Let’s start with the fact that I love my comfort zone. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have one and I’m certainly not going to tell you that you should ditch it. Your comfort zone is your own little bubble of comfort and safety. It’s like your own private room with the fluffiest pillows just for you. I personally love my comfort zone and am quite happy there, but every now and then (honestly not that often) I get an urge to try something different that isn’t my usual type of thing. Sometimes, I’ve ignored it because I’m just too comfortable, and the ‘afraid of change’ side of me convinces me to stick to my usual routine.
Well, this time I didn’t listen to that little voice and decided to go for a change. For the last few years I’ve been wanting to try some type of martial arts sport but just never did anything about it. Initially, I thought I wouldn’t be the right type of person for it (even just hearing that out loud makes me laugh at myself, because it now sounds so ridiculous) because I thought I wasn’t fit enough or maybe I was too old to start. As time went by, I thought about it more and more. For the last year, I’ve been consistently going to the gym twice a week to weight train with a personal trainer and although I haven’t got to my ideal shape and size as yet, I’m definitely much stronger than I was before.
The gym that I go to is a pretty big space with various sections for different types of sports and there just so happens to be a room for martial arts. Every time I was at the gym I would place my mat strategically close by so I could watch as I stretched before my session started. Out of all of the types of Martial Arts training I saw, I was drawn to Muay Thai as it makes use of all of your body as opposed to boxing which mainly uses the upper body.
It was a step-by-step process of stepping out of my comfort zone. Every time I felt like stepping back into my zone, I told myself ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’. When it came to enquiring with a trainer, I messaged a few that I knew trained at my gym to get prices and ask some basic questions. Trust me when I tell you, this wasn’t a quick process. There was quite a bit of time between each step! You should know that I really did take my time with this and I think that’s what helped when it came to actually taking the plunge and that’s my point here. You don’t need to rush things, you can take your time and do it at your own comfortable pace, because if you really want change then it will come.
Eventually, I decided to go up to one of the people being trained while she was packing her things and asked her what it was like. She made me feel so much more comfortable with it and I booked myself in for a one-to-one trial session with her coach. I loved it so much and couldn’t believe it took me so long to start! I immediately booked 10 more sessions spreading them out at once a week and now I look forward to every single session!
I’m so awkward and it holds me back from discovering more at times. I AM SO HAPPY you went for it, because it inspires me to push past the discomfort and try something new. Go Nina!
I do Kung Fu. It's a total body workout and I love it so totally get where you are coming from. Muay thai looks fun too 😊