What I learnt from one month of Zumba

Hi guys! 

Firstly I'd like to wish any Indian readers out there a very Happy Holi! 

Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours celebrates the arrival of spring, good harvests and the symbolic victory of good over evil. A quick Google search will be able to acquaint you with the entire history if you would like to read more :) It is quite a colourful affair, as the name suggests and usually involves throwing fistfuls of coloured powder and water balloons at unsuspecting strangers. Ok, maybe not strangers. Unsuspecting siblings and mums and dads and friends is a-okay. Don't throw red and green powder into strangers eyes, just don't.

Anyway, the only relation between Holi and the topic of today's blog post i.e. Zumba is that both involve considerable amounts of running and jumping and exercise in general without one realising it. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of Zumba, it is essentially a form of mostly cardio exercise that incorporates dance and aerobics moves into a routine of about an hour. I think it originated in Latin America if I'm not mistaken.

So recently my uni decided to hold Zumba classes at our campus, and after much deliberation ( five minutes ), I signed up for them. For reasons unknown, ( waddup Killers reference! ) they were discontinued after a month, but here are the reasons I joined and was quite glad I did!

Exercise, obviously. I had been on a bit of a health spree in the holidays and thought it was the perfect continuation of my exercise routine into my college schedule.

Now, I said earlier that I signed up for the class instantly. What followed was a few days of gnawing at my nails wondering if I had made a huge mistake. This might seem like strange behaviour, but trust me when I say I'm quite the uncoordinated human being. I DO NOT dance in public, unless the intention is to be an awkward mess. Hence I was terrified at the thought of attempting to sway my hips from side to side, leave alone move more than two parts of my body simultaneously, in front of strangers. Or worse, in front of people I knew.

I knew it shouldn't be such a huge ordeal and that I should learn to take myself less seriously and this was one of my prime reasons for joining. If one of my resolutions this year was to get out of my comfort zone, I had to do it the right way. Not merely get out of the comfort zone that is my bed.

So I went for the first class with a bunch of my friends, open to anything that was to take place. If I liked it, great! If I didn't I could think of it as the first and last dance class I would ever take, and have a funny story to share in ten years after overcoming initial mortification.

Fortunately, it was the former. The class was great! I realised I wasn't the only awkward one and for most of the class everyone was just so busy in trying to keep up with the instructor you really did not have any time to look at who was tripping over their own feet and who was making professional ballerinas jealous. Before we knew it, the hour was up and everybody looked like they had had a great time! I knew I had.

And so the classes continued and it became easier to get into the routine every class. I got a wee bit fitter. And then mystical forces intervened and the classes got suspended abruptly.

What I was most happy about though was that I don't think I'll hesitate too much to join another class in the future now. It really wasn't that bad, voluntarily putting yourself in the position of public humiliation. Quite fun to be honest, after the first few moments of awkwardness. Unfortunately, my exercise routine has undergone a drastic decline since then. I think it's time to bring out the old 7-minute workout app again.

Have you guys ever tried Zumba? What is the fitness mantra that you swear by? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time,