Sunday, August 19, 2007

"And now, I will torture you guys. . . hee hee"

That's how my ballet teacher likes to open up our adult beginner's ballet class. I've been neglecting my ballet classes for the entire month of August so I could finish the marathon that is the end of the service year pioneer crunch. With that done as of yesterday (woo hoo!), I'm committed to being a regular at my twice a week ballet class again.

Ballet provides a lot of the same benefits as yoga --- increased body awareness, strength building and improved coordination and flexibility. I started taking ballet classes with Elena, a Russian retired ballerina, when she was 5 months pregnant in December 2005. She kept on teaching for the next 3 1/2 months until she was 2 weeks away from giving birth. In that 3 1/2 months, she had gained about 25 pounds and was as big as a house but could still gracefully kick her leg up to her ear and do the splits with ease. Within four weeks of giving birth, she shrank back down to her normal weight and never missed a beat with her amazing strength and flexibility. This woman is a walking infomercial for lifelong exercise --- one that says "Exercise makes me beautiful."



1 comment:

DeeLight said...

That Ballet class sounds great...especially since I have ZERO body awareness!!! I presently can't stand the way I look in a leotard. I'll get there eventually. I've always been such a klutz, so the idea of having graceful body movements is very appealing.