Finding My Soul

If you had told me a few months ago that I would be sitting down to blog about my new workout obsession for all the world to read, I would have told you in no uncertain terms that you were a goddamn lunatic.

But here we are.

And I am addicted to SoulCycle! 

Do you know what SoulCycle is? It's indoor cycling/spinning. But it's a little more than that - it's like, an exercise cult. An inspirational exercise cult :) It's spinning + inspirational mantras + loud-ass dance music. As the company themselves say, "It's a dance party on a bike!"

This all all started when I took Soul101, their intro class, in February. I had taken one SouCycle class before, last year, with Greene - halfway through that one, I remember turning to her and saying "THIS IS THE HARDEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE AND I AM DYING OMG." But I kept hearing people rave about it, and wanted to give it another try. Enter Soul101. Once a week for three consecutive weeks, their best instructors and staff literally walked us through everything to make us feel comfortable - the choreography on the bike, the different dance moves, how to set up our bikes properly, how to ride safely.... and it just clicked. After Soul101, I got hooked! I wasn't intimidated anymore. 

Don't get me wrong, it is still RIDICULOUSLY hard. But as with anything, I get better the more I go. I'm a creature of habit - once I get hooked on something, I keep coming back because I feel comfortable with it. Once I got into the swing of things with Soul, it was easy for me to commit to - and commit I did, making a promise to myself to do a mimimum of two classes a week! (Can you tell I've FULLY drank the kool-aid?!)

I have always liked being part of a community, and the SoulCycle community has fully embraced me - whenever I walk through the doors, I'm greeted by name with a smile by the girls at the front desk. When I wait in the locker rooms for the studio to open up, I chat with all the regulars I now recognize. I even have a "Soul Buddy" who I met at Soul101, and now we take classes together and ride next to each other each time - it's nice to have a friend sweating it out next to you :) 

I've also found an instructor I am OBSESSED with - I can't get enough of her classes! She plays amazing music and is tough and curses and encourages us and makes it an awesome 45 minutes. I can't tell you how great it feels when I hear her say "Great job Jordan!" or "Yeah girl!" when I am riding. It's a crazy good high. 

In class, I always take the same bike - all the way on the side, second row, closest to the door. I started taking that bike when I first started riding, in case I fall off the bike I can get up and run right out the door and never come back :) Now that I'm getting better and riding stronger, there's another reason for choosing that bike... 

Tthe wall next to me is covered with inspiration mantras and sayings, and when my legs are so tired I can barely keep pedaling and when I literally have to wipe the sweat off my forehead with both hands as it pours into my ears, I find myself looking at it and reading the part that stands out to me the most:

START YOUR JOURNEY. CHANGE YOUR BODY. FIND YOUR SOUL.

And I keep riding.