Published on 12, July, 2020
I normally link negative experiences to the fact that I’m autistic and tend to think about how I struggle with things.
Gyms are places I find overwhelming, bright lights, lots of people, no idea what I’m actually doing.
I’ve found a gym with soft lighting, who gave me a timetable of times the gym is generally less busy and took the time free of charge to show me equipment I would realistically use.
I have now attended a few yoga classes with the same instructor who without prompt, changes the lights from spotlights, does not use music, switches on and off the AC so there is limited noise and it is only on when required.
He also does not give vague instructions about breathing and is literal in the timings and gives options for you to find which rhythm suits you best. He does a meditation at the end where he talks quite literally and tells you to think of situations where you believed you felt (.e.g joy, proud, safe) and asks you to recognise what you physically feel in your body to help recognise these emotions and generate them.
I hope that as there is more awareness and acceptance that more gym instructors will operate this way as I used to believe that I hated all forms of exercise.
I wondered if there is any other autistic females who enjoy physical fitness who are able to share what works for them and how to communicate this so I could perhaps find more things that I enjoy.
I walk, I have a dog to take me for walks, having osteoarthritis and hypermobile joints makes gyms pointless as they will only let me us the tread mill and exercise bike. I can' tsee the point of paying a shed load of money to go on a treadmill and then have to go home and walk with my dog.
Bicycle saddles are so uncomfortable, how do pople cope?
I used to do yoga at home I taught myself, from books, I loved it, but now I have to be careful of my joints.
I do love the feeling of my body moving the way it's supposed to, it rarely does that these days, yesterday I had a long walk and today my feet hips and knees ache, just as well its grey and windy, so it will be a couple of short walks in the park.
I used to have a skiing machine, it was great, I used it so often and was the best low impact exercise I've ever done, they all seem to have been replaced by cross trainers now and I don't like them, goimg up and down with my legs and back and forwards with my arms feels unnatural and I just can't do it.
Seeing as I don't play well with others and had horrible experiences of PE at school, I don't do groups.