It was one of the brightest, coldest January Sundays of the season and, probably, most of the usual fitness class attendees at the Wellness Center were outside in the sparkling beauty of a New England winter. They were probably on their snowshoes or shooshing down a mountain some place.
Not me. There was no better place for me to be at that moment on this quiet, beautiful Sunday morning than the Wellness Center fitness room. I was moving my body for the first time in one month, after an extended bout of flu, bronchitis and sinusitis that had laid me low throughout the holidays. I was so tired of my couch cushions and Kleenex I was ready to bolt–a good sign that recovery was at hand. It turns out that Sunday morning’s special “Yoga Dance Fusion” class was just what the doctor would have ordered.
Instructor Nanette Perrotte had cranked up the heat in the room. The sun peeked through the trees outside the windows and further warmed the fitness floor. The snow glistened outside while my head and lungs opened up to welcome the inside warmth.
Those of us in attendance spent a luxurious hour and a half doing a little yoga and then moving to the melodies of Beethoven and the rhythms of MoTown, Africa and the MiddleEast, to name a few. We did moves from my college disco days and the childhood tap dance recitals of others. We curtsied as if we do it every day. We demanded–ever so nicely–things of our bodies that had not been demanded of them recently, if ever.
Man, it felt good!
While I’m not entirely certainly that middle-aged women like me should take up ballet full force or be seen in public moving to “Waka Waka: This Time for Africa” (for a sampling, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0) I do know there are precious few other opportunities for us responsible adults to fool around in this way and—hey—get a good aerobic workout at the same time. The whole morning felt like recess for grown-ups and, really, what more could anybody ask of an exercise class?
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[...] Nanette Perrotte leads one of her Yoga Dance Fusion sessions at the Bond Wellness Center, it turns into more of a collaborative work than a [...]