Zumba & Nature walks

May 2019 Reflection

I was able to attend another session of the largest Zumba class in the United States, which happens to be in my hometown. It was really fun, but I always get very easily worn out, as the class is run at a much higher pace than my usual classes at them YMCA. Another different dance experience I had this month was at my friend's birthday party. She had "Just Dance" on her video game console, which is a game in which players hold their remote and copy the dancers on the screen. I do not normally like to do things that put me at the center of attention, but this time I played several songs, and was surprised to discover not only how well I performed according to the video game software, but also how well the other partygoers thought I did, too! Thus, I realized that all of the hours I've put in on Zumba have paid off and I really have grown in my skills.

March 2018 Reflection

I have been able to go to the Zumba classes at the YMCA at least twice a week for the past few months, and I feel way more confident. This is because of multiple factors, one being that I know many of the faces that I see around, and am more comfortable being in close proximity with them. Perhaps more importantly, I now know most of the dances to the regular songs, and I have noticed my movements getting more smooth. I am also able to stand more in the middle of the crowd, where I cannot always see the instructor. I want to continue to come in order to increase my stamina for the class, as I currently have to take a couple breaks throughout, or else my body gets too tired.

Fall 2018 Reflection

After not going to more than a handful of classes over the summer, the first few weeks back in Zumba classes were challenging because I had lost a lot of my built up lung capacity, as well as skills and memory of the different moves for the songs. However, after the first few classes I rapidly built back up my grace and technical abilities. I have also learned that although there are larger Zumba classes across town with more experienced participants, I would rather dance in the classes at the YMCA because the music played there is more based in Latin-American music and involves choreographies from Latin-American folk dances. This in turn draws more Latinas to the group and helps build more intercultural bridges in our community! Not to say that this does not happen in the other classes, as I haven't been to them all, but essentially I just see this happening very conspicuously.

Zumba, 9/22/17

I went to the Zumba class at the local YMCA on a Friday night. It was fifty minutes long, and two instructors led the class in differing choreographies to latin-sounding music.

It was very satisfying to get out of the house and meet with other people from the community to do something fun and to also get exercise. It was challenging to keep up by the end of class, but I tried my best, knowing there are not many opportunities for me to get aerobic exercise in my week at school.

18 July 2018

Although I forgot to take a picture because I was having so much fun with friends, I did take a beach walk today in Oceanside, CA. However, due to the burning temperature of the dry sand, the beach walk turned into a swim rather than a walk. The beach we went to did have a really long shallows before reaching the breakers, so during our boogie boarding and body surfing we did a considerable amount of walking through the 3' deep water to get back into the bigger waves. While beach walking in general can be more challenging than walking on flat ground, this created even more resistance so it was overall a more challenging exercise.