If you had told me back when I was an awkward teenager who got tangled in her own feet regularly that I would end up teaching dance fitness to people, I would have laughed and walked off (but not without stumbling on thin air).

But after BODYJAM instructor training last February 22, 23, and 25, I now definitely know I can. Ü It was my second Les Mills program (after BODYBALANCE), and although they had their points of similarity in the structure of each training day, the feel was vastly different because of the natures of each program. During BODYBALANCE training I felt like I had been secluded on a mountaintop monastery where we contemplated the meaning of life; in BODYJAM training it felt like putting together a musical or dance concert.

There were 21 of us who underwent the module, most taking a Les Mills training module for the first time. For those of us who had been through it all before, BODYJAM training called out certain aspects in our personalities that we’d not really used in our other programs. It brought out the dance performer in us BODYBALANCE teachers who had to make the transition from being calm and centered to loud and “out there” in order to teach the program, and until now I still get the feedback that I can be too calm when I teach Jam. But I’m getting there.

I’m glad I had to wait more than a year to get my turn at this. If I had gone through this training in 2006 rather than now, I might not have been able to handle having to dance and cue simultaneously; I was still pretty new to group exercise. I think I also was better off going through Balance training and being an instructor for almost a year so that I could master how to coach class participants to success. Everything in its own time, and my time has come. Ü

Photos taken during my BODYJAM training can be found at my Multiply site.

Tags: BodyJam, Fitness First Philippines, Les Mills

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