a giant, and humble thank you to coast magazine for asking me to participate in “behind the orange curtain“-an insider’s guide to orange county.

you’ve made my mom super happy, and those sweet things you said about me made me blush cherry red.

so those who have read the article have asked me, c’mon..jazzercise? really?

um…H to ells—yes!!! 

i cannot take one single credit for jazzercise. it is all my friend’s alexei macpherson’s {soon to be the newest instructor getting our grapevines in lateral perfection} discovery. alexei has been taking this for some time, touting the fun, aerobic benefits, and tone.

never ones to miss a 3-in-1 combo platter, my friend, and fellow yoga instructor danielle, joined alexei one warm evening to check out this fitness buffet.

as excited and anxious as i was for the opportunity to try a new endeavor, let’s be honest, it also was also somewhere where my five-year-old workout outfits had never been seen before, and i’d be considered au courant again. {as if i EVER was}.

driving up, i thought there must be some mistake, costa mesa SENIOR center?

but then my little embryo, danielle, finished a story involving the year she graduated from high school, and i knew i was in the right spot. can someone please direct me to the mah jong table?

after alexei and danielle wheelchaired me in, we found ourselves in “the” studio. equipped with its own stage, pretty maroon chairs, and two sets of banging speakers, one is all set for a MAJOR dance party. we were greeted by the nicest welcoming committee ever: donna, brenda, and the tiniest, sweetest, gal named shirley who for most of the class step-touched from side to side.

here i am filling out my bingo card.

one of the participants.

he was kind of a puss and had to sit down a lot…..

i don’t blame him. jazzercise is not for the faint-hearted. my heart rate ramped up high into anaerobic numbers, but i never felt i had to work very hard to get there.

in spin classes i REALLY have to hustle to push my body and heart into higher levels of training; mostly because i’m so conditioned for that type of exercise, but also because i’m only moving in one plane. in jazzercise we’re constantly switching planes of movement: rotating, abducting, adducting, flexing, extending> all the kinds of motion the body needs to stay balanced and strong.

the one hour class flew by. i seriously felt like i was on tour with beyonce’. the music was solid and the moves {at least my version-i did get scolded for being overly bouncy} were doable yet still felt challenging.

there was one a section of glute toning where i thought i may have the girls go fetch my wheelchair.

a non-stop standing bottom burnout, i kept looking around waiting for bodies to fall.

when we finally stopped {i think jesus intervened} i felt this little hand on my back, and there was my friend shirley who had been witnessing my glute meltdown…she offered the following words of wisdom:

“good luck gettin’ yerself off the can tonight sweetheart!“

thanks shirley….i’ll keep those encouraging thoughts with me…tonight….on the can.

awesome.

post-dance off i couldn’t stop smiling.

it’s been a long time since i felt so worked, but still energized after.

so thank you miss alexei for introducing jazzercise to me.

i can’t wait to be your biggest groupie!