Groovin' for Grace
Refusing to give up on my obscure dream job that I believe I am called to be doing... even though my “community” doesn't seem to want what I'm offering anymore.
Why would I give it up?
I love my job! I love making people smile and feel good in their bodies! I love distracting people from their problems and offering them some fun for an hour! I love music and making playlists that inspire connection, faith and love. I love connecting my body to the rhythms and uniting with others on the dancefloor. I love motivating others to count blessings and celebrate the journey of life!
I didn’t always love my job, or feel good in my body or my life. But Groove changed all that! Even thought I don’t actually make a living from it. I don’t do it for money, I do it for everything else.
It has been a hard road to get here, I have no regrets and don’t plan to stop anytime soon. I am in my 7th year as a “[Body] Groove Facilitator™” and I am more certain than ever that I am where I am meant to be. Groove has saved my life, a few times now. There is power in the playlist. There is magic weaved throughout the whole movement, and I know I am blessed to have been called to share it.
So what’s the problem?
Trouble is, I am not getting much work these days. My small Canadian hometown has canceled me and not supported my work and commitment to community connection for the last three years.
Other than half a dozen old faithful’s, no one else comes to my classes anymore. I even got funding from the municipality, upgraded my equipment and offered free classes to anyone that would come, no one came.
It took a long time for me to get this far. It has taken a lot of faith and commitment and it has seen success and failure on any given day. But nothing really worth it comes easy right?
How did I get here?
When I graduated high school I had no idea what I wanted to be, so I just followed my family into the food business. I wasn’t motivated to do anything else, especially during the years I was raising my children, so I did what I knew, to pay the bills.
Then in 2003, while running my own busy bakery cafe, I had an powerful vision that showed me that I am not meant to be a broke, overworked, overweight, stressed out baker with mobility issues (needing surgery)!
I was actually a dancer! I knew deep down that I had something of real value to offer. I felt spiritually called to be a positive role model to my three kids and my community, and an inspiration to others.
But back then I felt stuck, I knew there was more to life, but I didn’t have the faith, time, money or energy to go after it. I wasn’t ready to fully commit and go all in, but at least I started by just picking away at it on the side, trying to create my vision, for over a decade.
I had been trying to become a dance/fitness teacher, as a side hustle, with a plan to quit the kitchen, for good, once my classes take off. I got all the trainings, and made that commitment to start. But while still running the cafe kitchen, feeding family and being around food ( my nemesis) all the time, I couldn’t find the balance .
I couldn’t run a restaurant and still have time and energy to cook separate meal for myself and family, especially around the workouts. So we just all ate conveniently, the rich cafe foods (bread), and I kept running in circles getting nowhere. Unfortunately, no one really wants to support a fat fitness instructor, but they sure did love to buy my cookies, pies and pizza.
How can I know I am following the right path?
The vision I had received and couldn’t ignore, showed me with my body strong and fit, my mind calm, and my days filled with real joyful purpose, helping others heal, and love their lives.
Then in the summer of 2016, the voice in my gut got too loud to be ignored any longer, (this experience is often commonly know as a mid-life crisis). It was a screaming in my mind and body, saying that time is running out! My life is not supposed to be this way!
I resented wasting all my precious time and energy on cooking and selling unhealthy foods, just for moving money around paying bills! I don’t want a life that makes me want to smoke pot every night just to numb my brain.
So December 2017, I finally sold the business and went 100% after my dream life.
Do or die!
Step 1. Commit to lose the fat off my body, and get my health back in order.
Step 2. Update my credentials (In April 2018, I flew across the country to Montreal to train for Body Groove™).
Step 3. Open a new business to rebrand myself in my community as a healthy dance/ fitness teacher and also a wellness coach. (I took life coach training in 2019 to add to my past certifications in wholistic nutrition /exercise coaching).
It worked! I did it! I created my beautiful vision life!
2018-2021, I grooved my ass off, literally! But it worked! I did a daily dance practice, ate only clean foods, detoxed and reduced caffeine and weed. I lost 80 pounds and healed my ankle without surgery.
My classes took off and I was doing sometimes five or six a week. I was in best shape of my life, to spite being 51 and extremely premenopausal! I finally loved my body and my life and I wanted every person I knew to experience what I did!
My hometown classes were the best and most consistent. My “groovers” were over a dozen, local retired ladies that I had know since childhood. Many were teachers and nurses that were my mothers age, if my mother was still alive. They were motherly to me and very appreciative of my super fun classes, especially during the first year and a half of covid.
When they walked into my class, they left covid out in the hallway. I created a caring family community space amongst my participants. It was a beautiful thing to offer them a bit of old normal; where when the music started, the world turned off. It kept us sane and still living our lives with some joy, even thought the rest of the world was flipped upside down. I knew I was doing an important job, I just somehow knew I was were God needed me.
But unfortunately, it has had a few glitches.
As the pandemic events unfolded, the ladies discovered that I had completely different perspectives than they did about the public health situation.
I couldn’t help myself, I wanted to warn others of the concerns I saw, that they apparently didn’t. I started posting my opinions online and speaking against all the crazy new measures. The group discovered that I was against masks, tests and especially forced vaccines, they fully disagreed with my views, but they silently agreed to ignore it, and not cancel me… because they loved my class so much.
Until October 2021, when the government took it out of their hands, and found another way to cancel me.
By not going along with the evil, I could face legal charges. Talk about a rock and hard place… So I took a break. I stopped my classes temporality, until the madness ended.
I have worked too hard at not being a hypocrite to go along with their evil agenda. If I wasn’t allowed to go to a dance class… how could I be allowed to teach one?!
How could the public not see the absurdity! It was discrimination for my beliefs! I refuse to ever show or ask anyone to show me papers to exercise or eat with me!
I refused to totally stop, but the damage was done. When the mandates ended, my cancelation didn’t. None of my originals returned, in fact one died during the break and I wasn’t allowed to attend her memorial.
Why bother keep trying?
I tried to stay positive but the stress send me back to old habits, and the menopause kicked it full force. But I’m still grooving, Even though I put 50 pounds back on and my ankle is hurting again, I will never quit. I know I have the ability to get it together one more time… I’m back on the mend now, and getting stronger again everyday. The best is yet to come!
Every time the music hits me, and I move my body, my spirit rises. I can feel how important it is to keep going, keep sharing and keep offering.
Now what?
I’ll keep waiting and trusting for God to keep sending me whoever needs my obscure unique services.
I keep offering, because thankfully, I know that everything can change in an instant and all the pieces will fall into place… in Gods good time.
Fast forward to now (2025)- I try to offer two or three classes a week. I only have a small group of groovers still attending, but it is regrowing. I know now more than ever that I am doing what I am called to do.
Everything happens for a reason, that’s why God removed those people from my life.
Every time I see a smiling groover on my dancefloor my heart expands and I know I am making a difference. I don’t even think about money, and I will never turn anyone away. I gave my fears and doubts to God when groove found me, (before I even understood it), and I have never needed for anything since.
Groove and God will keep guiding me forward, and keep me taking the next right steps.
