Live.Love.Dance.

So I've forgotten how much I love to dance! These past couple of weeks I have gotten back to my normal routine of working out & dance fitness and I feel a lot better. I feel like I'm back in control of my life, because I was drowning! - Eating tons (of healthy food), not working out, and not sleeping. But I've finally started back doing Zumba or some type of dance fitness class everyday, along with strength training daily.

Two weeks ago I found a Zumba class that was free on the weekends at the Todos Santos Plaza Park held by Thayna and Emely. Their zumba company is in the middle of moving locations, so I took advantage of the free classes. It was fun! Who doesn't like to do Zumba outside in the morning sun?! So refreshing!

Zumba!

Todos Santos Plaza- Concord, CA

A couple days later, I decided to try a free 3 day trial at the 24 Hour Fitness (gym) near me. I took full advantage of those 3 days by trialing many of their classes including Zumba, U-Jam (hip-hop dance class), BodyPump (weight/strength training), BodyCombat (like boxing), and a couple others. I enjoyed them and decided to do a 1 month membership since I'm leaving in a month for Fresno. Let me tell you...I'm getting my money's worth. I go to 2 classes a day minimum. Some call me crazy because it seems like a lot with my night shift schedule and trying to get enough sleep, but honestly it's my outlet. I love to dance and I love good music. So when I say I'm "going to the gym" or "going to workout", it's not a stressful thing for me. Although, BodyPump kicks my butt lol. But I'm happy while I'm there and I sleep better after! I can't believe I went soo long without doing some sort of dance fitness class! NEVER AGAIN.

My new NikeFree Fly Knit's motivate me :) <3

I've met a couple people at this gym which has been cool! A lot of the same people come to the classes. One day, I met this black girl that resembled me...same complexion, same hair AND style, both our names start with "Sh", both nurses and Pediatric at that! And she does Pediatric Oncology like I did...everything just seemed so ironic. This lady even walked by us and called us twins, which I thought was funny. It's nice knowing a few people in class; makes it that much more enjoyable.

I have a new friend Neisha! Met her through the boys (I knew they'd come in handy for something lol). She's really cool and loves to dance just like I do soo...two Sundays ago, we decided to try out this new Dancehall dance class taught by Emery at In the Groove Studios in Oakland. We had a blast and will definitely be back every Sunday until I leave! Last week, I picked Neisha up from the Bart near me and we went to U-Jam together at my gym. She had never been and she loved it. It's definitely a fun dance fitness class to take if your into the hip-hoppy sort of thing. After class, we went to In-N-Out Burger and ordered off of their "secret menu" lol. I got a protein style burger and she got a veggie style - both of which are NOT on their menu lol smh...only in California. Then we went back to her place, showered, and got ready to go to Somar Bar in Oakland for their Wednesday Reggae night, which was a fail because people around here hibernate the second it gets a little cool/rainy smh. But driving around trying to find a poppin' bar on a Wednesday night was still fun...lots of laughs :)

Dancehall taught by Emery at In the Groove Studios

U-Jam neon color day! Can you spot us?!

So as you can see...I'm back on track doing what I love to do. I'm am looking forward to many more classes to come before I leave. There's this Soca Dance Fitness class we just found out about, taught by Nekeya at Studio Grand in Oakland that I tried this past Sunday and had a blast of course! Who doesn't love dancing to ONLY Soca music for an hour?! I was in heaven. Nekeya was awesome. Definitely worked up a sweat. Although, working the night before sucked; but the high vibes of the music gave me energy :) Definitely making that a Sunday routine! Sunday's have become my new favorite day of the week! If you go out and don't want the Reggae/Dancehall/Soca party to end Saturday night...just go to class with Nekeya then Emery Sunday morning and your all set! The party continues lol.

Okay, so I may be a little obsessed with dancing, but you wanna know why?? Here are the Health Benefits of Dance:

Boosts Memory

Improves Flexibility

Reduces Stress

Diminishes Depression

Helps your Heart

Lose Weight

Balance Better

Increases Energy

Make Friends!

So if you haven't tried it...your just silly :) But I suggest you do so before it's too late! Trust me, you won't regret it. Hope you all are having a great day!...if not..go DANCE!

Live.Love.Dance.

Xoxo,