So, the Tokyo Olympics have just started anyway, let me think about sports.
Sports and I.
It is a relationship in a developing stage, starting from struggle to reconciliation.
Now I say that I like jogging and doing yoga; what a very conscious and healthy lifestyle!
Yes, I am self-aware and in good shape, though it sounds like being smug!
I started both yoga and jog in my 20s. I love and have been doing them since then.
Moving my body, connecting the body and mind, I can reach my primitive functions and impulses.
Then I feel so free.
I understand sports are opportunities to feel refreshed, happy to be alive, and grateful for today when it matches you and allows you to play at your pace.
It might be too obvious for those who have enjoyed sports since their childhood to admire the amazingness; however, I, as a person who started to like sports since becoming an adult, really think they are pleasant experiences after jogging or doing yoga.
It should be the school or teenage years for most people to encounter any category of sports.
Myself back then was not in a family circumstance that likes sports and had no interest in them naturally; thus, sports mean the physical education class in schools.
Unfortunately, as I did not like PE classes, I believed I could not work out. I assumed sports are far from my life.
Why did I dislike PE classes?
I can probably list as many unpleasant points about it.
Sensorily explained, it is scary and exhausting.
Logically explained,
- No objective or it is untold,
- The only goal or target number is shown (for example, 1,000m run for XX min. or “to be able to do cartwheels, and so on)
- But no instruction on how to do it,
- As a result, gain nothing other than guts.
“How can I jump over this soaring vault in front of me…(It’s scary…)?”
“Why should we run the school playground 10 laps in this such hot weather (It’s nonsense and exhausting…)?”
Though my PE’s grade was not so poor actually, I could not like it.
Unfortunately, the structure of PE I experienced depended only on the inherited physical ability of students, so I could not expect any positivities about my blooming moment coming in sports.
In addition, I did not like schools’ sports uniforms because of their designs (I even had to wear bloomers at some point, which was disgusting!!) or military style’s manners like lining up or a call “Right face!”.
Like that, I ended my youth with feeling that sports and I would not get along.
I did not know how to start loving it.
However, the turning point came to me!
Finally, I woke up to sports, finding delight in doing exercise.
At that time, I worked so hard every day, which was a typical new grad lifestyle, and I naturally realized my strong desire to move my body.
Then, I gathered information and found yoga and jog.
(To be precise, yoga is not sports, but it has some aspects of exercise.)
I finally knew how sports can help me get refreshed; it can make me realize gratitude for being healthy and alive.
During yoga, I can be honest with myself, connecting body and mind. I am allowed to keep my own pace, even if it is a group session.
It is OK to be slow or to take a rest if I want.
I am not good at powerful types of yoga; however, my body is flexible and works well for various positions.
I can be confident about my physical ability and enjoy what I can do and cannot do, which I could not feel through PE class, while floor exercise, for example, has similar elements to yoga.
During jogging, I can be honest with myself, connecting body and mind.
It is OK to run with listening to loving music, enjoying the view, thinking something, or even it is OK to walk.
I cannot run fast, but I am good at going for a long time at a slow pace.
I can be confident about my energy and enjoy looking for where to go for the next run, which I could not feel through PE class, while long-distance running, for example, has similar elements to jogging.
From the start, the objective of PE in those days and sports might be different; however, I believe public education still thought about developing a healthy body and mind.
Because it is critical to know how to use your body and enjoy it.
Because we will live with our bodies for decades.
Because our bodies connect to our minds.
Because it teaches us how it is grateful to be healthy and alive.
I wish I could have realized the greatness of sports through PE, which was my only chance to do so in my early teens with a growing body and mind.
Now I know sports is one of the measures to learn about and connect with myself.
And I believe it is not a privilege for those who have excellent physical ability but for everyone; there are various kinds and ways to exercise for each self through each life.
Here are my bucket lists regarding sports:
Tennis, surfing, any type of dance, bouldering, horse riding, Aikido, Karate…
I want to ski better.
I want to swim often.
When to start?
I wonder what I will feel and how my body reacts when I get older, losing some energy, strength, and agility, and still focus on playing familiar or totally new sports.
I am curious about that.
That way, I want to enjoy my physicality from time to time.
Isn’t it a good sign to live positively to be greedy about doing sports, for example, while I am aging?
By the way, I wonder how current PE classes are delivered 30 years later of my struggling experience.
It seems students still wear the same old type of school sports uniform, though, in my kid’s example. (In addition, they are actually pricey!)
I have a bad feeling…