I showed up for my 7a Pilates shift this past Tuesday after a particularly stressful evening with very little sleep. Every one of my five, hour-long sessions was booked, several of them with people I’d never trained. By hour five, I truly didn’t know if I’d make it to noon and was secretly praying that my 11a client wouldn’t show.
The universe had something else in mind for me.
At 11:10, a slightly disheveled and very flustered woman walked into the studio and just stood in front of me. I said, “Hi. Are you J.? Is this the first time you’ve been here?” to which she replied “No, but I’m acting like it, right?”. I showed her to the changing room, waited outside as she changed, and exchanged a “oh my god, what are we in for?” look with the studio manager.
Turns out that J. – a woman about the same age as my mother if a bit younger – had never worked out in her life, was tired of looking and feeling unfit, and had heard about Pilates from a friend. This was her second Pilates session ever, and she was nervous. I was nervous too, as it’d been some time since I trained a true beginner.
The session turned out to be one of the most inspiring and energizing of my short Pilates career. J.’s expression slowly went from utter apprehension and defeat to cautious optimism and even a hint of pride. She booked her next session on the way out of the studio with a smile…and I was beaming as I left too.
Tell me your stories of inspiration coming out of nowhere to clear up your day. I know you have at least one. 🙂
