1.
How did you find our class in Zilker Park? Who told you about it?
Sheila:
I was already a jazzerciser when Adan and I moved back to Austin in late 1999, after living in Galveston. I had gone to classes for years in Oak Hill (before we'd moved back to Galveston) and League City (half way between Galveston and Clear Lake.) I knew I wanted to continue again, so I looked up the closest location on the internet and voila! - classes held in a park setting - how more natural can you get!
Adan:
We weren't familiar with the little street names in Zilker Park, so I went with Sheila to find
MacBeth Center. I was impressed with the location, but certainly had no plans to start working out with her at that time :-)
2.
How long have you been Jazzercising?
Sheila:
Off and on, I've been Jazzercising for about 16 years. I always come back to it. This time around I've been coming 8 years going.
Adan:
Oh, my turn; uh...since, when? Oh, yes :-) since Sheila asked I come "just once" for her birthday on Valentine's Day 2001. Yes, now I remember it well :-)
3.
What do you like about Jazzercise that keeps you coming to class?
Sheila:
I especially like the holistic approach. I have seen
Jazzercise evolve over the years into a comprehensive routine with emphasis on all the areas, even kick boxing, balance, and Pilates. It has helped me physically, psychologically, and emotionally. When I exercise to music, I feel like I'm truly dancing, and it's so enjoyable to be sharing this feeling with other "dancers" and wonderful instructors.
Adan:
Yes, all she said; plus the occasional cookies and coffee. Ok, I'll try to answer. Well, I've always liked dancing, music, and "most" people :-) I do think what Sheila said about the comprehensiveness, the gestalt, of the routines, aerobics, stretch, weights, all that, makes for a great rounded routine. I do love music, played a trumpet from elementary school to high school, and pretended to dance since square dancing as a child. Also, because I do art work and creative writings, and had done arts and crafts shows since the early 80's, and found I always admired people who made the effort to create and present themselves at shows, I found I equally admire the ladies and occasional other guy who also make the effort to create new selves, and present themselves in class. It's not the kind of psychological initiative I take lightly. Sheila and I have both written poems we've sold and given as gifts, and some are on our website:
www.adanlerma.com (ya'll knew I'd get my shameless plug in :-)
4.
How old are you, are you married, children? Tell us a little about your family and you.
Sheila:
I am 60 years old, but feel younger at heart! Adan and I have been married 26 years and have made Jazzercise a key component of our healthy lifestyle. We raised a blended family together, have 3 adult children, and four grandchildren (all girls!) I am a program consultant with
Early Childhood Intervention Program (ECI, not part of Child Protective Services), which helps babies and toddlers age 0-3 with disabilities or delays in their development. All evaluations and screenings are free to families. ECI is so much like Jazzercise because the emphasis is on prevention and healthy outcomes. Addressing issues early on can make a huge difference in a child's and family's lives. I can't think of a more worthwhile way to make a meaningful impact.
Adan:
Sheila's job is the most rewarding she's had in a long career of helping people, and the effect of her efforts helping those in the field providing the actual services is so important, i hesitate to add much more. So I'll at least leave off saying my age, and quietly mention my art again :-) I love impressionist art, so that's the style I paint, and I love words that move the heart, with humor or joy or sadness, so I aim for that in small one page sayings and in larger written arts reviews of arts stuff I like, movies, music, events, etc. My goal is to enjoyably create things that will potentially outlast me and provide an emotional quickening or reminder for people of things they would find, within themselves, worth living for. If I can have a fraction of the impact of setting a child or infant age 3 or under onto a lifetime path better than would have been otherwise, I'll have done ok.
5.
Have you ever experienced an injury and has it set you back from exercise? If so, how did you bounce back?
Sheila:
Yes, I've had some injuries during my life, slipped disc in my back, pain in my knees, and, most recently, tendonitis in my right leg. I've gone to physical therapy for all of them and did the home exercises they prescribed. I am much better but protect those vulnerable areas, and modify any of the routines that I need to.
Adan:
Since beginning Jazzercise in early 2001 I haven't really had a severe physical injury, not counting bad colds, flu, and severe apnea and reflux - thank goodness; but the latter problems, and my beginning weight of 189, posed pretty serious psychological injuries to my health. I wouldn't say I "bounced" back from these problems, but more like "crawled" back :-) My current weight of 146 has taken almost two years to the day to January 2006. The challenge and success of re-training my habits, my mind, my intentions in regard to my food portions and quality of food and maintaining the "crawl" is directly proportional to having laid the groundwork with the kind of gestalt conditioning offered by Jazzercise. There's no doubt in my mind I may not have been able to accomplish the betterment of my overall health without that overall conditioning and environment, the music, the dance like routines, and, as Sheila said previously, the people. Sheila and I even made the very determined effort last March after
showing at ArtExpo 2007 in New York during a record cold snap to get to a
Tribeca held Jazzercise class, and it was great! The psychological injury of letting oneself slip away from good health is very serious, but enjoyably preventable.
6.
How did you feel when you first tried the class, and what advice would you have for a new Jazzerciser?
Sheila:
Many years ago, when I first started classes, I knew it was for me because I felt so good afterwards. When you're new it's natural to feel sore all over and think you'll never learn the steps. But you will surprise yourself if you keep going. The more you go, the better you feel and the better you look. And for those of us out there who work all day and have to give ourselves an extra nudge to get ourselves to class, it's the best thing to do after a long day at work. Adan and I do that for each other and it has rewarded us over and over. Here's to our health!
Adan:
How'd I feel the first time I danced for the first time in years, behind a gym full of energetic determined women? "Well, I better get moving!" I suggest you go to my website,
www.adanlerma.com, and with the handy google search box on any page, click to search in my site, and type in "jazzercise" and see what you find. I mention it in my writings often and for good reasons.
thanks ya'll,
adan
www.adanlerma.com - to artist intro / commentary
