Zumba Certification

This Sunday I completed the Zumba certification course to become a licensed Zumba instructor! This is a BIG deal for me!

I was nervous & slightly intimidated before I actually showed up, (without a fun training buddy doing this with me.) How many people in the long-sold-out training would be professional fitness instructors? Already teaching other classes? Would I have the endurance to make it all day? We had to be at training by 8:15 AM...and it was non-stop until 6 PM. Yeeeeah.

I felt OK, though, as soon as I got into the studio room. There was a really encouraging vibe from the start, and I just jumped right in. Our "education specialist" Erick Santana began with an hour-long master class. I wanted to pace myself, but it's hard for a self-proclaimed show-off to not want to impress. :-P (Esp. in a situation like this where EVERYONE is *good*, I knew I had to work.) About 45 minutes in, Erick said he was going to preview a rhythm from the next level's training...and pulled ME up onstage with another instructor to demonstrate. I guess he saw I wasn't afraid to shake my hips, b/c it was a belly dance routine! :-P That sealed the deal on my confidence level. :-D

The rest of the day looked like this:
Warm Up Drill w/ Music
Basic Steps for Merengue
Lunch
Zumba Instructor Network info
Basic Steps for Salsa
Cueing
Basic Steps for Cumbia
Basic Steps for Reggaeton

I really felt awesome, b/c Erick pulled me aside to say what an "amazing, engaging personality I have" [just while dancing; we never spoke otherwise] and that I will be "such an incredible, dynamic instructor." Wow. Wow. Wow.

This is a major "personal best" for me, and I am SO THANKFUL God calmed my nerves *AND* my itchy, ant-bitten feet! [I was so scared to wear socks & shoes and have the friction make the itch even worse. Thankfully, I wasn't bothered by them until we walked in the house last night! PRAISE!] Now I'm giving finding the perfect classes for me to teach up to Him, too. I talked with the owner of Sissy's dance studio today, and I need to follow up with church. There's a lot of demand, but we'll see if I can fill classes during the hours *I* want to teach, (while the kids are in school. I don't want this to take my time away from them, and I still have [& want] to be our primary activity chauffeur. :-D The military base here just posted a want ad in the paper today for a Zumba instructor, but the hours are 6-7 PM Mondays & Wednesdays = impossible for me with football/cheer/t-ball at those times. Praying for God to provide & work out some sessions b/t 9 AM & 2 PM for me! :-))

So I'm excited to see what God does with me through this! Now to bed...b/c I am feeling muscles I did not even know existed...and they're aching more & more with each passing hour. :-P

[Erick Santana, Zumba Education Specialist and *ME*, Licensed Zumba Instructor :-D]