And from the Proving Rose Has A Life Outside Writing In November file

[missroserose]

I went with my friend Niki to try out Zumba for the first time this evening.

Holy. Crap.

Between the yoga I've been bragging about, and the regular biking up the hill I've (also) been bragging about, I'm probably in the best shape I've been in since I was a teenager. But, damn. There were still several bits where I was nearly certain I was going to keel over.

That said, I *did* manage to keep moving for the whole class, thanks in no small part to the instructor's excellent sense of when to slow things down for a bit. Additionally, it was good practice for overcoming my perfectionism - I've never been very good at learning dance moves on the fly (I can usually do arms, or legs, but trying to integrate both at once leaves me in a tangle), so I had to get over my fear of looking stupid and my need to be perfect at something on the first go. Fortunately the instructor was very encouraging, and I did my best to just keep going as best I could. (The incorporation of yoga moves was particularly amusing - thinking "Oh hey, this is Warrior III! {see icon}" right in the middle of some very fast-paced Latin-sounding song made me laugh from the incongruity.)

And between that and writing, I'm going to drop into bed now. But -- whee, endorphins!

Comments

[tygenco-x.livejournal.com]

Zumba? Is that strictly on the dance end of things or does it lean toward defense like Capoeira does?

(frakking blood clot has put a HUGE crimp on my exercises; I can't even do the majority of the stuff I was learning in PT now, because of the [well meaning] fear that it'll make things worse; the palsy, while creepy, hasn't had any impact on that at least)

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Zumba is pretty much strictly dance. Capoeira always struck me as nifty, ever since I read an article about it in Filament, but I don't think anyone in the area practices/teaches it.

Zumba is definitely not for someone just starting out with an exercise program. Once you've got some endurance, though, I recommend it - it's fun, and useful next time you go out dancing. :)

Sucks about the blood clot, but here's to getting better soon. *hug*