She Says: Yoga Month Day 8 – Concentration & Cancellation
I had a terrible time focusing in class today. My mind wandered in a million different directions as I mentally made To-Do Lists and tried to figure out a way to get out of my gym contract. Eventually, I just closed my eyes and did most of the class that way. It helped a lot, but I am still feeling anxious.
I’ve also gotten into this Sun Salutation Dread. I usually love my sun salutations, but maybe 8 days in a row has made me dread the routine and the burning in my arms after I’ve been in downward dog forever. Today I kept thinking about how hard it was going to be and I worried I would be too weak to get it down. It made me all nervous and uneasy. Years ago I had this teacher who pointed out that I have funky arms in downward dog. It’s really hard for me to rotate my shoulders properly. I worked on it and worked on it and one night I had a dream about my dogs and shoulders. I told my teacher my dream and she told it was probably time to stop trying so hard and let it go. I think I am at the point where the Sun Salutations are about to invade my dreams.
When I got home I started a late dinner and took a shower while it cooked. I fancied up some frozen leftover lentil soup with frozen spinach and some spices (Garam Masala, Ginger, curry, etc.) and served it with Wheat Naan (on sale at Stop & Shop).
I also had a giant “everything” salad with hummus, raisins, blue corn chips, cauliflower, broccoli, honey mustard, tomatoes, cucumbers and probably at least 5 other things I am currently not remembering.
Hmm. That was a lot of food.
Done with the Gym?
I mentioned I am thinking about trying to cancel my gym membership. When I joined my gym I chose it over cheaper local gyms because I wanted to be able to take some cool classes, which I don’t do on regular basis. I am loving my yoga month and would much rather take my gym money and use it for yoga. Mark’s gym is $20 month-to-month and I can join that in cold winter months when I am too much of a wimp to run outdoors. It all makes perfect sense to me, I am prepared to be bound by the contract, but it would be dreamy to get out of it.
Have you canceled a gym membership? Was it a horror story? Share!
February 8th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
You have a hip injury! Get a dr note and get out of there!
February 8th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
So I startd doing yoga there for awhile and started hating the sun salutations too!! Weird!
February 8th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Those lentils look amazing! Love your blog, but I really shouldnt look at delicious pictures of food while fasting!
February 8th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Did you say you joined NYSC? I had a heck of a time getting out of my contract when I moved to a place w/o one. Without a month’s notice, they charged me for the remainder of a month (at least). It sucked. So I agree, money spent at NYSC can be spent better almost anywhere else.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
claim that you are moving. you could say that you lost your job , or got injured – but i wouldn’t want to jinx you- Moving, on the other hand, I mean they can’t argue with that and there aren’t any crazy superstitious aftermath.
i got out of my gym contract super easily- no lying- just “im canceling” okay- no fee.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
My brother has a REALLY hard time getting out of a gym contract, so I pay month to month. It’s only like 5 bucks more…but you never know!
February 8th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Seeing the Stop and Shop naan made me realize how impressive that grocery store is. People think of it as a lower-end, Shoprite/Pathmark type place, but they really do make a lot of great stuff.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
I really should stay on the blog scene more regularly. So many things happen in such a short time!
I’ve never had a gym contract… couldn’t bring myself to do it… but I definitely think that canceling it is a good idea if they will let you.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Ohhh I know that down dog feeling! If my arms are already sore from another workout the day before, my arms/shoulders get tired SO fast when we stay in down dog for any length of time…hate that. Although dreaming about it is another thing haha. I hope yoga goes back to being relaxing for you
Good Luck with the gym thing!! Sorry I can’t help, I’ve never tried to get out of a contract. Can’t your use your past lawyering skills
??
February 8th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
I dont have a gym membership because I hate the idea of committing and they are just so expensive around here! I hope you are able to easily cancel your contract!
February 8th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
i haven’t canceled at a gym before, but i worked at a gym and heard all kinds of horror stories…people even came back just to avoid getting hassled to come back! just stay strong…you can do it
February 9th, 2010 at 5:20 am
maybe you could freeze the membership & use it again someday when you’re in the mood for some variety? or hopefully it won’t be TOO expensive to quit!
February 9th, 2010 at 7:28 am
Yikes… I’ve never cancelled a membership before, so I don’t have any advice/stories, but it sounds like it’d be a bit tricky… good luck!! Your dinner looks fast and easy… yum!
February 9th, 2010 at 7:41 am
Man, I feel you on the gym contract. I would really like to get out of ours as well. We never go and it cost us almost $100 a month. Let us know if you figure something else and I will do the same
February 9th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Dr note!
February 9th, 2010 at 9:06 am
Yeah I’m with the doctor’s note people, canceling a membership can be hard!
February 9th, 2010 at 9:09 am
I had a horrible time canceling when we left Woonsocket and moved here. I canceled in July and the payments never actually stopped coming out of my bank account until December. When I called and bitched, they said that the lady I canceled with gave me the wrong information. A likely excuse!
February 9th, 2010 at 9:43 am
I’m in the doctor’s note club.
I have messed up shoulders too (my right is higher than my left) and sun salutations are tough for me. I just try to do my best and remember that yoga is for relaxing. If it stresses me out, I should stop. Good luck
February 9th, 2010 at 9:55 am
I canceled a membership by telling the gym I was moving back home, and there were no gyms in the area by my parents house. I didn’t have to show any bills/proof because they would all be under my parents names. Gyms are so tricky with stuff like that. I also think you can always pay a fee to break your contract early?
February 9th, 2010 at 10:06 am
I had an absolute horrible time trying to cancel a gym membership- I moved 3 states away. Even though the contract said you could cancel with no problem if you moved more than 30 miles. Apparently they didn’t believe 350 miles was more than 30. It was horrendous. I ended up having to pay out almost the entire contract because it took so frickin long for them to sort it all out.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:16 am
When I tried to leave my gym before moving and going to seminary they wanted to charge me all sorts of fees. I ended up paying for most of the contract even though I followed their proceedure for canceling.
February 9th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Yikes i’ve never cancelled one- it sounds hellish!! Ha i aaalways think of that friends episode where chandler and ross keep trying to get out of it..”I wanna quit the gym!!” Lol hopefully u can resist the muscle-y six pack guy who they’ll call to help cancel your contract ;D Good luck Heath!!
February 9th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Oh boy, I definitely have a gym cancellation horror story. I had to pay 35% of the remaining total (a couple hundred dollars). That really wasn’t even the worst part. Fast forward to a year later (this past December) when I started receiving calls from a collections agency saying I owed more money and that they would ruin my credit! A friend who had belonged to the same gym and quit a year before I did started receiving calls at the same time. Every day, multiple times a day, for several weeks. I had to get a lawyer to deal with it. Looks like the gym sold our info to a collections agency. HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!! I will never join a gym again!
February 10th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
did you change your license to NJ? If not you can show them your license with your RI address and they should let you out of it. Some gyms are awful though :/ The one I currently belong (but rarely go) to wouldn’t let me out of my contract even though my husband lost his job. It’s a $100/month gym too. Their reasoning was “you shouldn’t have made a year long commitment.” I was totally disgusted. I am waiting out the contract now and as soon as its over I plan to bad mouth the gym on every review site I can find them on.