A colleague has lost a lot of weight recently and also has increased energy. However, her quest for an exercise routine that is enjoyable as well as fruitful remained unfulfilled. She had tried health club exercise classes and walking to keep the weight off but they did not offer her enough motivation to continue. Then she saw a community education class for belly dancing.
It was described as a fun activity that firms muscles, increases cardiovascular stamina and also improves flexibility.
She approached several of us at work to know if we would like to join her for the classes. They would be conducted twice a week for the next five weeks and were held from 6:30 to 7:30 after work. Since I live far from work, I did not want to get home after 8:30 twice a week. Though it sounded like fun, I declined. Many other co-workers declined as well since it would be after dinner hour when they would get home and most need to be home with their children. It came as a surprise when the most shy of all my colleagues agreed to take the classes.
Everybody was quite surprised that she would want to do this.
The day after the first class, they reported that they needed to buy scarves that would be used while dancing. These would help them keep in flow with the music. Some of the segments in belly dancing also required them to use finger cymbals to keep the beat. All of us who had declined going for the classes were glad we had done so. I just couldn’t picture myself clinking cymbals and twirling scarves! The shy colleague did not have much to share about the classes. Three weeks later, they needed to purchase fabrics for making outfits for belly dancing. All of them were going to wear these outfits for their last night of classes. The instructor hoped that several of them would continue using belly dancing as a form of exercise. It was her idea that the outfits would motivate them to continue belly dancing.
Most of us wanted to go and watch the last class of belly dancing. We were excited about seeing our co-workers dressed in their costumes and twirling scarves while they belly danced. Over the last five weeks, both of them had toned muscles and the shy colleague was more outgoing now. The classes were conducted in a local junior high school’s gym. There were four of us who entered the dark gym and waited by the back door to watch. It was unbelievable; the way the shy co-worker danced so gracefully to music and was not even aware of our presence! No doubt, the belly dancing lessons had given her a toned body but had also boosted her confidence and self esteem.
Written by ja_schmidt
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