The Joy Club member Lindsey Betteridge provides the inside scoop on her favourite of our live online events from September and October. Lindsey sheds a reassuring light on what you can expect from our exercise classes and provides a glimpse of what’s to come in our line-up of expert talks.
I write this from the doctor’s surgery, waiting for my flu jab, just hoping upon hope that I won’t have an adverse reaction which might affect my cardio class with Jill tomorrow!
It’s always nice to see several other members in the same exercise classes as myself nowadays. Even though we’re all at different levels of fitness, there is never any judgment, only support and kind words. If we wish, we can have a little chit chat before the class begins, maybe recommend other classes to each other and what we thought of them, or discussing expert talks that we’ve enjoyed so that others may like to watch them from the recordings.
This is just the same for any new members who join the exercises classes. So if you are new to The Joy Club and are feeling a little nervous about joining any of these classes due to your level of fitness, please don’t be. I was a first class sofa loafer when I joined The Joy Club last Christmas and now enjoy three or four exercise classes a week! At the beginning of the event, simply mention that you are new to the class and you’ll receive a hearty, warm welcome from everyone. Rest assured, nobody is ever forced to try to do more than they are able and if you’re not comfortable with your camera on then you can leave it turned off.
During September and October I’ve finally plucked up the courage to embrace Margarita’s various Yoga classes. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not that good with floor exercises; my legs have always ached for a little too long afterwards, even way back when I was much younger. I’ve previously just stuck to the Tuesday morning Chair Yoga, which I really enjoy.
Then I spotted the Gentle Evening Hatha Yoga class on Thursdays, which are designed to help you relax, and decided to give it a go. I loved it! Margarita teaches in a fully adaptable manner. For instance, I can’t cross my legs in front of me while on the floor but she offered me several options, so I could still interact by adapting the moves to suit my own flexibility. After this first session I slept much better than I had in a while.
Following two evening Yoga sessions – and feeling I was on a roll – I decided to push my own boundaries and try her Monday Yogalates class as well and guess what? Yep, I loved that too! Again she has various options, including using a dining chair for support for some exercises if needed. I feel Margarita is a perfect instructor; she’s buoyant, encouraging and motivating and always open to questions.
Thinking back to 19th September and somehow it seems so long ago now. In fact, it’s only 5 weeks since The Joy Club classes were postponed due to the Queen’s funeral and I spent a tearful day watching every moment of it on TV. I felt cheered from the lovely comments and memories of her majesty that were posted in the Forum and on The Joy Club’s social media from the wonderful members. What a lovely group of people you are!
After enthusing last time over Paradise Wildlife Park Zoo keeper Chris Eley’s educational talks, my friend and I took up Chris’s offer of a personal tour of the zoo if we visited. Only a 40 minute drive away from home, Paradise Wildlife Park is a wonderful zoo and Chris was kind enough to take an hour out of his day for our tour, sharing both his knowledge and enthusiasm giving us an in-depth background to how and why each animal was there, how endangered they are, the zoo’s conservation methods and problems the animals encounter in the wild.
He introduced us to some of the other very knowledgeable and passionate keepers and told us about the changes that are currently in the pipeline to improve the zoo even more. We really enjoyed ourselves and felt very privileged. We’ll definitely be going back for another visit, probably taking our grandchildren next time. Our personal tour would never have happened had I not been a member at The Joy Club and it was an experience I’ll never forget. Hopefully Chris will be back to give further presentations on how reputable zoos play such an important role in animal conservation.
Finally, what a super expert talk ‘How we’ll live on Mars’ was on 14th October, presented by Colin Stuart. It was informative and educational and Colin delivered it in a not too ‘sciencey’ way, making the subject easy to understand and very enjoyable. I learned so much about the planet and how we will, one day, get a human there. Excellent stuff! Colin’s next session on 8th November is on ‘The ultimate guide to Time Travel.’ I’ve already booked this and am very excited to learn about the possibility of time travel!
Ah, I’m being called in for my jab now, so fingers crossed, especially as I have my Covid booster booked in a couple of days too!
Want to see what’s coming up next month, see our full Events calendar here.