Shea
Remember when we were young and horribly critical of our bodies? What the hell were we thinking? Those bodies were strong, smooth, and for the most part they worked. Don’t you wish you could go back and say to your younger self, “Hey,you’re looking pretty good. Stop being so hard on yourself and enjoy what you’ve got.” And yes, that goes for you men too. This is not a gender issue. I remember those Atlas mail order tension bands that were supposed to turn 97 pound weaklings into muscle men. Those ads were not aimed at the proud and secure.
I’ve belonged to one kind of gym or another since my late 20s. I started exercising to keep my weight down but to be honest it didn’t always work. ( I learned the hard way that you actually have to stick with the program and not eat a whole sleeve of Oreos for lunch.) Now I exercise so I can get out of bed in the morning. Mornings can hurt. It’s a battle to stay ahead of the wave.
There have been all kinds of fitness movements over the years and I’m pretty sure I have tried them all. The current rage is Zumba . (If you don’t know about Zumba then you must be sleeping through the night and missing all the 3 a.m. infomercials.) I have to admit that I love Zumba! It’s not just a great workout, it’s fun. When I look around the room though, I’m pretty sure I’m the oldest one in the class. That’s ok. Somebody has to take the honors and it might as well be me. I actually do a fair job of keeping up unless we have to do hip hop moves. Hip hop totally confuses me.
My Zumba instructor, Shea, has a routine to the song “Jigglin’ “. She looked real hard to find us a clean version because unlike “Louie, Louie”, the real version of “Jigglin’ ” is filthy. Still, it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it. According to Shea, if you keep jiggling when you stop, then you know you’re doing it right. Hey, no problem. I excel at this. Did she mean arms too? Despite what she says, I’m a little concerned that if I’m still jiggling perhaps I shouldn’t be doing this in public.
The majority of the women in my class are at least 20 years younger than me. That should make me self-conscious but quite frankly, they can’t keep the jiggle going nearly as well as I can. Their butts are still too firm and implanted breasts just don’t move as freely as the ones we had to grow on our own. But even with all the cosmetic help available these days, I sense that most women are still not entirely comfortable shaking their ass all over the gym. Shea helps us through this with cheers and high fives for provocative moves. She makes us laugh and we love her for this. I really have no idea how ridiculous I must look. Nor do I care. And for me, that’s the best part of the class…letting go of my inhibitions…finally.
sixtiestosixties 
More than once I’ve wanted to meet my younger self … and smack her. 😉
Oh, don’t I know it!
I have no doubt, when she was a youngster she danced at my studio, and she was a WOWSA back then too…….whoot whoot! lol…….n wheeler
Some famous woman in her 60s once said (on Oprah’s show, surely) that if she could go back in time, she would have worn her bikini all-year-long, never changing out of it. I try to remember that when I am being overly critical of my own body and I think, “This is good as it’s ever gonna look, might as well love it!”
“it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it” ( but I don’t think my mother would let me buy the record) ….American Bandstand!
Yeah, but you
would have bought it anyway.