My Zumba history

I want to share my Zumba story. A friend invited me to a class. I was still carrying the extra kilos from my 4th pregnancy. My condition was terrible — I was exhausted. I felt ugly, overweight, and with a belly.

I remember thinking that day: “This is it. I’m never coming back to another Zumba class in my life.” 🫣 That was in Tenerife

Then life turned around. We moved to Sweden, and being here without the language and right in the middle of COVID, I decided to start Zumba Kids classes in Spanish, right in the hostel lobby.

People kept asking me if I would do classes for adults, and I kept saying no — only kids. Then came Zumba Kids Jr, and still no adult classes.

I was happy, and I will always remember all those families who started with me. I’ll always be grateful to them.

But people kept asking about adult classes… and one day I finally said, “Okay, let’s try.”

My first adult class had only one person registered. So I asked my Latin friends to please come because I only had one person registered and I needed help to make it feel like a real class. They came — and I will always be thankful to them. Thank you 🙏🏽

Moving tables, moving chairs, setting up and taking down… until one day we created the academy.

From there came Zumba Gold, Aqua Zumba, and honestly, I want to keep training and learning more.

Sometimes, when I compare myself to other instructors, I feel stiff, not good enough, like I still have so much to learn.

But when I compare myself to me, I hug myself and give myself a big pat on the back because I’m so proud of how far I’ve come.

Girls, friends — you see me jumping around like a monkey because I love seeing your faces. The kids, the adults, your smiles… they feed my soul.

None of us are perfect. We are who we are, and Zumba is just a path — a way to disconnect, to be happy. In the end, it doesn’t matter if the dance is perfect or if the steps come out exactly right.

Zumba is so much more than that…

And I want to say this: just because one class felt confusing or you didn’t understand the steps, don’t stop coming. Every class gets better, until one day you look back — like I do — and say, “Wow… look at everything I’ve done.” 💛