When I first started my journey taking dance fitness classes, I was about to turn 36.  I was overweight, unhealthy and unhappy. Having recently gone through a few bad breakups, stuck in a career I didn’t love and miles away from any kind of fitness regimen, I was just kind of lost.  

THE FIRST STEPS

I remember attending my very first PlyoJam class in the summer of 2014. You know what the biggest struggle was?  Figuring out what the hell to wear! I hadn’t worked out in ages, I was adamantly against showing my arms, nothing felt good, the struggle was so real! I would look in my closet and try convince myself not to go to class because I had nothing that fit right. I had done this countless times in the past, so the internal conversation of “I should just skip it” was alarmingly familiar. After trying on countless baggy t-shirts and leggings, I finally settled on something and headed out the door.

WALKING INTO THE STUDIO

Next hurdle…getting out of the car and walking into the dance fitness class.  I remember driving to the class, blasting Eminem, trying to pump up my confidence and quiet my fear. “You’re a great dancer,” I told myself.  “You will just stand in the back and do what you can!” So I got my butt out of the car. My memory is as clear as day of walking into the studio. Everyone seemed to know each other.  Everyone looked adorable in their tanks and Lulu leggings. It was intimidating AF!

GETTING LOST IN THE MUSIC

I stood in the back, eyes flitting around the studio, waiting to get started. I was so anxious, but once the music began, I felt a little more at ease. The music filled the room and I felt like I could almost hide in the folds of its rhythm and tempo.  As Jason began to teach, the moves felt super fast and hard to follow (funny to me now!) but OH MY GOSH it felt so good to move my body, to feel the sweat running down my temple! Four songs in I was addicted and I had this burning excitement in my tummy because I sensed something big could and would come from this class I had found!

FINDING THE COURAGE

I’ll never really know where I found the gumption to try that very first dance fitness class.  I’m not sure what finally quieted the internal “what’s the point, I’m not going” dialogue. I think it may have been the little voice in the back of my head that kept saying, “something has to change.”

Maybe I was tired of my own excuses.  

Maybe I was tired of feeling down.

Maybe it was some kind of muscle memory from years past when I used to be an athlete and I knew how good endorphins made me feel.  

Maybe my poor little soul was tired of my brain being so mean to me.

Whatever it was, I’m so thankful for that initial spark. 

But maybe I need to give myself more credit.  Yes I was fearful and unsure and embarrassed. But I have also had a really deep internal strength.  I’ve accomplished a lot and I’ve overcome a lot, so would I really let the fear of a dance fitness class get me?  Hell no!

WINDS OF CHANGE

And thank God I didn’t. I walked into that class and it changed my life forever. That day was the beginning of an 8 week mission.  It was summer break and at the time I was a teacher off for the summer. I ended up taking forty PlyoJam classes in eight weeks. I lost 26 pounds.  What I lost in pounds, I gained ten times over in confidence, health, inspiration, happiness and a newly found zest for life!

I’ll save the rest of my story (how I went on to become the co-founder of PlyoJam, teach privates to James Corden and Adelle, be featured on the news, and teach PlyoJam to hundreds of my own students) for another blog.

But for today I want you to think about what’s stopping you.  What roadblocks and hurdles are in your way. How can I help you find that SPARK to shove those roadblocks aside and take a chance on something scary and new?  Because trust me, it could change your life.