“Move to the beat of your own heart,” my mama has always told me, “As long as it’s your own rhythm, you are doing everything right”.
This same concept applies to Cardio Dance at the Rec Center; it doesn’t matter how you interpret the beat of the music: as long as you are moving, challenging yourself, and doing your personal best, you are the greatest cardio dancer out there!
I truly appreciated my mother’s wise words at my first class. I was terrified as I walked into the dance room because I had no idea how to dance! Before the music even started, I was embarrassed; I scanned around the room and tired my best to decipher those who had as little experience with dancing as I had. It was incredibly difficult; just like everything else in life, at a first glance, there is absolutely no way to measure how much competency someone might have.
The music began and the anxiety sank in. The instructor began dancing and we were to follow their moves. While most looked liked they were effortlessly gliding across the floor, I was laboring through the motions. As the class continued, I began to pick up the patterns of each dance move; it became easier to assume the next motion and emerge into the upcoming swing. With each turn I learned the mantra of cardio dance; just to vibe along with the punches (literally, we do air punches throughout our dances. It’s great for the arms). In short, once you enter the dance room, the only expectation is to simply be. Regardless of the day you had, all of our worries, insecurities, and doubts radiate from our pours and scatter across the floor while dancing; at that moment, they don’t matter now. Only you matter. In the end, nobody cared how they looked while they danced; they just let the beat take over their body and moved every which way It took them. It was incredibly freeing to preform and realized that all of us already won by showing up.
Every class I attend, I assume my position in the front row, eager to begin class right across the mirror. I look at myself and love what I see.