#ameliabedeliafitness

[musingsofazumbamind]

Sometimes you gotta decide, dance outside in 40 degrees in bundled up coziness, or indoors with masks on and not seeing everyone smile. One guess what we decided tonight?!? Thank you, Friday night crew for the kind of party this week really needed! I am grateful that you all came, even if it took three layers of clothes and we were all wiping our noses! #diehards #crew #friday #night #zumba #zumbacrew #zumbalove #zumbalife #zumbafitness #ameliabedeliafitness #cold (at Princeton Club - Fitchburg) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGtRIwvJAzw/?igshid=132aekc3noayq

[musingsofazumbamind]

Totally thrilled with a virtual #jamsession last weekend and this new track, courtesy of @glowdancefit (the one and only Gloria) and her Gloriography. It dropped in my classes already this week, I just fell in love and had to make it happen! Instructors... If you haven’t tried a #zumbavirtual Jam session, now’s the time. These are great opportunities for new moves, new connections and new energy for your classes. If you like this song, come try my class and try a Jam with Glo! DM me for Zoom virtual class info. #zjgloria #gloriography #choreo #choreography #zumba #zumbalove #zumbamoves #zumbawear #zumbainstructor #jamjunkie #jamsession #zumbajammer #dance #cueing #ameliabedeliafitness #ameliazumba #ameliamcconnell #muchacha #gentedezona #beckyg (at Monona, Wisconsin) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAbuZGTJA4C/?igshid=1xe6129m7596g

[musingsofazumbamind]

Tuesday night's internet fiasco and now yesterday's suddenly small class have got me feeling pretty lonely. And maybe I'm not the only one. You guys feeling solo too? If you're feeling some kind of way, maybe come to my 5pm Chicago time class? I'd love to smile at you and you smile back. #zumba #zumbavirtual #zumbalove #zumbawear #zumbafitness #zumbainstructor #allidoiszin #45029 #ameliamcconnell #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness #zumbalove #zumbastory #zinmember #zinmembers (at Oregon, Wisconsin) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAK6GYepHer/?igshid=1gf2jkn980q0e

[musingsofazumbamind]

Look! We can still dance *almost* anywhere! Zumba® Fitness used to be our once or twice a week hour of therapy, now it can honestly be online in our kitchen, on the porch, for hours of our day! Now is the time to try new classes, to take more classes with your favorite zelebrities, to shine from the comfort of your own livingroom! I know it’s not ideal but it’s still pretty great! And I hope I “see” you soon! DM me for more info on all my virtual classes. #zumba #zumbavirtual #zumbalove #healthy #keepmoving #justdance #smile #iloveyoumore #ameliabedeliafitness #ameliazumba #independent #45029 #ameliamcconnell (at Oregon, Wisconsin) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-j-CZEJNH0/?igshid=1oygs8m15li7m

[musingsofazumbamind]

Full body hug for size. @steveboedt @zumba @zeventsfans @zumbawear #steveboedt #liveat11 #boilinghot #smile #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness #zumbajoyisreal (at Hyatt Regency Orlando) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0TGUYPpvix/?igshid=er8kq3vyo7pm

[musingsofazumbamind]

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” – Albert Schweitzer This guy right here is the kind of friend who comes around once in a while and inspires me like crazy. Everyone should have a @checoescobar9 in his or her life, to help you smile, to remind you of why you started teaching and how much you love teaching Zumba® Fitness! #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness #zumba #zumbalove #zumbalife #zumbawear @ameliazumba @zumba @zumbawear @zincommunity (at Princeton Club - Fitchburg) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0H_V-QJBAK/?igshid=5pys4t5e8o21

[musingsofazumbamind]

Find your tribe. Find your shared language. Find the rhythm and passion that will fuel your whole world! @thiszlife taught me today to truly be myself and share more of me with others, especially among my tribe. Wow! Today was an absolute gift and exactly the message I needed to hear! @thiszlife @ameliazumba @zumba @zin_jam_sessions #zumba #zinjamsession #zumbamasterclass #kizomba #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness (at Glacier Edge Elementary) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz7JhObnpM2/?igshid=kapxwnfhsmal

[musingsofazumbamind]

I don’t know, feeling cute. Might take a Zumba® class later and pack the rest of our apartment. Kthanksbye ❤️ #adulting #thisisthelife #momlife #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness #zumba #zumbamom #zumbamentor (at Madison, Wisconsin) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzSzSLdJVLX/?igshid=1ktyhseimtdaq

[musingsofazumbamind]

Two compliments today that made me think. 1. “I’m 70 and I loved it!” And 2. “Your cues are the best! I followed everything you did, you inspired me to move!” I am always surprised when folks say their instructors don’t cue, or cue verbally, or don’t somehow welcome every age and every body in the room. Don’t we all learn the plan in our #b1training? We have a job to do. Bring a party where everyone is welcome, layer and modify and cue your moves for every body, so that our “exercise in disguise” keeps folks coming back. Period. It’s our job. Joy, and fun, and fitness are our JOB. #joy #zumba #zumbafitness #nonverbalcueing #proskills #fitness #nonverbal #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness @zumba (at Princeton Club) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzBViGApsbF/?igshid=8m8fmwtq46p3

[musingsofazumbamind]

12th Anniversary! Today!

Today is what is lovingly called my ZINversary, the anniversary of not only the day I decided to become trained as a Zumba Fitness instructor but also the day I joined the ZIN Community. The Zumba Instructor Network is the professional community of instructors who not only take the training but commit to membership each month, who receive the CD’s (back in the day) and the DVD’s, who join Jam sessions, partner with others to lead fundraisers and connect with other instructors as they navigate the teaching world.

Not all of us get trained, and then lead without a license. If you know me, whether you know me well or not, would know how I feel about untrained, unlicensed instructors.

Not all of us join ZIN, and become a part of the network and a part of the bigger community. This is a personal choice, and the notion of refraining from ZIN was not for me. I am a “joiner”, and I lean into the aspects of community that make my teaching stronger. I like to see what others are learning, have access to what we are all learning to stay current, and make the web of what we all know a bit thicker than what my brain might create and understand.

I am grateful to be a part of this community. Zumba Instructors have gifted me moves and memories, music and choreography, money for causes and clothes for my body. Instructors have welcomed me to events and Convention, training and Jam choreography sessions. The energy that immediately connects us is the same reason we wear neon -- we want to be seen, but we also see, feel, know each other immediately and that energy is what connects us and keeps us teaching and loving our what we do. And what we do is for our students. We are beacons of light and energy and we are pillars of welcoming kindness.

I am grateful for my Zumba family, and each and every hour we share together. Any class I have barely been able to tiptoe into ended up being my best class, because I have been hit across the face with how good it feels to be together. An hour with friends makes any load lighter! There is something extremely magnetic about the active, sweaty gratitude of being together and feeding off of each other. Dancing through grief, stress, medical concerns, familial and work frustrations has made the grief, stress, concerns and frustrations all manageable.

Thank you, friends, my Zumba family, for 12 years of fitness and fun, of laughter and crying through the cool down together. I thank you for keeping me on that dance floor and for helping me through more than you will ever know. You challenge me to be the best instructor I can be and then some. I hope I challenge you to see yourself as a capable, and see the hard working, loving, supportive tribe surrounding you -- the one I see when I look out at you. My message of gratitude on my 12th ZINversary today is this stretch from class this week:  

“I dare you to love, even if you don’t know why, I dare you. Even if it hurts and you can only see the worst, even if you think it’s not enough, I dare you to love.”

[musingsofazumbamind]

What I learned from Convention

#zincon2018 may be over but it has not entirely left my heart.

In those following weeks after the Closing Session but before my school year ignites, I tend to spend quiet moments to myself, still soaking in that Happy. It’s an interesting spot to dwell, where the glitter of weeks ago feels fresh, the energy hasn’t entirely dissipated, but it’s also too soon to truly start “counting down” until #zincon2019. Or, at least, I could but it would keep me from living in the moment today!

My year between Conventions was a year of growth for me. I added to my YouTube channel and I now have almost 200 followers (which feels like a lot), I’ve added to my blog about once a month (which feels like a lot), and I’ve taken Pro Skills training for a 3rd and 4th time and another 13 Jam sessions in one year (which feels like a lot!). My professional development has been inward as well as public, and I’ve been challenging myself quite a bit to be more like the “famous” presenters I used to idolize. My instagram presence has grown, my photos on all my accounts are getting more clear and share my joy, and every new person I meet tends to somehow already know me. That part I did not expect but has been a lovely awakening! To be known, even from social media, is exciting and makes me feel even more connected to the people I meet.

When I built my Zumba Instructor Convention schedule, I told myself that it was necessary I continued growing. This was my most difficult schedule to build since I also wanted to support my friends teaching sessions just as much as I needed to challenge myself. I asked myself, “What is important to you?” before I started building my schedule. Selfishly, I knew I had to find one session entirely for me that I didn’t really need (Motown), a session that would fill my heart and fill an emotional need (The Power of Me), and that I should take something entirely new and difficult for me (African Beat Culture, all based on dance from South Africa).

Here are my takeaways from this year.

1. I didn’t wait in a single long line after sessions for presenter pics. I hugged, smiled at, shook hands and danced with all the friends, ZJ’s, ZES’s and instagram stars who were available to me as I was enjoying my week. If WE ARE ALL ZIN rings true, then I am going to remove the shine and fear of meeting rock stars by connecting with them on the walkways, in the store, with eye contact from the stage and with my smile.

I realize in hindsight that the one line I stood in was to have a picture with someone I perceive to be a friend, not a presenter. Additionally, someone took my photo with two presenters, but they are my friends so it felt awkward. Just picture it: if you and your bud were sitting on a park bench talking, and a totally unrelated friend wants a picture of the two of you, you would be awkwardly considering who you were offending by speaking up... the friend who felt obligated to take a photo of you with his or her Rock Star, or the friend you no longer consider a Rock Star, just an awesome friend who may not want a picture right now.

2. Many of the rock stars we pay to see are now my friends. I am a colleague. I am a fellow instructor. But I am not lesser in some way and I have no reason to fear them, or find comfort in the corner while they shine on stage. They all started somewhere, they all remain humble, and they all want me to shine, too.

3. There is solidarity in costuming. And I have officially inspired? sparked? encouraged? folks to wear costumes to sessions, not just to the theme party. I am so proud of this! Jumpsuits unite!

4. The only ways I grow are through discomfort. I pushed my body in interesting ways in my African session and I learned a new cue (yes, new, at almost 9 years of teaching) from Pro Skills. I openly cried warm, thick tears in the Power of Me, putting my bully and mean people into perspective. I spent a lot of time alone in those five days and I did much of what I wanted to do while also feeling lonely. But that’s all right! I also had a photo shoot by myself, and a massage, and good food and a lot of high fives with kids as we passed in the halls.

5. Convention is absolutely worth every penny. For every time I question that the rest of the year when I feel poor enough not to go again, or overhear or see someone say or write how they might “never go”, I will picture Gringo’s hugs. How Gina Graziani says “community”. When Steve and Kass stopped me in the lobby to sandwich me in joy. Losing my phone in my bra and finding it, having to tell Jon in Spanish, “Aqui esta!” MaryBeth, trying not to smile, wearing a stick-on mustache. The feeling of the tassels on my shoes, flick-flicking in unison with Henry’s moves. Those intangibles are priceless.

Instructors, I hope these takeaways help you to get there next year, you won’t regret it. Students and friends, I hope reading this helps you have patience when I am gone for a week every year!

[musingsofazumbamind]

Day 12 until #zincon2018 tip for you! Start sewing the tassels now! The crafty costume you’ve got planned, the mask you need to buy, the perfect pair of wings for the theme night all need your attention. Don’t put off sequins for tomorrow you can enjoy today. #beyonce #queenbey #zincon #zumbaconvention #formation #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness #costumelover #masquerade #zumbainstructorconvention #zincon #zincontips #zincontip #allidoiszin #allidoisdressup #coachella2018 @ameliazumba @zumbaconvention

[musingsofazumbamind]

One week until my 11th #zinaversary! Let’s dance together. It’s free, it’s virtual which means it’s safe, it’s full of fun classics and the heat of NOW. Come see me, @glowdancefit and @zjcj123567 10am central Chicago time, Saturday, September 12! Zoom info is on the flier and DM me if you need the direct link or a smile! #zumba #zumbafitness #fitness #masterclass #allidoiszin #zumbavirtualclass #thatmom #zumbaversary #zumbavirtual #zoomba #virtualworld #virtualreality #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness @zumba @zumbawear @zumbavirtualofficial @zoom My pic @reinaldomedinaphotography https://www.instagram.com/p/CEw8GFiJP9u/?igshid=mcd6lttngw9h

[musingsofazumbamind]

Two #zumbavirtual classes this week from my kitchen, with a few extra @locoknight songs for fun: Tuesday 6pm and Thursday 5pm Chicago time. On Zoom for $5 if you can and free if you can’t, because life is too short to sit out at the dance. 🤗 #AmeliaMcConnell #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness #45029 #letsdance #zumba #zumbafitness #zumbalove #zumbavirtualclass #virtualreality #zumbawear #allidoiszin #jamjunkie #jhongonzalez Message me for the link! @zumba @zumbawear @zumbavirtualofficial @zoom (at Oregon, Wisconsin) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC1jCw4J1Iz/?igshid=9x0grr8g1aqr

[musingsofazumbamind]

Let’s do this! Another week of virtual reality and a real live class filled with fun! Special guest @marnajjar on Wednesday with belly dance for us... see you there! Message me for Zoom meeting details and PayPal/Venmo info, all classes in central/Chicago time zone. #zumba #zumbavirtual #zoomba #zumbalove #allidoiszin #zumbainstructor #45029 #ameliamcconnell #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness (at Oregon, Wisconsin) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBti6Ropf6q/?igshid=wz0mu4hk23cw

[musingsofazumbamind]

Who’s ready for another week of fun?!? I know I am! I find that I need my Zumba® Fitness classes more than ever. How about you? DM me for the password to the Zoom classes, all Chicago time, all $5. ❤️ DM me for more info on PCF group Ex classes. ❤️#zumba #zumbafitness #zumbalove #zumbahigh #zumbawear #zumbainstructor #allidoiszin #zinmember #zumbavirtual #45029 #ameliamcconnell #ameliazumba #ameliabedeliafitness (at Oregon, Wisconsin) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBfrBVhJZ-q/?igshid=16gcqr1hphxj4