SpanishFitnessBootCamp

Cuba: Where All Men Can Dance!!!

The most astonishing discovery I made in Cuba, was that all Cuban men can dance! Their sense of rhythm must be passed on to them at birth. Everywhere you go you see men of all ages and occupations, dancing, and not just dancing, but dancing extremely well!

www.casa-cuba.com/courses.htm

Well, if I hadn't already decided on Spain for my Spanish Fitness Bootcamp, I'd seriously consider moving to Cuba!

Why is it that the vast majority of English men just can't dance. Has the stiff upper lip transferred to their hips.  It reminds me of the film with Woody Harrelson about basketball 'White Men Can't Jump'. And then just today a friend of mine lamented the fact that he has 'white man's hips!'

My reply to that was try Ceroc! Anyone who has been following my blog knows how crazy I am about Ceroc. It's so much easier than Salsa or Jive. Ideally suited for anyone suffering from white man's hips. I've seen even seriously rhythmically challenged men (and women) come to grips with Ceroc.

But back to Cuba...

If You Think You Can't Dance - Try Ceroc!

I love Ceroc!

You can dance it to any kind of music and it's so easy anyone can do it! (Well, almost anybody).  All you need is to want to dance, although a sense of rhythm definitely helps.

I went to a Ceroc Beginners workshop on Sunday and by the end of the 4 hour session even the most dance challenged of men were able to do the moves (with a greater or lesser level of expertise!).

And I only mention the men because they are the ones that need to know the moves. Us females have it even easier as we just have to follow! You don't even have to remember which foot to use, as there is only one beginners move where it matters.

And, don't think you have to remember a huge number of moves, as you can literally make do with repeating the same three over and over again. If your partner gets bored with those, you just ask someone else to dance!

I have to say, I went along expecting to polish up my technique and learn the beginners moves (I had been a few times before) but I got a lot more than I bargained for! The teacher had a fantastic sense of humour and sense of comic timing that kept us laughing throughout the 4 hour session! I can't wait for the next workshop.

If you'd like to give Ceroc a go, log onto their website www.ceroc.co.uk and find a class near you. You literally just type in your postcode and a list of venues in your area pops up.

Happy Feet!

More About Qi Gong And Tai Chi

After writing yesterday’s blog it occurred to me that some of you might not have come across Qi Gong before. For a start it has many different spellings which is enough to confuse anyone! Chi Kung, Qigong… then there’s Tai Chi, Taiji, Taijiquan…

So what is it? You may have seen images of China where people on the street are performing beautiful slow movements in unison. You may have seen it in a martial arts film. Well, that’s Tai Chi or Qi Gong.

That's Professor Li, one of the foremost teachers in China. Gill my teacher goes almost every year to study with him.

The fundamentals of Tai Chi and Qi Gong are the same, but the difference according to one of my teachers, is that in Tai Chi each movement has to have a martial arts application.

According to the National Qigong (Chi Kung) Association of America

‘Qigong is an ancient Chinese health care system that integrates physical postures, breathing techniques and focused intention.’

This doesn’t even come close to describing the magic that is Qi Gong or Tai Chi…

What Are You Laughing At!

We've heard often enough that Laughter Is The Best Medicine. An old boss even lent me his copy of the Blues Brothers when I was going through a tough patch!

We can tap into the healing power of laughter at any time. (Although, I wouldn't recommend doing the exercise below in public, unless you are incredibly well adjusted and have a high tolerance for feeling downright daft!)

My therapist, Sandra (see my last blog) introduced me to a Qi Gong exercise called the Laughing Baby!

It's really simple, you lie on your back with your arms and legs straight up in the air (just like a baby) and laugh!!!

Don't worry if at first the laughter seems a bit forced and unnatural, persevere. You might even notice a bit hysteria starts creeping in. Keep going. Eventually the ludicrousness of the situation and your position strikes you and then you just can't stop laughing!  In time the laughter will work its magic and you will notice a feeling of release. All that rubbish you are letting go of!

Try it and see!

Housework Reduces Risk Of Breast Cancer!

On GMTV this morning, they were talking about a study just out has shown that housework can reduce your risk of breast cancer!

One could think this was a male conspiracy, but actually its a serious and very comprehensive study of over 200,000 women in 9 European countries for a period of more than 6 years.

The reason for the reference to housework was that the authors noted that housework was one of the 'main sources of activity' for women living in these countries.

Dr Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK's director of cancer information, said: 'We already know that women who keep a healthy weight are less likely to develop breast cancer.

'This study suggests that being physically active may also help reduce the risk and that something as simple and cheap as doing the housework can help.

On average, the pre-menopausal group doing housework spent 17.7 hours a week on it while the post-menopausal women spent 16.1 hours.

Pre-menopausal women who did housework were around 30% less likely to develop breast cancer than pre-menopausal women who did none.

Meanwhile, post-menopausal women who did housework were around 20% less likely to develop the disease than post-menopausal women who did none.'

The good news is that it doesn't need to be housework, any exercise will do. Phew!!!

And if you want to know how many calories you're burning while you do the housework ...