And, of course, how can you have the same success story with your body?

My answer is that DANCE is truly the secret to my success. And let me tell you, I have come a long way, baby!

How did DANCE transform my body?

First off, let me tell you that I have a slender frame–and I gain weight very quickly when I find myself feeling unhappy and frustrated with life. I found myself feeling EXACTLY that way as an over-worked high school English teacher. I loved teaching and all of my students, but the work load and the lack of pleasure and joy in my life was making me put on the pounds, and not only that, I felt exhausted all of the time.

I have learned that my body is a reflection of how in or out of joy I am. And by the end of that year of teaching, I was 20 pounds overweight and completely miserable.

So I quit my job. I started a new business (a non-profit called Mariposa’s Art) teaching exactly what I loved. I started focusing on one of my talents more–playing music. I began studying Latin and Middle Eastern percussion with amazing teachers and performed in a steel drum band, which was awesome. I started dating a fellow musician, a bass player for the local Brazilian band, Sambada. Part of every weekend included waking up early on Sunday morning and playing drums for J’ann Rains’ beginning Samba dance class.

Watch for Yourself!

I learned to play the Brazilian bass drum, the surdo, and watched the dance class every week from the sidelines. My boyfriend described the women dancing as “The Dancers” and explained that we were “The Musicians.”

He always said “The Dancers” with such holiness and I started to want more and more to be a part of this elusive group of women who wore sequined bikinis, gorgeous plumages of feathers and danced with such joy and pride in themselves.

One Sunday morning, I just couldn’t take it anymore! I decided to take the dance class as a dancer instead of drumming from the sidelines. A bold move! And a very painful first experience! The class was so challenging. I had never tried moving my body in so many new and different ways. My teacher encouraged me to feel the music in the movement and to relate to the dance as a musician.

I cried and cried after my first class, completely frustrated. And a fierce determination was born. I kept coming back to the dance class every week, crying afterwards every time. It is hard to suck at something!

Watch for Yourself!

But the music! The flavor of the rhythm! The glide of the hips! The elusive challenge of the intricate Samba step! I persevered and went to every dance class I could. At Sambada concerts, I glued myself to other seasoned dancers sides, studied their butts, and over the dedication of a year, I learned to Samba!

And then, the next challenge was to master the art of seeing myself in the mirror in dance class.

As a young girl, like many women, I agonized over my body in middle school. I felt much like a giraffe in middle school—with really long legs, a body that was too thin, with a bubble butt, no breasts, and very, very large teeth. I earned some horrible nicknames from people during those years—uugh! It took until college for the rest of my body to catch up to all of those legs and teeth!

And when I first came to Samba, all of this self-consciousness and self-dislike was still there. And you have to dance for an hour and a half every night staring at yourself in the mirror. Oh god!
I decided that if I could fall in love with one small part of myself, there dancing and sweating in the mirror, that that would be enough.

I picked my collarbones. One night at dance class, I fell in love with the smooth expanse of my collarbones.

That initial fixation led to loving more of my body. Self-love and self-appreciation only need a small entrance! Next, I started loving my smile, and all of my teeth! How radiating and fantastic! And then my butt! My butt was big and round and could do such amazing things! And my hip bones that curved outward! And my small breasts that looked great in any dance top! And my long legs!

My legs and my knees were probably my greatest challenge. My knees had always turned inward, making me a horrible runner and last picked in gym class for team sports.

I had no idea that my the spiral shape of my body would be such a blessing for the art of Samba. The helix curve of inward knees made for outward hips with a fascinating amount of movement! I found that my body was made for Samba—and something in me was filled, and now just can’t help but pour outwards with such love and grace!

Watch for Yourself!

When I found this combination of joyful movement and loving and appreciating my body exactly as it was, profound transformations took place. I lost the weight. My posture completely changed.

The natural beauty (that we each possess) that was covered over by years of self-dislike began shining outwards with such brilliance.And now you can’t get me to be quiet about it. I love sharing the beauty of Samba with so many women around the world and inviting them to DANCE and fall in love with their bodies, one beautiful aspect at a time.

To learn how you can shed your extra pounds and step into your unique beauty, confidence, and grace; visit my website: CLICK HERE

Ready to celebrate the success story of your own body?CLICK HERE NOW! And Watch for yourself!

To your joyful, sexy success!

Theresa StevensInspirational Dancer Teacherand Founder, Lovelight Samba