By Jean Steiger
I'm a klutz.
When I was five, my mother ignored the obvious and enrolled me in a dance class with other girls my age. My lasting memories of that dance class are the teacher yelling at me because I was always out of step and a photo I still have of our class dressed in matching frilly skirts that was taken at a recital.
I'm in the back row and I was the shortest girl in the class.
In grade school, gym was a nightmare. When a classmate picked students for a team sport, I was always the last one standing. Occasionally, a good friend was the team leader and she would choose me early on, even when she knew I would doom the team to last place.
In high school, my friends prodded me to join GAA, the Girls Athletic Association. I was a member of a girls' basketball team and I don't remember how we did but I'd imagine we didn't win many games. These were the days when each girl covered a small designated area on the floor so we didn't move all over the court. I'm guessing this kept me from doing too much damage.
As time went by, I went to great lengths to avoid team sports. At one point, I attempted golf but gave up when other golfers yelled at me because I was taking too long to complete each hole. On one course, I broke a record for the highest number of strokes for nine holes. It wasn't long before I quit counting. Finally, I quit golf.
When my daughter was playing on a softball team in junior high, someone organized a mother/daughter game. I got a call from one of the mothers asking me if I wanted to play on the mothers team, and I said absolutely not; I was a disaster on any team. Our family attended the game and about half way through, it was obvious the mothers were drubbing the kids. The woman who had called me came over and asked if I had been telling the truth about my skills. She said the moms didn't want to beat the girls but they didn't want to throw the game on purpose.
Finally - I had been called to a higher purpose! The moms put me on first base and my total inability to catch or hit any ball made it possible for the girls to regain a solid lead over their mothers in only two innings.
The strange thing about this klutzy malady is that I love physical activity when I'm on my own. I like long walks and hiking down forest trails. I love to swim and sometimes, I feel more comfortable in the water than out of it. Kayaking is one of my favorite activities and I'd ride a bike for hours if I wasn't afraid of falling.
With this in mind, I went on a search for an exercise class that would fit my needs. First, I tried yoga.
It only took a few classes before I realized my body was never going to bend in the poses the yoga teacher was demonstrating. The classes seemed endless and my thoughts often wandered off in other directions.
Next came Tai chi and the results were pretty much the same. We were standing and moving a little more but it was still too slow for me. The poses felt unnatural and I was afraid I would break out laughing when the class went into full grunt mode.
I moved on to Zumba, which was definitely fast-paced and I enjoyed moving to music. But it wasn't long before my knees started to object. The Zumba routines included a lot of jumping and stair-stepping which was hard on older joints. I tried to stay on the ground but it was difficult to change the steps.
At one point, I decided to work with a personal trainer. At first, it was great. I met with him a couple of times a week and he put me through a series of exercises. Gradually, he added more and pushed me to work harder. I loved having someone to guide me. Then my bad knee started aching, my back felt like it had been stepped on and I couldn't turn my neck. When I dropped a weight on my toe, I decided I had had enough. I would stick to walking and swimming.
Soon after we moved to Florida, I found an exercise class I had never heard of before. It was called NIA (Neuromuscular Integrative Action). The first class was completely different than anything I had ever tried before. The music was fun, the instructor led us in simple dance steps that even I could follow, and the routines repeated enough for me to learn them. The instructor explained that each person in the class should always do what felt best for her body. She demonstrated the different levels of kicking or bending and cautioned each of us to listen to our bodies. Half way through the hour, she told us to do our own dance; to follow the music and move in whatever way we felt our bodies needed.
I glanced at the other women in class and they were each dancing their way; stepping, twirling, bending - some fast, some slow, some simply waving their arms - most with eyes closed. Nobody cared what anyone else was doing and nobody was passing judgment on someone else's ability. We spent the last ten minutes of the class on the floor on mats doing "Floor Play" which was, once again, moving our arms and legs, our core, any way that felt good to us.
I soon learned that NIA blends martial arts, Yoga, dance and aerobics. Another words, all the fitness routines I'd already tried and rejected blended into a fun, non-impact dance routine! I knew, without doubt, I had found my exercise home.
For me, NIA transforms that five-year old klutz into a graceful ballerina; the grade-school team failure into a successful athlete and the exercise-adverse adult into a passionate NIA disciple! I no longer feel klutzy- although I still avoid team sports (some things never change!). So, for today, for this moment in time, I plan to keep dancing with NIA!
A giant note of thanks to my intrepid NIA instructor: Gail Condrick
Please visit my blog: http://www.stayingyounginflorida.com
Watch for my book, which will be available online soon: "Moving Into Murder"
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jean_Steiger
I'm a klutz.
When I was five, my mother ignored the obvious and enrolled me in a dance class with other girls my age. My lasting memories of that dance class are the teacher yelling at me because I was always out of step and a photo I still have of our class dressed in matching frilly skirts that was taken at a recital.
I'm in the back row and I was the shortest girl in the class.
In grade school, gym was a nightmare. When a classmate picked students for a team sport, I was always the last one standing. Occasionally, a good friend was the team leader and she would choose me early on, even when she knew I would doom the team to last place.
In high school, my friends prodded me to join GAA, the Girls Athletic Association. I was a member of a girls' basketball team and I don't remember how we did but I'd imagine we didn't win many games. These were the days when each girl covered a small designated area on the floor so we didn't move all over the court. I'm guessing this kept me from doing too much damage.
As time went by, I went to great lengths to avoid team sports. At one point, I attempted golf but gave up when other golfers yelled at me because I was taking too long to complete each hole. On one course, I broke a record for the highest number of strokes for nine holes. It wasn't long before I quit counting. Finally, I quit golf.
When my daughter was playing on a softball team in junior high, someone organized a mother/daughter game. I got a call from one of the mothers asking me if I wanted to play on the mothers team, and I said absolutely not; I was a disaster on any team. Our family attended the game and about half way through, it was obvious the mothers were drubbing the kids. The woman who had called me came over and asked if I had been telling the truth about my skills. She said the moms didn't want to beat the girls but they didn't want to throw the game on purpose.
Finally - I had been called to a higher purpose! The moms put me on first base and my total inability to catch or hit any ball made it possible for the girls to regain a solid lead over their mothers in only two innings.
The strange thing about this klutzy malady is that I love physical activity when I'm on my own. I like long walks and hiking down forest trails. I love to swim and sometimes, I feel more comfortable in the water than out of it. Kayaking is one of my favorite activities and I'd ride a bike for hours if I wasn't afraid of falling.
With this in mind, I went on a search for an exercise class that would fit my needs. First, I tried yoga.
It only took a few classes before I realized my body was never going to bend in the poses the yoga teacher was demonstrating. The classes seemed endless and my thoughts often wandered off in other directions.
Next came Tai chi and the results were pretty much the same. We were standing and moving a little more but it was still too slow for me. The poses felt unnatural and I was afraid I would break out laughing when the class went into full grunt mode.
I moved on to Zumba, which was definitely fast-paced and I enjoyed moving to music. But it wasn't long before my knees started to object. The Zumba routines included a lot of jumping and stair-stepping which was hard on older joints. I tried to stay on the ground but it was difficult to change the steps.
At one point, I decided to work with a personal trainer. At first, it was great. I met with him a couple of times a week and he put me through a series of exercises. Gradually, he added more and pushed me to work harder. I loved having someone to guide me. Then my bad knee started aching, my back felt like it had been stepped on and I couldn't turn my neck. When I dropped a weight on my toe, I decided I had had enough. I would stick to walking and swimming.
Soon after we moved to Florida, I found an exercise class I had never heard of before. It was called NIA (Neuromuscular Integrative Action). The first class was completely different than anything I had ever tried before. The music was fun, the instructor led us in simple dance steps that even I could follow, and the routines repeated enough for me to learn them. The instructor explained that each person in the class should always do what felt best for her body. She demonstrated the different levels of kicking or bending and cautioned each of us to listen to our bodies. Half way through the hour, she told us to do our own dance; to follow the music and move in whatever way we felt our bodies needed.
I glanced at the other women in class and they were each dancing their way; stepping, twirling, bending - some fast, some slow, some simply waving their arms - most with eyes closed. Nobody cared what anyone else was doing and nobody was passing judgment on someone else's ability. We spent the last ten minutes of the class on the floor on mats doing "Floor Play" which was, once again, moving our arms and legs, our core, any way that felt good to us.
I soon learned that NIA blends martial arts, Yoga, dance and aerobics. Another words, all the fitness routines I'd already tried and rejected blended into a fun, non-impact dance routine! I knew, without doubt, I had found my exercise home.
For me, NIA transforms that five-year old klutz into a graceful ballerina; the grade-school team failure into a successful athlete and the exercise-adverse adult into a passionate NIA disciple! I no longer feel klutzy- although I still avoid team sports (some things never change!). So, for today, for this moment in time, I plan to keep dancing with NIA!
A giant note of thanks to my intrepid NIA instructor: Gail Condrick
Please visit my blog: http://www.stayingyounginflorida.com
Watch for my book, which will be available online soon: "Moving Into Murder"
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jean_Steiger
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