“Tighten your core, tighten your core !!!” Jay Stylz, my salsa mentor and instructor screams at me during my personal private lessons. Again and again.
“Plant your feet firmly when you land!”
“Don’t collapse when you come out of turns!”
He yells at me over and over again. The truth is he may not be screaming, but that is the way it sounds in my head!
I have always known my posture and core to be terrible. Jay has simply made me incredibly more conscious of it.
He’s shouting the truth and damnit it sucks! How can I truly be a good lead in salsa if my core is weak and woman feels me collapsing throughout our dance and not leading with confidence.
My Body’s Habit of Bad Posture
People (even those I love) have always told me to “just” stand up straight. And I would… for “just” about 1o seconds while it was fresh on my mind. And then my body would continue standing in the posture to which it has been accustomed.
One of the biggest lessons that I have learned in the last several years is that we humans (of which I am) live most of our lives out of habit.
My body is in the habit of standing in a bad posture. My feet are in the habit of landing on the outside of my soles, which explains for the collapse when I come out of my spins no matter how hard I try to plant firmly. Much to the dismay of Jay.
How Do I Fix Myself?
There is no doubt I want to be great at salsa. Yet I also want to improve my posture for my personal health. I dread the thought of being 40 years old and shrinking in stature because of my body’s bad habit.
So this month I’ve launched into a hardcore yoga immersion. I am not talking about just once a week. Oh no… when I do things, I do them big!
But why would I do such a silly thing? Some of the men reading this may even be wondering why I would be doing such a “gay” thing. Well let me tell you just why now.
I was inspired by Benny Lewis’ blog on learning a new language in 3 months. He does this by immersing himself in the language and the culture. So why not do this for yoga and my body?
I actually have been doing yoga for a little while but am taking a different approach.
TOTAL IMMERSION! My body and mind will have to change habits fast and furious! Or I will kill myself trying, whichever comes first.
The results have already begun to show in the past week. Just this past week I’ve begun to stand on one foot and even on my arms for a short time and my abs are rock hard.
I don’t even recognize myself when I look at myself as I walk out of the yoga room. The man looking back at me looks nothing like the man from 5 years ago.
I’m curious how I will look and feel in 3 months of total immersion in yoga? I am even more curious how this will impact my salsa in the coming months because I will also be immersing myself in salsa as well.
NO EXCUSES! NONE!
