her young 30’s (I would guess). She is very sweet, attentive and calm. I like calm. And she seems to care about my progress, and what I want to do to improve my physical body.

Next month, I start the group classes - so I decided to start with a few private lessons so I can start to get the hang of things. I’m already glad that I did. I have no experience with Yoga or Pilates, so it’s all foreign to me… the whole breathing right thing is challenging. That and just learning how to flex properly while doing very suttle exercises is harder than I thought it would be. But I’ll get there