It's around this time of year that we start to reflect on the past and look at what the year ahead might have in store for us.
This year, more than any other, my job has meant so much to me. Often when we go through personal difficulties, it’s easy to let exercise fall by the wayside when, in fact, it’s during those times that we should muster up the will to exercise the most. Luckily for myself and Fi, exercise is what we do for a living so this becomes our prime motivator - even on the days when taking a class is the last thing we feel like doing, minutes (literally!) into the first track, we feel our mood start to lift. By the end of the class, what follows is a feeling of lightness and clarity that I think would be very difficult to reach without exercise, and specifically for us, music and dance. This only makes it all the more impressive that despite the rain, cold, and dare I say it - a few days of summer heat, you have all found the motivation to come to our classes and support our community business, which we are truly grateful for.
Our ethos at Just Dance UK has always been based around making exercise accessible and enjoyable, but we also talk about moderation as much as we can. As the festive season approaches we are encouraged by the media to eat, drink, and be merry, and that's fine, we should all be allowed to treat ourselves.
However, come January we are then made to feel bad about ‘over indulging’ and we’re bombarded with air brushed images of what they think we should look like and the newest diet trends of the year. This is confusing and frustrating.
We are constantly being manipulated into feeling both good and bad about ourselves and the choices that we make but we’d be much better off working on a more balanced approach to life, and in turn, start to lead a happier and healthier lifestyle.
We all have our own personal journeys to reflect on this year. Whether they’ve been good, bad, or distinctly average, take the positives and throw away the negatives. Make 2016 the year that you surround yourself with good friends, take on a new hobby, embrace the challenges and learn to be a more content with yourself every day. There is no such thing as ‘can't’, but ‘presently unable’ (those of you who attempted the ‘robot’ in our 80’s feature dance class this year may be familiar with this expression!).
Focus on you in 2016 and you might just turn into a stronger, healthier, happier you.
Merry Christmas Just Dancers and a very Happy New Year …make it a good ‘un!