Am I Too Heavy For Zumba?

Yesterday morning, after my 8:30am Zumba class one of my participants asked me a question that threw me a bit.

"Am I too heavy for this class?"

What the what!?!

My answer; "Uh, Hell to the no! You are right where you need to be, and you are doin great!"

Quick description of her - late forties, maybe early fifties. Carrying extra weight, but definitely not the behemoth she must think she is! She keeps a good pace for herself in class, which is something that I stress at the beginning of each class.

So my first thought was, "Is it something I said?" I never make mention of skinny vs. heavy. At least I never intend to.

Then; was it that I used the song  Wobble for the first time in class? There is a refrain - "ey big girl make em' back it up, make em' back it up" (x4). If there is one thing I know about hip hop, Big Girls are a pretty cherished commodity!! The choreography that I set to the song was fun and sexy, even including a dance battle formation as part of the routine.(here's a Zumba dance battle vid I found).

Oh, wait a minute! What did ya see on the video? Yeah, and those "Big Girls" were movin, having fun being, sexy and sassy as well as having a great time!

Additional thought- "Man, I do not want anyone to feel like that!"

We are all on our own journey at each stage of our life. While Zumba is an exercise program intended to provide cardio and a fun way to lose weight if that is one's goal, its something else too.
When you can set your concerns aside for a moment (whether those concerns are small or ginormous), let lose, have fun and mix it up with the simple joy of communal glee (we are a social animal after all), it does something to you. It peels a layer off of the burden of the "impossible".  What bogs us down as "impossible" is different for each and every one of us.

Confidence!

I've witnessed people transform from just gathering up the courage to get on the other side of that viewing window and join in the Zumba fun.
Once you overcome one obstacle, it makes the next one in your path that much easier to overcome!
Perhaps my participant's thought came from someone in her life telling her that she was too heavy to do Zumba. I pity the fool! Some Miss Erin Slap Therapy might be in order!

What does a cross section of my class look like?

Teen, 20's, 30's on up to 70's! One lady turned 82 last month!
Every size and body type you can think of!
All beautiful!!!

By the way, in the locker room as I was chatting with a friend about how thrilled I was that my "Wobble" routine took on a life of its own, my participant in questioned commented on how fun it was too. That's not the important part. But this is- she looked happy and confident! YES!!!

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy the dance that is life!

Have you ever had a participant ask a question like this? Have you ever felt like this? Or known someone who has?

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