I can't believe I'm saying it for reals and I'll load it here at the front of the post- After teaching for almost 10 years, I've decided to discontinue my relationship with Bellyfit International.
Thank you to everybody who has supported my Bellyfit instructor practice; my dance friends and pals at Samba Nova were certainly early supporters of my Bellyfit efforts and I'm so grateful they helped me get it going. My classes found a home at the North Woodside Community Centre for almost 10 years (I see in my inbox I e-mailed the centre in the summer of 2012 as I was trying to find a venue for my class). As the years pressed on, many regulars (and one-timers) came in and out of my sphere and I enjoyed spending time with them in my classes.
But everything changes. My interests have changed. Local trends have changed. I got into fitness through Bellyfit, because my friend and fitness mentor Terri picked me out of a class she was teaching and said "this instructor course is coming, and you would be awesome at teaching this". And she was right, I am! But while I am good at the moves, my heart isn't really in learning choreography anymore, and I'm not a good choreographer; I'm a good dance move mimic, but I don't actually do Bellyfit in my personal fitness practice. I would like what I teach to be more authentic to what I actually do. Girls would approach me after a class and say "if I do this will I look like you?" truth be told nothing anybody does the same as somebody else will get them identical body composition results, but at the time I was lifting heavy- I didn't feel like I was walking the walk and talking the talk.
Bellyfit remains an amazing program. Any exercise program somebody does regularly will help them to live a long healthy life. If dancing a sweat up is where your heart is, don't hesitate to check out your local Bellyfit class. It's an awesome well-rounded group fitness class.
I am going to take some time to focus on becoming a good practitioner of some other training modalities I am really loving (and yes, certifying in to teach) and my website and social postings will reflect this for a while. I found it hard to get back into the swing of things after my daughter was born, and only now that she's three starting to feel like I am able to prioritize my movement practice again! But I don't feel strong and skilled, and I needed to get some time back in my life by reducing my teaching schedule to make more room for myself. In the meantime, I'll keep teaching my barre fitness class at North Woodside Community Centre until I'm ready to expand my teaching repetoire again.