We thank Erika, an Italian expat who has been living in Bucharest for a few years now, who tells us how she has rediscovered how important moving is in life, especially at these difficult times.
And all of a sudden, when everybody’s life is hanging on a small thread of hope, trying to follow a family routine, trying to organise each and every day, the only steady thing in my life is moving!
Sport has always been a big part of my life. First with skiing races, then swimming, the gym and finally becoming a fitness instructor with a lot of run races and triathlon in the middle. I practically can’t live without.
So, locked in my house in Bucharest, which really doesn’t feel like home, now more than ever, I had to create my little corner where I can feel alive simply by moving and training. I keep training, even though all my planned races seem to get cancelled. I keep hoping that at least one will be on, who knows when.
In the first days of the lockdown I continue doing my usual exercise. Sometimes I try to include the kids. Strangely it doesn’t feel right. I don’t get from my training routine that satisfaction, that energy, that power that sport only can give. Something is missing.
I decide to go for a run and while running, I start thinking. That is exactly why I like running, because it frees up your mind. As by magic, the answer to my doubt is there. I am not feeling alive while training because I am doing it in a very selfish way. It is not a joy, it is almost a must, just because after sitting down with the kids to help them home schooling I have to get up and move.
No, this is not the right reason to move. There must be something else. The idea is then born. I will write down my own workout and I will dedicate one per day to each one of the friends around the world I am lucky to have. Because in this crazy situation we need to try and help each other in any way we can, at home. I can, with sport.
And all of a sudden, when everybody’s life is hanging on a thread of hope, when normality has disappeared, I have found my way. In my little corner, for half an hour, sometimes one hour, I am with everybody doing what I love.
I start smiling again, because my rope skipping and my push ups are not just for me. They are for everybody, because movement is life and because now like never before this little sentence acquires a very important meaning.
Let’s think about our muscles, of course, about our heart, but most of all about our minds and the energy that we can get from a jump, an effort, a big sweaty session!
It started like this. From the day of that little run I began posting one workout per day to a friend of mine. More and more requests kept pouring in.
It is my way to think we can arrive to the beach this summer wearing a bikini… No, actually this is not the reason behind it all :-). It is simply because it makes us feel good!
Soon one of the workouts will be dedicated to Expatclic. You can find all the others on my Fit Time Bucharest Facebook page or on my erikatorazzina Instagram account.
Erika Torazzina
Bucharest, Romania
April 2020
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