strange moves

Earlier this week I went for my first session of Tai Chi. We do these classes where I work, I get a free ticket and I’ve been hearing about the potential benefits for people with Ms pretty much since I was diagnosed.

So it seemed like a bit of a no-brainer.

I did a course of Pilates a couple of years back – actually it must have been longer as I would probably have written about it on here – and I’ve dipped a toe into the waters of Yoga intermittently over the years.

Also – New Years and all that.

I had a quiet word with the instructor before we began and she said she’d heard that Tai Chi can be beneficial for people with MS (although she’d never knowingly taught anyone with MS before).

Despite being mad as a box of frogs she was lovely and told me to leave any phrases / poses I was uncomfortable with (I explained that my balance is a major issue).

I really enjoyed it – the focus on breathing and posture should be really helpful for me in my quest to avoid my body completely seizing up. It’s early days but I’m going to try my best to stick with it (although I didn’t appreciate her comment that when the weather improves she’d be taking the class outdoors – it’s a little out of my comfort zone as it is, with classes in a closed studio with little natural daylight!).

After the class the tutor made a point of telling me that I’d done well and asked if I’d be going back – I definitely think I will. BTW I didn’t tell the tutor that I worked there until after the class had finished.

A colleague of mine who’d done the class previously warned me that I’d ache in the morning – but I’m pleased to report that I actually seem to be less stiff in the morning than I am usually. I’m quite prepared to concede that this might be Newbie’s Euphoria or something but we’ll have to see over the coming weeks.

The whole form is insanely long and when I tried to demonstrate the brief phrases we’d attempted in class at home, I was delighted to find that I couldn’t remember anything beyond The Opening. Which is nice.

I was really nervous before I went in, so – as is the way these days – I tweeted the fact, which led to the following discussion:

Frank is probably best described as a tightly-coiled spring in person, so this was a genuine surprise to me. He's also the genius behind Frankie Machine, the band I played guitar and keyboards with at Indietracks in 2011.