Zumba Nation

After a year and a half of attending Zumba classes 1-2 times weekly (ok, most weeks), I decided to become a Zumba instructor! The trainings don't usually happen in New Plymouth and the women who run the classes here were heading down for an advanced instructor training so I joined them and started the first level!

It was down near Wellington, but not in the city. I hopped the bus south as the course I was on was earlier than the other ones. So, one full day of learning the four basic rhythms and associated steps and I am officially licensed to teach Zumba! There's lots and lots of practice before I'll have enough of a repertoire to do the whole class but I'm planning to debut my first song in a couple weeks at a Saturday class! So, I'll be running through it a couple times daily until then!

Another local woman who did the training, the instructor and I.

I've found is that Zumba is such a fun fitness activity. It doesn't feel like exercise and yet it's so good for your fitness. The cool part of the class was that it focused more on how to include everyone rather than how you have to be perfect at what you do. Of course, leading well is important but it was more about how Zumba changes people's lives. And you hear it all the time from people who go to class - they build confidence, they get in shape, they overcome injuries and illness with the smiles and community it offers. So I'm really looking forward to getting more involved and see what ripples my classes cause in people's lives - and well, that sounds pretty arrogant but if you've been to Zumba you'll know it's not... it's really just good fun with awesome benefits!