Getting Girls Hooked on Fitness

I haven't always been active.  In fact, if you'd told me in my twenties that I'd be making a living as a dance and fitness instructor I'd have laughed (and that would have been my workout for the day).  In my teens my activity was limited to whatever they had me doing in gym.  In my youth I did the requisite dance classes, and spent a fair number of years taking skating lessons, but I was never active outside of these organized classes.  What were the adults in my life doing?  A lot of sitting and driving. Even the teachers of the active classes I took did more directing than demonstrating.  Did this set me up for being a sedentary, unhealthily overweight adult?  Maybe...

One of the things that pushed me to open the studio was the desire to have a space where women could bring their girls to share workouts and dance classes.  Let girls stand, dance, and sweat next to women of all ages, shapes, and sizes to encourage an active lifestyle and positive self-esteem.

We have to do something to change how the next generation looks at fitness.

How many of us struggle with keeping our own health and wellness at the top of our to-do lists each week?  I have to believe that giving our daughters regular practice working out - in the company of our generation - will carry over into adulthood.  Think of it: if going to workout is a treat you get after completing that day's homework, how does that change your relationship with fitness?  How about the benefits of being able to get your workout in while spending quality time with your daughter?  This is a win-win scenario that has the power to change the world!

Will it work?  I think it already is...

Feeling...beautiful

A few days ago my daughter shared this Dove video on my timeline.  You've probably already seen it since it's making the rounds on the internet this week.  I watched it, I liked it, and I've been thinking about it ever since.

Today, after having seen it posted by friends and friends-of-friends since Monday, I started seeing links to blog posts like this one, speaking out against the video.  I couldn't quite see what people saw in the video that made them so upset (I hadn't read the anti-posts, just saw that they were linked).

Now that I've read one of the posts I'm left with the feeling of confusion.  Why can't we take a "you're beautiful" message at face value?  Yes, I know it's an advertising campaign and that their goal is to sell more of their products.  Yes, I know that the company in question owns another company that has horrible ads that are not meant to make me feel all strong and powerful as a woman.

But, see, I *do* feel all strong and powerful as a woman, and soaps and such aren't going to take that away from me.  What I see when I watch that video is a reminder to cut myself some slack.  I see cause for a celebration if even one of the women highlighted in the video walked away from that experience feeling better about herself than when she walked in.  I see the start of discussions on self-esteem potentially happening in houses across the nation, hopefully many of them with young girls involved.

Speaking of girls, also on my wall this week have been several posts from A Mighty Girl, a recent discovery of mine.  Following this page on Facebook has led to several great discoveries and, in general, a very positive girl-power vibe emanating from my news feed each day.  I know we need to help girls see their self-worth and power in things that have nothing to do with their looks.  I know that we are, as women, so very much more than pretty faces or butts or breasts or whatever the focus might be at any given moment.  I know that we have a serious problem with the decline of girls self-esteem (did you know that self-esteem PEAKS at 9 years of age? ) and feel that the negativity of the adult women they encounter is a significant factor.

It is for all these reasons that I like what this ad campaign is bringing to the table.  We need people and the media to, even for a moment...even riddled with ulterior motives, tell us all that we're beautiful.  I was not bothered by the fact that the majority of the women featured were white (didn't even occur to me).  I didn't pick up on the subtleties implied by the descriptors being used (thin apparently appeared over and over).  I saw women discovering how hard and negative they were towards themselves, and seeing themselves through another's eyes.  I heard them say they were beautiful.

You Are Beautiful.  I Am Beautiful.  YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.

Expectations - Bellydance BaseFusion

We are a cautious people.  We like to read reviews before buying an item or trying out  a recipe.  We like to choose our practitioners based on referrals from friends and family.  We like to see pictures and video of people and places before we meet them or plan a visit.  Having an idea of what is going to happen before it happens seems to make it easier to take that leap into the unknown.

So what can you expect at Hip Circle Studio classes?  I'm going to do my best to give you a peek into the different classes we offer through a series of "Expectations" posts.  Of course, seeing is believing, so I hope this is just enough information to help you give a class a try.  Nothing is a replacement for the live experience.

Bellydance BaseFusion

The Description - Discover the fun inherent in the basics of bellydance in this beginning level class. Each week will include a variety of moves to expose you to the basics of how the body moves in bellydance and the fusion styles used by Malik and Zahara Fusion. Regular practice in using combinations will prepare you for taking on Intermediate Bellydance. You’ll also work your way up to being comfortable with improvisational dancing thanks to the strong foundation presented in this class. Students can be as young as 8 and as old as the sun. Students under 12 must attend with their parent.  

Translation - the focus is on fun, this is a beginning level class (no experience necessary), you'll learn all sorts of moves, you'll practice free dancing, young  girls/teens are welcome, and there's another level class to aim for.

But, what's going  to happen when you walk in for your first class, right?

• You'll encounter women/girls who are different.  Honestly, I don't think we have 2 students that look enough alike to be confused for each other!
• You'll take off your shoes and socks.
• You'll get to choose a coin belt to borrow (unless you bring your own).
• You'll be greeted warmly by me and the other students.
• You'll move!  We do a gentle warm up to prep your heart, muscles, and joints, then get into the content for the week.  Each class ends with a 3-5 minute free dance time before we cool down and stretch.
• You'll chat! We're a friendly bunch and we while away our drills (yay, shimmies!) with light conversation.
• You'll laugh! Nothing is taken too seriously in this level - we're here to have a good time and get to know (maybe even love?) our bodies.  Critiques and such are saved for the intermediate level classes.
• You'll hear a variety of music, from all over the world, while dancing in class.

What don't you have to worry about in our BaseFusion class?

• Baring your belly.  You can be as dressed as you'd like in this class, though it is easiest for me to help you master the moves if you have form-fitting (think yoga style) clothing.  Feel better in a huge t-shirt and baggy sweats?  Go for it.
• Your two left feet.  Heck, bring three if you have them!  Perfection is not the goal in this class and we're not packed in like sardines so there's room for "interpretation" of directions.  Honest - if you've had bad experiences before that have left you with the notion that you "can't dance" this class can help you turn that around.  Everybody can bellydance.
• Competition.  There is no "winning" in our classes (at any level), so there's no need to compete.  I am beyond thrilled with the community of women we've gathered at the studio and how their first instinct is to help and welcome new folks.
• Fat/Skinny/Young/Old bashing.  ALL WOMEN ARE WELCOME!  Let me say that again...ALL WOMEN ARE WELCOME!  However you are, whoever you are, you can walk into the studio and know you'll be accepted.  Every.Body.CAN.Bellydance.

Now it's your turn.  Comment with your experiences from coming to Bellydance BaseFusion.  If you haven't been yet, come give it a try and then add your comments into the mix.  

Determination VS Distraction

While studying with Rachel Brice in Portland we all participated in a ritual she called “One-Word Check-in” where we went around the circle and were asked to sum up how we were feeling at the start of that day in one word.  Harder than you’d think, honestly!  Give it a try now – what one word would you use to sum up today?  I found the practice an interesting one in that the first word that came to mind was rarely the one I shared with the circle.  This was not because the first thought was wrong, exactly, but that when given some time (there were about 35 of us in the circle) other words floated up to the surface and presented themselves as a more correct summation of my feelings.  At any given moment I imagine I’m feeling quite a bit of different things, though it’s not too often that I take the time to identify them all.

Some of us from Initiation have continued this practice in a Facebook group created by Andrea to facilitate our continued dance practice away from the magic of that circle.  Here’s what I posted today:

Today I feel determined...I squeezed in 45 minutes of practice time even though I had to give up my "scheduled" (with myself on my calendar) time earlier in the day...I did a short DD-Hips followed by 18 minutes of drills (18 simple moves, 1 minute each)...I took the first step towards tackling my nemesis the choo choo shimmy...I forced myself to improv and made a breakthrough...and had a productive work day to-boot. Now I'm recharging before teaching this evening by nibbling on hummus and pea pods.

The thing is, when I was thinking about this blog post this morning I thought my word for today was going to be Distracted.  Distracted is true for today, too.  I’ve done about 2 million things, many of them before 10 am, and felt myself pulled in direction after direction, not feeling like I was being terribly successful at completing things along the way.  Due to my distraction I gave up my morning dance practice as scheduled, putting out several work-fires instead, but Determined wins.  Why?  When I looked back at my day in preparation for making my check in, my successes rose to the top despite the distracted environment I lived in today. 

In the end, isn’t it what floats to the top that matters the most?