Diet and Exercise
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Hi there,
So I got into it last week with someone who said fitness instructors who don't "master their own diet" are bad examples; so if you're not a perfect physical example you shouldn't be working as a Zumba Instructor.
For me that's quite a hurtful opinion, as I'm probably the heaviest I've been since I started teaching, but I feel I've developed more teaching skills than ever before.
The pressure to be a particular weight is a nightmare for anyone walking into a gym – whether it's an official studio or anywhere we exercise (including the beach and the park). I believe it's completely counter-productive to put body shape pressure on someone wanting to exercise. It's like telling someone with depression seeking counselling to come back when they're happier.
One of the things I love about Zumba is that it's written into our code of conduct that we should treat all participants the same and not judge people - especially on their fitness level, and I believe that Zumba is a powerful healing tool, not just for us individually, but for the fitness industry as a whole.
I recently encountered this prejudice on my new posters. From a standard business point of view you're selling something so people want to see an "after" not a "before". In fact, one of my colleagues told me this week that he hates the picture on my new poster, apparently I look… ahem… "short and wide". "Well," I replied, "I am short and wide." In truth I chose the picture not because it was the best photo of me, but because I loved the energy in it, the relationship between myself and the lady from my Zumba Gold class, that said so much more about the nature of what I sell. It's not just physical exercise.
Sadly I also see this in Zumba marketing – even when a slightly larger model is used in an advertising campaign (you know maybe a UK size 12 shock horror!) she seems to be the one that is always getting cut out.
I got so het up about this subject that I wrote a whole other piece about fitness and diet; What Is Fitness And A Healthy Diet Anyway? but for now let's just look at this obesity problem.
Apparently obesity is on the rise, it's a big problem in many countries, especially the UK, and I am so happy to be able to help anyone struggling with their weight, but to say that obesity is cured by diet and exercise alone is as naive as saying that anorexia can be cured with diet and exercise.
We fail every time we try to treat an illness that is a symptom, not a cause, as if it is the cause. We fail every time we treat our body as if it exists in isolation, as if it has nothing to do with our mind and spirit, as if our mind exists only to figure out which exercises or which diet to follow. We fail when we fail to honour our whole selves; mind, body and spirit. But it's okay, because as I am reminded FAIL is an acronym for First Attempt In Learning.
I love Zumba because it is a holistic class – like yoga and it works as long as we remember that it is holistic. I have been to yoga classes where I went in feeling like a bunch of problems and came out feeling like a whole person. Sadly I've also gone in and been judged and made to feel stupid because I couldn't do the tree pose under the gaze of a critical teacher. I hope to always remember that it's not about a move or a rhythm or anything physical that I am instructing, but the whole thing – getting to come in and dance and reconnect mind, body and spirit. That is how we heal.
I have the utmost respect for all of you guys who come to my classes and the people I have met along the way. We all have beautiful, complicated lives and sometimes our weight changes as we go through things.
For me, I try not to worry when I put on weight, because I know, that for me, when things get really bad I go the other way and can't eat. As long as I am comfort eating things are manageable. But everyone is different.
We think we have an obesity problem or an eating disorder problem or a body image problem, but when we look closer we see that the disease is not taking care of ourselves; mind, body and spirit; eating our feelings because we are too afraid to say "I'm angry", controlling our bodies because we cannot control other aspects of our lives; making our bodies undesirable because we can't cope with our sexuality or the relentless pressure to be sexy or just being in relationships, over-eating to cope with the pain of "not enough" in other areas of our life, eating as an act of rebellion, not eating as an act of rebellion.
We need to heal on a personal level, on a social level, on a global level. And the answer is not to increase the pressure on us all to look "perfect" - there's quite enough of that around thank you very much, the answer is not a perfect exercise regime or diet plan, the answer is not to beat ourselves up or weigh ourselves every five minutes, or to try to shame others into what we feel is the right standard, the answer is as simple as it has always been; it's learning to love and accept ourselves mind, body and spirit as we are right now in this moment. Not when we've lost ten pounds or a hundred pounds, not when we are wearing sexy new clothes, not when we get that salsa step, but right now in this second remembering that we are perfect just as we are.
Much love, Pearl x
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Hi there,
So I got into it last week with someone who said fitness instructors who don't "master their own diet" are bad examples; so if you're not a perfect physical example you shouldn't be working as a Zumba Instructor.
For me that's quite a hurtful opinion, as I'm probably the heaviest I've been since I started teaching, but I feel I've developed more teaching skills than ever before.
The pressure to be a particular weight is a nightmare for anyone walking into a gym – whether it's an official studio or anywhere we exercise (including the beach and the park). I believe it's completely counter-productive to put body shape pressure on someone wanting to exercise. It's like telling someone with depression seeking counselling to come back when they're happier.
One of the things I love about Zumba is that it's written into our code of conduct that we should treat all participants the same and not judge people - especially on their fitness level, and I believe that Zumba is a powerful healing tool, not just for us individually, but for the fitness industry as a whole.
I recently encountered this prejudice on my new posters. From a standard business point of view you're selling something so people want to see an "after" not a "before". In fact, one of my colleagues told me this week that he hates the picture on my new poster, apparently I look… ahem… "short and wide". "Well," I replied, "I am short and wide." In truth I chose the picture not because it was the best photo of me, but because I loved the energy in it, the relationship between myself and the lady from my Zumba Gold class, that said so much more about the nature of what I sell. It's not just physical exercise.
Sadly I also see this in Zumba marketing – even when a slightly larger model is used in an advertising campaign (you know maybe a UK size 12 shock horror!) she seems to be the one that is always getting cut out.
I got so het up about this subject that I wrote a whole other piece about fitness and diet; What Is Fitness And A Healthy Diet Anyway? but for now let's just look at this obesity problem.
Apparently obesity is on the rise, it's a big problem in many countries, especially the UK, and I am so happy to be able to help anyone struggling with their weight, but to say that obesity is cured by diet and exercise alone is as naive as saying that anorexia can be cured with diet and exercise.
We fail every time we try to treat an illness that is a symptom, not a cause, as if it is the cause. We fail every time we treat our body as if it exists in isolation, as if it has nothing to do with our mind and spirit, as if our mind exists only to figure out which exercises or which diet to follow. We fail when we fail to honour our whole selves; mind, body and spirit. But it's okay, because as I am reminded FAIL is an acronym for First Attempt In Learning.
I love Zumba because it is a holistic class – like yoga and it works as long as we remember that it is holistic. I have been to yoga classes where I went in feeling like a bunch of problems and came out feeling like a whole person. Sadly I've also gone in and been judged and made to feel stupid because I couldn't do the tree pose under the gaze of a critical teacher. I hope to always remember that it's not about a move or a rhythm or anything physical that I am instructing, but the whole thing – getting to come in and dance and reconnect mind, body and spirit. That is how we heal.
I have the utmost respect for all of you guys who come to my classes and the people I have met along the way. We all have beautiful, complicated lives and sometimes our weight changes as we go through things.
For me, I try not to worry when I put on weight, because I know, that for me, when things get really bad I go the other way and can't eat. As long as I am comfort eating things are manageable. But everyone is different.
We think we have an obesity problem or an eating disorder problem or a body image problem, but when we look closer we see that the disease is not taking care of ourselves; mind, body and spirit; eating our feelings because we are too afraid to say "I'm angry", controlling our bodies because we cannot control other aspects of our lives; making our bodies undesirable because we can't cope with our sexuality or the relentless pressure to be sexy or just being in relationships, over-eating to cope with the pain of "not enough" in other areas of our life, eating as an act of rebellion, not eating as an act of rebellion.
We need to heal on a personal level, on a social level, on a global level. And the answer is not to increase the pressure on us all to look "perfect" - there's quite enough of that around thank you very much, the answer is not a perfect exercise regime or diet plan, the answer is not to beat ourselves up or weigh ourselves every five minutes, or to try to shame others into what we feel is the right standard, the answer is as simple as it has always been; it's learning to love and accept ourselves mind, body and spirit as we are right now in this moment. Not when we've lost ten pounds or a hundred pounds, not when we are wearing sexy new clothes, not when we get that salsa step, but right now in this second remembering that we are perfect just as we are.
Much love, Pearl x
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