Zumba Love

A few weeks ago, a fellow Zumba instructor posted this on Facebook (please ignore the obvious grammar problems). Since I hadn't yet taught a real class, I didn't think I could claim the title of Zumba instructor. But now I can.

Whether it's teaching a song to 60 Zumba-holics or teaching a whole class to 8 beginners, whether it's teaching a group of young women for Mutual or just having fun with a few friends in my living room, I've found the place where I belong. It gets me out of bed in the morning and off the couch in the evening. I'm not the world's greatest Zumba instructor, and I never will be, but I love, love, love sharing something I'm passionate about with others—and then seeing them love it almost as much as I do, even if they don't know the difference between a salsa and a merengue. And the fact that I can have fun and sweat and get in better shape while I'm doing it is just a bonus.

This is why I spend hours working on choreography. This is why the top stations on my Pandora account are now Latin ones and why it's more likely you'll get Zumba music in my car than a normal radio station. This is why I buy too many Zumba clothes (no, just kidding, that's just because I like Zumba clothes). Sharing the Zumba love is what it's all about.

P.S. If you've ever wondered if instructors look at themselves in the mirror while they're teaching, the answer is a resounding no. There are two reasons. One, it's really hard to teach if you aren't looking at your students and figuring out how they're doing. Two, we all know there's just way too much truth in this picture: