The desire to focus on fitness and health was most likely always lurking somewhere within Sandra Charton’s “inner being,” but it took a big move and the chance to explore new opportunities at the neighborhood gym to light a spark and ignite that desire. Sandra can now say, with a truly straight face, that exercise classes are as much a part of her daily routine as eating breakfast, checking the news (and yes, drinking coffee).
It’s hard to think of a fitness class that Sandra Charton won’t try. She has, at various times, participated in: step classes, spin classes, circuit classes, Zumba classes, body toning classes, barre classes, Pilates classes and yoga classes (and there may be a few other random classes she’s forgotten!).
In the beginning, Sandra, assuming that most gyms were scary and intimidating places with humorless instructors, used that excuse as just one reason why she didn’t exercise. However, the gym where Sandra now exercises is welcoming, accepting and, most importantly, a 5-minute walk from where she lives. The instructors are patient and have great senses of humor. So – Sandra can’t use the “scary gym” excuse anymore, nor does she want to.
Sandra Charton’s favorite time to exercise is first thing in the morning – she wakes up and gets moving before she has the chance to think about it and reconsider. She considers the time she spends in exercise class “Me Time,” where holding a plank, cranking up the resistance on her spinning bike, and counting crunches (no, not all at the same time) next to fellow fitness aficionados allows her to forget about the stresses of daily life (and, honestly, everything else in her life).
Joining and, needless to say, using a gym has also inspired Sandra to seek out new adventures. It’s invigorating to be a beginner and try your hand at something entirely new! Full disclosure – as you will soon see, we are not talking skydiving or bungee jumping here. Rather, one of Sandra’s particular challenges has been, believe it or not, yoga, which was the very last class Sandra tried. She’s not sure if it was the slow pace, the inability to visualize herself getting into, much less holding a pose, or something else entirely that made it seem so daunting. Yoga has now become a favorite, thanks in large part to a wonderful, encouraging instructor.
Sandra Charton realizes that exercising offers many tangible health benefits. She has certainly noticed improvements in her physical and emotional well-being since incorporating exercise into her life. At the end of the day, however, Sandra chooses to exercise mainly because it makes her feel good. Future Olympiads and Iron Man participants have nothing to fear – Sandra Charton has no plans, at this moment, to join their ranks. She does plan, however, to continue incorporating fitness into her daily activities, along with perusing the news, eating breakfast and drinking that cup of coffee!