Something New - Hot Yoga

My motto for this year is "be better". It's nice, and broad, and can cover a lot of aspects of life without too much room for error. I can either be a little bit better at something, or be loads better at it. It works on so many levels, see?

So one way I'd like to "be better", is by being a little bit healthier and trying new shit, you know, putting myself out there a bit more and seeing things from a different perspective. I did just that today, because this morning I tried hot yoga.

Usually, I scoff at yoga. My boyfriend has had to endure taunts from me about how it's all "hippy shit" and not a real work out. How it's all "ohmm-ing" and "woosah" and all that jazz. I've probably just royally pissed some of you off by saying that, but hear me out and stick with me. So, with that attitude, just how in the hell did I end up in a yoga class, I hear you ask?

Well, I have a friend to blame for that. Not just any friend, a friend that gets way too Groupon happy sometimes. Before Christmas, she got especially Groupon happy and because she knows I do Pilates, when she saw this Hot Yoga class deal, she couldn't resist and signed us up.

PAH! This would be a doddle. It's all slow, flowing, om, om, stretchy movements. I can do that. I do hardcore Pilate stretching that has toned my abs to not quite rival that of Jessica Ennins, but they're still looking damn good. And it's in the heat? No problem! I love heat. I've been to Australia. In the summer and I survived, but hey. I'm "being better" and I should give this a go and it will be a doddle anyway, right?

It wasn't.

Within the first three minutes I was sweating and having to stop to take some water and all we'd done were a couple of cobra's and a lot of downward dogging (I lost count of how much dogging we did in class today). The teacher was relentless. We were up, down, sideways warrior-ing, doing the [funky] pigeon, happy babies and there were a load of words I didn't understand, but sounded totally "woosah" and like the hippy shit I was expecting. There was no clock in there and I didn't have a watch, but the class was only meant to last an hour. It felt like we were in there a lot, lot longer.

Apart from not understanding a lot of the words coming out of the nice-teacher lady's mouth and being told to not look to see if I'm doing it right, but instead just "listen to the instructions and the flowing movement of [her] voice," after a while I did start to get the hang of it. That was only after I had the rebellious thought of, "fuck this, it's all too fast, I'm going at my own pace," and I'm pretty sure that's not the right attitude, but whatever. After I thought that, it got better, I got better and actually started to enjoy it.

I liked the breathing. Who knew that breathing in a hot room with other super sweaty people could be so chillaxing? I also liked the balancing. I was good at that and the sequences of balances we did was probably the only point in the class when I didn't look like a total beginner.

The bastard class left me feeling, what I'd like to call, 'yoga-happy'. Yes, I felt all floaty and smiley inside. It's only after I've come down off that inner-tranquillity high and had a cup of toxic coffee with extra sugar that I've been able to write this blog about how pigging irritating it is that I'm going to have to eat my previous words about yoga. It was tough. It was hot. I sweated like a bastard and couldn't keep up, but goddammit, my balancing tree-pose looked beautiful and I didn't wobble once. NOT ONCE!

And yes, if you must know, I am looking forward to next week's class and being just a little bit better than this week.    

Staking a claim on the tomboy label (Pt 1)

When beginning this (mini) project, I did what all great modern researches do when needing a starting point: I Googled it. Yesterday I discussed whether the term is age specific, or if it can be used more broadly and if it's the latter, then just who else is using the label “tomboy” and how?

As it's a label I'm both comfortable with and proud of, I was hoping for loads of really cool, fun, interesting and informative sites touting the tomboy banner. What I found, however, was actually a bit of a let down.

Stick 'tomboy' in the Google search bar and the results you get all look samey at first. It's fashion this, fashion that, or tomboy as a trend, but not a lifestyle or way of thinking. This worried me. Perhaps that's all the term “tomboy” has become now: simply another fashion label that passes in and out of our consciousness as and when designers and the high-street see fit. Certainly this is the case when it comes to shopping for clothes. Some seasons I find it a cinch to shop the high-street for what I like and feel comfortable in. Other times it's nigh impossible.

Although frustrating at first, I refused to think that could be it. Tomboy on the whole world wide web simply could not be confined to a fashion trend, could it? There had to be more out there than fashion tumblr's and pintrest boards of women wearing tomboy-esque clothing. Where was the writing? The literature? The gender debate?

Ok, so none of that was to be found on pages 2-10 of Google either, but I did discover that “tomboy” is also a band, an Australian cafe, a professional note taking app, a solo musician, a DIY tool kit and lessons for women, and That's MyTomboy is a lesbian beauty pageant in the Philippines.

This last find, about tomboy becoming a term used within the lesbian community, is new to me. I've heard lesbians in my social circle describe themselves in many ways – lipstick, butch, dyke, “just a lezzer” - but not tomboy. Would love to hear your thoughts at the end of this blog, or Tweets (@RoseC_Leic) on this and what it means within the gay community. I'd like to expand on this in a later post as I only have experience of it in a heterosexual context and think it's interesting/potentially negative if an entertainment show is trying to 'normalise' lesbian by using a masculine noun, thus sticking a hetero angle on it to make it more socially acceptable. See where I'm going with this...? Either way, it's new to me and so I'd like to know more.

That was probably the most interesting find. The Tomboy Tools just pissed me off. Why, if you think women need to break free of patriarchal stereotypes that they can't do DIY and need a man around the house, would you then go and make your whole range pink? A stupid, girly, baby pink at that. The mind boggles and I left that site feeling patronised and hoped that I didn't come across any other wanky miss-uses of the label I so love.

There were a few 'diary of a tomboy' type articles on some feminist websites and what it was like when one tomboy donned a dress for charity, but these all echo the idea from yesterday about tomboy being an age specific term.

So, it will be a lot of reading for me this weekend to get my head around tomboy as a label for hetero and gay women and will try to tackle that next week. Watch this space, but let me know if you've come across any other weird, wonderful or simply infuriating bullshit that has tried to stake a claim on tomboy.

I think it's fast becoming clear that the aim here is that we at least reclaim the term from fashion and get to the crux of the idea that it's a lifestyle and the fashion is simply one part of it. What d'ya reckon?

Pickets, protests and no pupils!

I'll keep it short and sweet tonight, because it's been a short and sweet kind of day. Really it's zipped by in the blink of an eye and I've actually been fairly productive.

If you're reading this and living in the UK then you'll be aware that there's been a lot of public sector union strikes today. As I work in the public sector (education) it means that my school was affected. Many, many teachers and support staff decided to strike, creating picket lines outside of the school before heading off into central London to march against Government plans for pension scheme cuts. Put simply, today's strike action was brought on because they want people to work longer for no extra cash to pay into their retirement fund. This is scary because if I was a 12 year old the idea of being taught by someone who's 67 is frightening. Surely you can't still be in touch with young people at that age?

Anyhoo, many people went on strike, meaning that the school was unable to open to pupils, but was still open to non-striking staff, like myself, to come in and work.

This. Was. Bliss.

Obviously it can't be a very good sign if I prefer going to work when the kids aren't there, and it's kind of in my job description to work with young people and educate them, but fuck me, I managed to get sooooo much done! I think I've actually managed to plan a couple of half decent lessons, rather than cobble something together at the last minute. Generally I like to think I have fairly good bull-shitting skills when it comes to being put on the spot, but often the kids see through it and can tell when parts of the lesson are improvised and a bit lastminute.com. Now though, I'm prepared! Photocopying 'n' all!

Hopefully that'll make tomorrow a little bit easier before the end of the week comes and normal, rushed service will resume next Monday.

Oh and if you're wondering why I didn't strike, even though I do empathise with the union's cause, it's because I'm a) not in a union, which is probably bad and b) I don't earn enough to be paying into a fund. If there was something to sign in support though, I would. Not least because I know how demanding teaching is and the thought of doing that until you're nearly 70 is an exhausting idea, but also because David Cameron called the protests a 'wet squib'.

Now there's no need to get personal Mr Cameron and who in their right mind uses the word 'squib' these days? Could you sound any more upper-middle class and pretentious? Could you reaffirm anymore to your public that you're not actually thinking through the whole picture here because when you reach 67 you'll still be well catered for, resting up, and enjoying your overly comfortable retirement nest egg, while others are still having to go and slog their guts out to try to earn a half-decent pension and replace the money you're squandering so they may be able to enjoy those meagre last few golden years with some level of dignity.

So then, do you really think that when two million public sector workers march through the capital it's a good idea to provoke them by saying there will be no change? That these strikes won't be effective? I only hope that all of those union members working in the public sector have the fight and the backbone to see this through, and if it comes down to the wire of unions calling for workers to down tools for a longer period of time to show their worth and determination - reminiscent of the Thatcher strikes - then so be it; I'd support them to see this through.

It wasn't my intention to get all political, mainly because I don't always fully understand cause and reason enough to comment on political matters, but I think that the UK is in such a bad state at the moment - along with the rest of Europe - that something is going to have to break; something will snap and we're seeing it happen all over the world. We saw it happen in the summer riots and we saw more of it today albeit on a more peaceful scale, thankfully.

Uneasy and daunting times ahead.

RoseC -x-

Interactive blogging

So, I know that sometimes it can be effort to read a full-length, intellectual and engaging blog like mine and and then have to think about a witty or insightful comment to leave in response, so I've gone ahead and made a response system even easier for you using quick response boxes. Because I believe blogging can be a form of active media rather than passive, I've put these handy little boxes at the bottom of each post with choice words that you can click to show what you think about a particular blog entry. At the minute they say something like, 'funny', 'whiney', 'interesting' and 'agree'. Simply click one and I'll know what you think of what I've written.

Well, when I say, "I'll know what you've written," that's not strictly true because it's anonymous. So if you're worried that you want to say I'm 'whiney', but fear that I may hunt you down in reprisal, then don't, because it won't show me your name or who's responded. I just thought it might be fun or interesting to see what my global audience reckon about what I'm posting.

Interactive blogging all the way. Let the revolution start here!

Hope to tick-box here from you soon.

RoseC -x-