What is Bokwa?

When I started thinking about this post while walking Alfie today, I thought that it had nothing to do with writing or with worry. But I wanted to write about Bokwa because it’s been quite significant for me, a challenge and an achievement at the same time, on a continuing basis.

Bokwa is a new dance fitness craze, coming from (where else?) Los Angeles, but with reference to its inventor’s South African roots. It’s much easier than Zumba because the steps are all based on letters, numbers and shapes, and once you have learned them, one by one, you become more and more proficient as there is quite a lot of repetition. You can also go to any Bokwa class because the steps are universal. This is what it looks like.

I went to a Zumba class once, probably against my better judgment, and it just made me want to cry. That’s how I usually get if I need to reproduce anything complicated with my feet, and if arm movements are also required I feel like retreating to the corner in a sodden heap. My brain finds it really difficult to tell my arms and legs to follow any sort of routine, even some of the quite simple aerobics ones.

So I went along to Bokwa because the lovely Vicki Lowe was starting a class and I thought I would go to bump up the numbers and probably give up after one or two classes. But there is something addictive about Bokwa, and the steps you start with are really very simple. In between everything there is a “bounce bounce” which isn’t challenging at all, and if I get lost, which is fairly frequent, I just get back to the bounce bounce and I know where I am. It’s a good cardio workout and good fun as well so you don’t feel you are working hard.

So what does this have to do with writing and worry? Well, Bokwa has taught me a bit more about how my mind works. I see my classmates happily picking up the steps, adding the arm movements straight away, and remembering everything, much, much faster than I do. I have to concentrate really hard, and when I’m getting tired towards the end of the class, I start to make mistakes, forget and get lost. My brain is well suited to academic stuff and abstract thinking, but it’s not cut out to be a dancer, even if my body was (it’s not). The more I find out about sport, and now dance, well really anyone who moves for their profession, the more I realise that the mental element is just as crucial as in more purely cerebral occupations. And there are things like timing and spacial awareness that usually aren’t involved in sedentary jobs at all! I gained a lot of respect for boxers when I started to do Boxercise, and now I realise how hard dancers have to concentrate!

Playing with writing has reminded me about the sort of thinking I really enjoy, and find easy, and it’s good as well to find out what is difficult, and a challenge. The great thing (one of the many great things) about being a bit older is that now I’m willing to have a go at the challenge. Not something as complicated as Zumba; that wouldn’t be fun at all, but this is enough to stretch my comfort zones without being too much altogether.

Then there’s worry. Well, one of the many angles that I use to blast worry into outer space is taking control of my thinking and using it in a more constructive way. Because I am concentrating during a Bokwa class, there is absolutely no room for any other thought. If I spent even a moment worrying about anything, I’d get my feet all muddled up and maybe even fall over. It’s like a holiday from intrusive thoughts. Now, these days I don’t need to book a holiday in the form of a Bokwa class just to get away from my worries, but it doesn’t do me any harm at all to give my brain a good hour of concentrating on something difficult and different. And I would unequivocally recommend to anyone struggling with thinking too much: find something tricky that means you can’t think about anything else and commit to doing it regularly. It’s a great experience to clear your mind of rubbish and focus on something positive. Of course you can’t do this all the time because we need to use our minds to plan, analyse and consider, but this would be a great place to start. Especially if meditation seems a bit far out of your comfort zone at the moment.

And if you are just looking for a fun, fairly easy and up-beat way to get a workout, then look up your nearest Bokwa class and have a go. Get in now, as it may become as popular as Zumba and then you’ll have been a pioneer!