my first class

I taught my first class on Tuesday morning!!!!

So the studio manager asked if I was interested in teaching morning classes. I agreed, and told him to set the date, so that I would have a target deadline and push myself to practice. When he said, "next week", I panicked and almost chickened out! But I thought, hey, if not now then when? Dalé baby!! (Keep hearing Pitbull use this Spanish word and finally Googled it. It means 'Bring it on!' Woot!)

So I had a week to practice! I've been going for Zumba classes for around 9 months and you would think I could do it in my sleep already. Well, teaching is a totally different ball game. During classes we just follow the instructor and do not have to remember the steps. I can follow well, but am awful at remembering and anticipating the steps. 

Also, as the instructor is the mirror image of the student, I had to flip everything around! So after starting on the right for so long, I had to get used to starting on the left and doing the opposite of what I have been doing all this while! Another thing I had to incorporate into the routines, as an instructor, was giving visual cues (hand signals).

Now I know and really appreciate all the work put into every song!! The hours of practice!! When I do something, I want to make sure I do it well, so I practiced for hours everyday. When I wasn't dancing in front of the mirror, I was listening to my music playlist and visualizing!

Well, Tuesday finally came and I was so nervous! I was mostly worried about blanking out and freezing on stage! Fortunately I had wonderful friends and sisters who came to support me and I only made a couple of minor mistakes! Phew!

When I got to the cool down song I was so happy and relieved!! Home stretch!! I was grinning like the Cheshire Cat! After class, I was so flooded with relief and almost walked in front of an oncoming car! Lol!

Anyhow, I'm proud to report that I survived my first class!! Woot!

Yesterday, Thursday, I did the 8pm night class instead, to replace our instructor who was away. I wasn't as nervous anymore, but the night crowd is more advanced and thus had higher expectations, so there was a little anxiety. Also, there were more students; over 40.

However, it turned out to be a blast, with more amazing friends coming to support me and making the class noisy and so much fun!! Love you guys!!

So I should be giving regular classes from now on. Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9am - 10am. Hopefully I can improve and become a rockin' ZIN!

Zumba has really changed my life! Who would've thought couch potato me would one day become a fitness instructor!! Lol! Life is full of surprises, and I like it that way!

Note: Photos are taken by Alexius Wee of Exhilarate Fitness Studio