Affiliate Links
As you may remember, I’ve shared my anxiety struggles here before. It’s one of those things that comes in waves for me. Some days I will be totally fine, and other days I will really struggle with it and it will go on and on. It’s frustrating – I’m a control freak, and not being able to control my own emotions and thoughts is incredibly stressful, which really just makes it worse.
I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and asked for help. I asked to be put on medication to make me feel better. And you know what happened? I filled the prescription and was too terrified to take it because of the awful side effects. (Yeah, I know, ironic.) Suicidal thoughts? Increased anxiety? Yeah, no thank you. So I’ve discussed it with family and decided I’m going to seek “alternative” therapy first. My first attempt at that is upping my exercise. Endorphins from exercise make you feel good, and hopefully I can channel my thousand and one thoughts into burning calories instead.
I had thought about joining a gym, but the thought of sitting on an exercise bike, lifting weights, or running on a treadmill didn’t really appeal to me. Enter ClassPass Seattle, who contacted me about their launch here last week, and offered me a free month to try their service. Seriously, this could not have come at a more perfect time! ClassPass allows you to sign up for their service and try as many different classes as you’d like within a month. You can sign up for a Barre class on Monday, hit a spin class on Tuesday, and sweat your you know what off on Friday at Hot Yoga.
For someone who’s new to the whole fitness class scene (like me!), this is perfect. The last time I took a fitness class was in college and I have absolutely no idea what I’d enjoy, so I’m really stoked to be able to try it out a variety of classes this month.
No fitness post would be complete without a pre-gym #selfie, am I right? Blogging wasn’t my only cardio today! ;)
I even was able to attend my first class today! I went to CorePower Yoga in Bellevue to try out their CorePower 1 class, which is their beginner yoga. Since it was at night, it was by “candlelight” which was interesting, but did make it challenging to see the poses. The only issue I ran into (which actually ended up not being an issue) was that their staff had never heard of ClassPass. Since I was in their system for the class, it was no big deal, and I got to educate them on how the service works. I may have even gotten them a new client! ;)
Obviously not all of you are in Seattle, but they do offer ClassPass in several other metropolitan locations like LA, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Boston. The subscription is $99 per month and gets you unlimited classes, with a 3 class per studio cap.
I’m one for full disclosures, so I want to point out a couple of details in their FAQ to be aware of. One sticky detail is that if you can’t make a class, you must cancel 12 hours ahead of time. If not, you will be charged a $20 no-show fee. Another thing to keep in mind is it is a recurring subscription. If you cancel, you must do so 15 days before your next billing date. If you cancel and want to restart your subscription, there is a $79 reactivation fee. For complete details about their monthly pass, I highly recommend reading their FAQ.
ClassPass is allowing you to skip to the front of the line when you use this link to sign up. To be able to try as many fitness studios in a month for less than $100 is a great deal!
Since I’ll be trying out some new fitness classes this month, what’s your favorite? Yoga? Pilates? I need help!
Disclosure: ClassPass provided me a month of free service in exchange for sharing their service and my thoughts after trying it. All opinions, as usual, are my own.
I also suffer from anxiety and don’t want to be medicated for it, so I work out instead. I can’t tell you what it’s done for my anxiety levels. I just feel….better. It’s so wonderful to hear it’s doing the same for you!
So glad to hear that! I felt a lot better after my first work out, and hope that continues!
I have the same reaction to anxiety medication, I always convince myself that I’m having the side effect that you need to seek emergency medical care for… As far as exercise classes, I always love kickboxing, I like that not only is it great cardio but if I’m ever alone in a dark alley, I know how to punch without breaking a wrist!
Agh, exactly! That’s why medications freak me out so much. I generally only take things when I absolutely need them, like antibiotics when I’m really really sick and have an infection, haha! I’ll have to see if they have kickboxing, that sounds fun and like a good work out!
Exercise is always a great option. Another one that’s helped me is acupuncture. Have you tried that? I’m glad you are trying alternative therapies, the medicine is there for a reason and is a great solution-but I only typically take it as a last resort because of all the side-effects like you mentioned. Thank you for sharing this with us – sometimes it feels like I am the only one with this problem, know what I mean?
I’ve actually never tried acupuncture, and don’t know much about it at all! Do you see just tell them what ails you and they figure out how to help, or do different clinics specialize in different disorders? I absolutely know what you mean, and am glad to know I am not alone!
You know, it seems like anxiety is a really common experience among bloggers. I wonder why! Anyways, I don’t have anxiety, but I have dealt with some depression, which I think are kind of sister disorders (which sounds a lot more cute than they actually are). Exercise is the #1 way I deal with it, straight up. I did a post last week about ways to beat depression, and I seriously think working out is the best thing you can do. It makes me more relaxed, in a positive mood, confident with my body, etc.
The other thing I’ve started doing regularly is meditating to help with my TMJ. For me, jaw tension is directly a result of stress – I have a rough afternoon at work, I get a tight jaw and splitting headaches all night. I downloaded a guided meditation app called “Mindfulness” and have started doing 5 or 15 minutes of meditation a day, and it has seriously helped for how low of a time or work commitment it is. Maybe something that could help with anxiety, too!
Cat
http://oddlylovely.com
You know, I wonder that too. The last post I wrote about it, I was shocked with how many others experience similar feelings/fears. I think anxiety and depression are really a huge problem in our society, but we just don’t talk about it often. I’ve also battled depression, and agree they are sister disorders. Zoloft, what I was prescribed, is actually for depression and OCD-type anxiety.
I have TMJ too, I clench and it’s also worse during stressful/high anxiety times in my life. I’ll have to download Mindfulness, this is the second time hearing that! And like you said, exercise is really beneficial and I’m excited to keep at it and hope it helps. :)
this is really awesome. I would totally try a class pass!
It really is a great idea! I’m excited to try more classes.
ClassPass is a very clever idea … not sure about yoga by candlelight though, lol.
Haha, I actually liked it – pretty relaxing. But if it had been more advanced there is no way I would have had any clue what I was doing!
Wanna try a class together??! I’m super excited about ClassPass because I’m totally into trying new classes and types of workouts :)
Yes I would love that! I’m still recovering from my yoga class (apparently my abdomen is super out of shape… yikes.) But maybe after work next week?
I love ClassPass!! What was your fave class? I’m obsessed with Flywheel, Strala Yoga & Pilates Plus! We should connect!
I really enjoyed the yoga classes at CorePower and at Strala! Glad to hear you’re a fan of ClassPass too, Portia! :)