I am now obsessed with Poi. When I said this to a friend who knows me well he wryly said, "Dale, obsessed with a new hobby that completely takes over his life? Unprecedented!"
It's true. I don't so much pursue new interests as much as I hunt them down, run them over and then swallow them whole.
After a period of digestion a web site, list server, several essays, a stand up set and sometimes an organization comes out the other end. And I'm pretty much guaranteed to drive at least half my friends crazy in the process.
This new interest is different from my others, nearly all of which occur in the arena of the mind. Board games, standup, bridge, science fiction, video games, writing are all intellectual and linguistic pursuits. Photography and design, while visual, are still things that take place in the mind.
But this is different.
Every morning I wake up and my first thought of the day is, "I want to exercise." This an utterly alien and yet delightful new sensation. Because my whole life I've been pretty bad at it, I usually have to be tricked into exercise. My gym memberships all fizzled. I've never been able to stick the physical therapy program I have that's supposed to help my shoulders. I do it half heartedly now and then, in fits and starts. But exercise has always felt like drudgery to me.
Basically I've had the same relationship with my body that Homer Simpson has with his brain. "Brain, I know we don't talk very much, so if you just get me out of this I'll go back to leaving you alone."
My version has been, "Body, I know you don't like me and I don't like you. So if you can just get this air conditioner onto the window sill I won't ask you to do anything else until it's time to take it back out in the fall."
Poi has changed all that. Every day I can't wait to learn what my body can do now. I have a sense of physical achievement I can't recall before. It hit me these are the feelings I was supposed to have in gym class as a kid and not awkwardness, shame and humiliation. Fuck, I hated gym class.
I had a brief Dance Dance Revolution craze. That was fun, but it fizzled because I got sick of setting up and taking down the pad. And I don't really need more lower body exercise. What I desperately need is upper body exercise.
When I tried Poi a few weeks ago, my usually tense and stressed shoulders, arms, neck and back felt fantastic afterward. Plus poi provides plausible cover for an odd little habit I picked up a few years ago ... occasionally dancing in public with my iPod.
Dancing by yourself in public = Weird and maybe crazy
Spinning poi while also dancing in public = Fabulous
One of the most delightful things about this process is the physical and mental sensation of creating a new muscle memory. It takes anywhere from 20 to 100 repetitions for me to establish and begin to stabilize a new motion. Usually you do your dominant side first (righty vs. lefty) and then work of the other side, which is usually harder. The process of projecting a mirror of a muscle memory onto the other side of my body is also quite intriguing.
With complicated moves and tricks there can be a fair bit of frustration. The competitive guy in me get's all aggressive and declares, "Must win at Poi!" But that's part of the fun, because the thrill of putting the pieces of a new move together and finally having it work the first time is unlike any other feeling I've ever had.
What's even more fun and unexpected is how much better I feel about my own body. If you'd told me two weeks ago, I'd be exercising with my shirt off in public and be completely nonchalant about strangers taking photos of me I'd have assumed you had moderate to severe brain damage and maybe some kind of personality disorder as well. Now it's just another afternoon in the park.
I think my stomach is a little flatter already. But that's not why I feel better. Muscles long atrophied from injuries of years past are getting stronger. I'm sleeping better. I have more energy and more confidence. I'm eating three meals a day instead of two.
One minor problem, I did have to come up with a better hydration strategy when I spent $15 on bottled water on the day of my first poi class and park exercise session. Now I put an empty liter bottle in my bag and fill it up at water fountains at Whole Foods. Since they have stores right by both Central Park and Union Square Park it works out great. And I'm finally spending the time in Fort Tryon Park like I always said I should.
If I don't get out during the day, I turn into a grumpy cave troll. Being outside in the sun is good for my mental health. Plus I'm getting an awesome tan.
I know I'm gushing, but that's the point. Poi has been nothing short of transforming these last weeks. I'm sure my obsession will wane down to some appropriate level after summer has past. A little voice in my head is worried about what happens when winter comes, but I'll figure that out later. Regardless, I think I've finally found a form of exercise I can see myself sticking to for the rest of my life.
Excuse me now please, I have this strange urge to go do crunches.
Who am I and what have I done with Dale Sorenson?
Labels: excercise, poi
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