5 Life Takeaways From My New Dance Class (+ the sexy pop star persona you can embody)
Last night, hell froze over + pigs flew. Well, no. That’s just me being dramatic. What really happened was I taught my first dance class in over a DECADE. Actually 12 years, but who’s counting? (me). My 1st class since birthing two (large) babies. Gulp.
Yup. The class went down last night. And I am still alive today to tell the tale.
Why am I teaching dance as a 35 year-old, multiple business owning, mama of 2 littles and far too many pets you might ask?
The quick backstory is that I’ve been a dancer my whole life. Since I was in diapers, dance has been my jam. I performed with a company, spent time competing, traveling with a performance team, rocked it on my college dance team (go FU!), and ran a studio for girls K-12 students after college. Dance + I were BFFs.
And then what happened? I settled down. Had kids. Felt older. Convinced myself that dance was something that only young, vibrant, cool, twenty-somethings could still do. People that knew me would say, “Bri why don’t you dance anymore?” And I’d complain about how there weren’t enough dance classes for adults in the area, how I didn’t have enough time, my spandex no longer fit, excuse, excuse, blah blah blah. Complete BS.
The honest truth was that I was scared.
Scared that if I tried to dance, I wouldn’t be “perfect” or good enough. That i had lost my talent. That I would feel embarassed. That I would look at the girl staring back at me in the mirror and feel shame and disappointment around what she could no longer do with her body. So I kept my love of dance away (with the exception of wilding out on wedding dance floors with my friends. Obviously).
But as I’ve been teaching women how to create what they would love for their lives through my coaching and social marketing businesses, dance kept returning as something I would love for MINE.
And then came the "Ah-ha" moment.
My love for dance is NOT about perfection, or talent or a certain body image.
My love for dance exists because it is a part of my soul. It lights me up inside. It brings joy + confidence. It’s my zen, my flow, my therapy, my happy place. It is ME. It’s where I feel like the best version of me. And it is oh-so beautiful. And oh-so vital for my life force.
So what did I do after I received that divine download? I got over myself and created the dance class that I wanted to take. The one my soul was calling out for. It’s called Video Girl, and I teach choreography from favorite female pop star videos. It’s a class where ALL women can have fun, let go, sweat, and feel like an empowered badass.
And I taught it, for the 1st time, to a group of 20 women, last night.
And. It. Was. Amazing. We all became Britney Spears for one hour. We danced, we connected, we jammed, and laughed our asses off.
It wasn’t perfect, and my post-partum moves weren’t exactly the way they used to be, and my body didn’t look the way I would love in my tight leggings.
But it was amazing because I learned:
I am good enough. You are good enough. Strong enough. Smart enough. Brave enough. We are all ENOUGH.
We may never feel truly “ready” to try that new thing, to make that move, to leave that relationship. It’s quite possible you’ll never truly feel ready. So instead we say “HELL YES!” to our dreams, and figure that shit out later.
Our courage inspires courage in others. To take the leap, try the thing, to “Just DO IT.”
When you find a true love in life, like dance is for me, you pursue that shit like it’s your job.
That your dreams matter. What you would love for your life, is not only possible but SO important for you to step into. As the famous Howard Thurman said, ““Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
What makes you feel truly ALIVE? What is your soul calling out for? I'd love to hear in the comments!
Xx
Bri