Today’s post is from Regional Trainer, Susheela. She shares her thoughts on Body Empowerment and how dance & fitness have helped her get through difficult times in her journey. Read more about Susheela in her post below!
When I was about 9 years old, a very famous Indian actress, Padmini Ramachandran, moved to Teaneck, NJ, the town next to mine. Many Indian parents took their daughters to Padmini to learn bharata natyam, an Indian classical dance form. I was very lucky to have been able to study with Padmini and perform all over the country as a member of her troupe. I was a little taller than the other girls (which tells you something because I’m only 5’3”…and ¼…don’t forget the ¼!); so, I was often cast as one of the young males.
I played rich parts demonstrating mischievous or nuanced characters. The characters I played wrestled with moral dilemmas or demonstrated pluck and strategic thinking. I would often be on the stage all by myself. I had intense stage fright. I also had pretty bad eyesight. So, you know what I did? I popped out my contact lenses and took the stage. My eyesight wasn’t so horrible that I was going to fall off the stage, but it was bad enough that I couldn’t see audience members’ faces or expressions. That way, I could focus on embodying the character I was playing and dancing my little heart out without letting my nerves paralyze me.
In addition to bharata natyam, I was lucky enough to take other types of dance classes as a child—ballet, tap…I still remember tapping on the kitchen floor—the best floor in my house for practicing my tap moves…and my father getting annoyed. Additionally, I grew up in a tennis family. (My 81-year old mother still plays tennis to this day!) I used to run marathons, and some might call me a gym rat.
I taught high- and low-impact aerobics in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, but stopped teaching after graduating from law school. About 21 years later, BollyX brought me back to the world of fitness instruction. BollyX combined my Indian dance background with my love for fitness. I became certified as a BollyX instructor in February 2014. This happened to coincide with the end of my 10-year marriage—a devastatingly sad time for me. Instead of lying in bed for weeks, I poured myself into learning the choreography and working with other newly certified BollyX instructors in Richmond, VA, to get weekly BollyX classes up and running. I can honestly say that BollyX helped me cope with the loss of my life partner and not succumb to depression.
Dance and fitness give me a sense of body empowerment that translates into other parts of my life and work. It helps me overcome some of the nervousness I feel as a domestic and sexual violence attorney, lobbying Virginia’s state legislature for improved laws and conducting trainings all over the state. It offers me healthy alternatives and coping tools in times of pain and stress. It is a core value of my life, for which I am very grateful.
