First, allow me to quickly introduce you to the sporty side of me, just in case you don’t know me in person, or you’d just met me.

1. I hate going to the gym. I admire every person who goes there, I respect everyone who works in a gym, and once I’m there I truly enjoy myself, but the problem is getting me there. I hate being watched by people, and hate not being left alone to workout in peace, because it’s almost impossible to avoid chit-chats, which I really really hate during workout. The idea of the gym gives me this weird “boxed-in” suffocating feeling that I really dislike, I’m more of an open-air person and always prefer the outdoors in natural settings.
2. I  automatically lose interest in sports that many people around me do; they suddenly feel boring and unchallenging. I hate to be told what sports I should or should not do… blame it on my Zodiac sign (that stubborn Taurus in me).
3. I hate it when people assume that I should be doing a certain sport because of my interests and the kind of personality they think I have. For example, I do not like to run!
   “But you love to write” they comment, frustrated.  Now despite Hollywood’s persistent attempts at associating writers with running, and although many people who happen to love writing, do in fact enjoy running, and despite the countless undeniable benefits of the sport, it’s not for everyone. In my case particularly, a long time sufferer of a herniated disc, running does more harm than good, so no, thank you, I’ll cheer for you when you run, but would rather leave it at that.
   Do you know that there’s a beautiful trail behind our house? I see runners every day; mornings, afternoons, evenings, and what do I do? I just watch them happily while I’m enjoying my morning coffee, afternoon tea, or while devouring my scrumptious Nutella jar! I’m that hopeless (blush)

So what sports do I like?
I like biking, it combines the speed of running with the calmness of walking, an oddly attractive combination I like and never find boring. I also like tennis, but my back injury limits me, and I love swimming, and water sports in general . I’m very much interested in Stand Up Paddle-boarding (SUP)and am preparing to give it a try this summer hopefully.
I’m a yogi at heart; I love the concept of Yoga, I love the peacefulness, the outcome and the whole zen-effect it has on a person. I do yoga every now and then to control my herniated disc situation, and it always works magic on my pain. BUT… it’s too boring for me in its traditional version. I’m more interested in a new art of yoga called: SUP Yoga, once I master the stand up paddle-boarding, I will give SUP Yoga a try for sure. (Will keep you posted).
I also like Zumba, my only problem with it is that I always end up dancing to the rhythm rather than following the instructor’s lead. So it’s more like Zumba à la Eman, which has a certain resemblance to the actual Zumba, but is really a whole different workout 😀

Anyway, my life has been really crazy lately. Let’s just say that when life decides to get tough, it just gets tough with no breaks. You have to keep on going, and as they say: the only way out is through.
So one horrible horrible day,  I was feeling like my whole life was falling apart, tired of struggling. I was so frustrated, so angry, so exhausted. I went to drop off my older son to his Karate lesson, and was trying to keep my little one busy while we waited for the lesson to come to an end. So to make things fun, I started mimicking some Karate moves I saw the class making, but he wasn’t amused, at all. It wasn’t until I collected a few beanbag chairs from the floor and built a small tower that I kicked and knocked over that he seemed to show interest and laugh like crazy. But the shocker was how amazing I felt! I felt my anger disappear, my strength kicking in and my whole mood improving.
So when we returned home, I did a small online search of sports that might be close to what I was doing, and that’s when I came across Cardio Kickboxing. And man is it AWESOME! I’m really surprised, because the one sport I’ve always resented and hated watching my whole life _besides wrestling_ was actually boxing. And then I heard of kickboxing, and I still hated it, it was nothing but two people beating the hell out of each other, at least this is how I saw it. But watching is one thing, and practicing is a whole different thing.
Let me tell you ladies and gentlemen, if you haven’t tried cardio kickboxing, YOU MUST TRY IT, it’s the one thing that was able to rid me of my anger and stress and keep me sane for the last few weeks.  I’m so in love with it, and although I don’t have much time to exercise, I enjoy every second of the time I get to do it.