Balls

We went shopping earlier, and I was able to relive the scary experience I had at Tesco Bar Hill last week. At the time I was shopping for bits for the office, and so was going around the non-grocery aisles which I normally avoid. During my perambulations, I happened to spot a number of fitness balance balls. Now, since taking up pilates, my parents have been urging me to acquire one of these, so I was sufficiently tuned in to notice them all. But they were everywhere! I passed no less than 5 distinct varieties, not all together, but spread out throughout various sections of the store - Fitness, Seasonal, Pilates/yoga (in an entirely different area to Fitness). I even thought I spotted tie-dyed balance balls, which I dismissed as a Tesco-induced hallucination, or perhaps a mangled shelf labelling system. Tie-dyed yoga mat bags seemed much more likely (yes, these not only exist, but are all over the online yoga shops I've looked at).

However, I was mistaken. Today I finally gave in and decided to get a ball, and also the Pilates ring I've been hankering after since we started using them in class. In John Lewis, it is clear that Pilates has become extremely mainstream (how depressing! There I was, thinking that for once I was still somewhat ahead of the curve having moved on a little from yoga). Not only could I choose between several manufacturers of silver/grey balance balls, in kits in combination with pumps or DVDs or hand weights, there were also pink-and-orange paisley or tie-dyed pattern ones! So I wasn't imagining them at Tesco, amazingly. I came home with a transparent green ball (no pump, but it did come with a lovely matching green string bag for storage) and a ring. After an exhausting 15 minutes I managed to inflate the ball (this is clearly why they are sometimes sold as workout balls), but then after I'd put the foot pump away I decided it wasn't fully inflated enough for me to sit on it correctly, so I'll have to have another go at that later. It's never going back in its string bag, though, that much is clear.