On a crisp Sunday afternoon at the end of October, my Zenergy experience began. My fiancé Josh had recently been talking to his friend and he mentioned that he was doing a cycling class in South Hills that we needed to try. So we, along with another coworker, bought the First Ride Special and signed up for our first class.

On Sunday, October 29, 2017 at 4pm, we walked into the “treehouse” to have our first Zen experience. The stairs seemed daunting, as the butterflies kicked into overdrive. Slowly, I put one foot in front of the other and made it to the top. I turned the corner and there behind the desk was a sunbeam, who smiled her big smile and said, “Welcome to Zenergy”, and I instantly felt more at ease. She helped us sign in and then introduced us to the instructor who would be leading the class. They got us our shoes and went over some rules then ushered us into the dim room with the bikes and pulsing music. We put our stuff in the cubbies in the corner, went to our bikes, and went through the setup process so we could clip in and ride. The class started filling up and we were off!

I think I was out of the saddle for 1 or 2 whole songs and the rest of the time I thought I was going to die or my legs were just going to fall off, but I never stopped pedaling. I kept looking at my watch thinking “Surely it’s been 45 minutes” or “Oh my gosh, how much more can there be?!”. Then when there was about 10 minutes left, the instructor said “Ok, let’s grab those weights”. I thought, “Oh, 2lb weights, this should be easy. I’ve got this.”…I did not have it. I may have suffered a slight concussion when we were working our triceps. I cracked myself in the head with my 2lb weights because my arms were so tired.

After what seemed like an eternity, we were done with the weight segment and had our Zen Moment. A moment where you ride at your own pace, enjoy the endorphins your body has released, and just think about how awesome you feel. My body said “What the heck have you done, you better never take another one of these classes again”, but my endorphins were saying “You did it, look how strong you are, keep going”. The instructor started saying almost exactly what my endorphins were saying, but he was saying it to everyone and I was like, “YES! Shut up body you will do what I tell you to do”. And so it did.

I finished the class, unclipped myself from the bike, toweled off and slowly staggered my way to the lobby. As I walked from one room to the other, the instructor asked if I enjoyed the class and I could honestly answer yes, I did. I switched shoes and slowly made my way down the stairs. My body was paying me back for what I just made it do, but I still left with a smile. I now have 65 classes and beyond under my belt and have gone from 1 class a week to 4 classes a week. I know that no matter what type of day I have had outside the studio, when I clip in for those 45 minutes everything goes away and I leave in such a better frame of mind than when I went in. I love everything about Zenergy, but I especially love the instructors and staff. They make life better and I can never thank them enough for that.

– Natalie Wine