Box it out

One of my favorite exercises of all time is boxing. There is something so powerful about hitting a bag and letting every feeling you have inside of you out on that bag. All of your energy you walked into the gym with becomes transferred to the punching bag. I was never very good at science but I do think I remember the law of energy quite clearly: "Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, just transferred." Well whether it is negative energy inside of me caused by grief and frustration, or positive energy caused by love and happiness I can take it all out on that punching bag. I strap on the gloves and just let it rip.

Running has always been a nice therapy for me and a place for me to think and reflect on life, but boxing does so much more than this for me. It does the impossible; It shuts down my mind completely. I am only focused on punching and kicking that bag, and it's such a hard workout that my mind is not able to wander. The only other time my mind ever shuts down is when I'm sleeping, and even that is debatable if I think back on my dreams recently which centered around real life issues. When I hit that bag its just me and the bag, only I am in the room, and everyone else fades away along with any thoughts I was previously pondering. The best part is that I love it, and it is still a great work out! That's rare to find a workout that you enjoy and desire to do even when your exhausted, but that is what boxing is for me.

I am one of the only people in my gym to use the boxing stuff, men and women included, so when a Korean trainer who is great at boxing saw me hitting the bag he ran over to give me some pointers. It was both funny and confusing to hear his advice in Korean because I had no idea what he was saying, but eventually I got it once he started showing me his skills. I started hitting the bag like a pro, and after I left the gym my body began immediately to feel sore.

Last Monday I was really upset and let it out on the bag. I looked forward to it all day and felt a million times better after a hard 30 minute session. Today I was in a great mood and had the same tough 30 minute session, and felt great afterwards. I was in a totally different mood when I entered the gym these two times but I let out whatever I was feeling on the punching bag. All of my energy went into the bag as it was swinging around after I would hit it. Both times I was dripping with sweat, leaving with my mascara all over my eyes from the sweat pouring down my face, and with my hands shaking. I was even sweating off my sunburn today, as my face began to peel! I looked a total mess but felt amazing.

It's the most fulfilling kind of exhaustion I can think of.