Every time I walk into a new exercise class at the gym I feel a little anxious.  I imagine  myself falling down and everyone swarming around me.  In my head, I look up and see their laughing faces swirling around me but the room is silent.  And when I finally do stand up I fall back down because someone tied my shoes strings together.  This is why I only wear Velcro sneakers.  Not really.

The worst part about the classes are waiting around for it to begin.  If I don’t know anyone I sort of stand around and look busy fiddling with my sweatshirt or my water bottle while everyone else chats as if they are sorority sisters.  If I have nothing to fiddle with I sort of make eye contact and smile sheepishly as if I’m apologizing for being there.  Today I actually decided I would say hi to the pretty lady on my left, that way if I accidently stepped on her foot she’d be quick to forgive me.

The instructor began class by telling us to have fun and that she wouldn’t use a microphone.  That we should just watch her, listen to the music for changes, and have fun.   At first I panicked, “How will I know what to do if I can’t hear her!” but as it turned out it was really nice not to have to listen to a voice blaring “Left foot! You can do it! Work it!” and other cheerleadery type of instruction.  Back in high school and college I used to dance and I LOVED it.  I always wished I could have been a dancer (and a rockstar) but I was never that good. I started too late and could never catch up with the girls who started in “Wee Wigglers”.  To tell you the truth, I’m just now getting over the fact I quit ballet when I was 5 because had I kept it up I’m just “sure” I could have danced with Baryshnikov in Swan Lake.  Never mind the fact I’m 5’4″ and there was a misprint on my genetic lottery card saying “LOGS” instead of “LEGS”.  Back to my point.  Zumba was really fun.  It’s a combination of dance mostly latin inspired (but I did sense a little hip-hop and middle eastern influence) and well…. controlled jumping around with a few squats thrown in for good measure. The dance combinations were easy to follow yet challenging enough so you don’t feel like you are doing the hokey pokey.  Like most exercise, I found I could make it as challenging or easy as I wanted.  By the end of class, I felt like I had gotten a really great interval cardio workout but best of all the time flew by.  Fifty minutes felt more like 20. If you have a Zumba class in your area, check it out.  I bet you’ll have a lot fun and get a good workout to boot.  Here the Zumba website again if you are interested.

xoxo
j

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