A very stressful thing happened to me at work (from home) the other day and my immediate response was to walk out to my backyard and jump on my son’s trampoline. It was the only appropriate response. Thinking wasn’t going to help. Logic wasn’t going to help. Crying wasn’t going to help.
Jumping helped. Our trampoline is the best thing about working from home. It has added to my productivity immeasurably and should be compulsory in all workplaces.
A trampoline is a great teacher. My trampoline has taught me:
- To let go
Jumping on a trampoline is a feeling of being both in control yet slightly out of control. Even though you choose to do it, hurtling through the air doesn’t feel like a controlled act. For a couple of seconds you’re not in the world or of the earth. You’re in the air. Some place between the earth and space. This concept is all that fills my mind while I jump.
Bouncing up and down on our trampoline I’m put in mind of humans’ first efforts to fly. To get to that place no human can naturally go. Up, up..Now that COVID-19 has brought planes literally back to earth, jumping on a trampoline is the closest thing we’ll get to flying for a while.
- Silliness is King
It’s silly and so childish and feels ridiculous. That’s why it’s joyful. You cannot maintain dignity on a trampoline. You cannot conduct a serious conversation. You cannot be sad on a trampoline. You cannot feel hopeless. I haven’t tested any of this scientifically but believe it in my heart.
- It’s okay to flirt with danger
I am not a risk taker with anything physical. I wouldn’t even let my son take risks as a toddler- I outsourced my risk to day care where trained professionals could take charge if anything went wrong. “You wanna climb? Climb at day care. You wanna chew hard crackers while walking backwards? Do it at daycare.”
But on a trampoline the springs are never far away and one wrong bounce can result in an accident. I’m conservative by nature and the padding on our trampoline springs has perished. For me to jump so close to actual trampoline springs is seriously dancing with danger and it is exhilarating, (I’d get out more but I’m in lockdown #melbourne)
- Exercise is exercise
Exercise doesn’t need to be fancy. Experts always advise two things about exercise- do what you enjoy and mix it up. Give a trampoline a whirl. Get some wind in your hair. Let your pelvic floor really know it’s alive. Also, wear an underwire bra or things can get weird.
The benefits of a backyard trampoline session are immediate and so rewarding. Get out there!
