Why I Love My Gym

"Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states." -- Carol Welch

I started going to the gym about two months ago, and although I still am far from where I want to be, working out has become a precious part of my day.

For one thing, it's one of the few totally selfish things I get to do in the day. When I go to the gym, I'm nobody's teacher. I'm nobody's employee. I'm nobody's child. I am just me, and the only person I have to push or coerce is myself. I love it. I love the feeling of doing something good for myself. I don't pamper and primp nearly enough, probably, but this is something I can do for me.

I don't have to carry on conversations filled with witty reparte. I all I have to do is one more set of reps with the chest press, five more minutes on the elliptical. I can walk through surrounded by a mantle of music, and not have to bother or be bothered. After a day of being "on call", it's so nice to be anonymous.

The steam room and the whirlpool at the end are also a luxury. I can feel all the knots between my shoulder blades unravel as I sit in the steamy white-tiled space. The whirlpool is the closest thing I've found to a Japanese tub, and it's wonderful to sit in water up to my ears and not have to do anything but be there.

All to soon after I've dressed and am getting ready to leave, the world intrudes. School work come rushing back in, family obligations emerge, and I have to use the peace I've found in sweat and hot steamy air to get through it all.