The latest craze to hit out shores!

Zumba is the latest phenomenon to hit Oz. Zumba is a fusion of latin inspired dance workout that creates a dynamic, exciting and effective fitness system!

My first experience of Zumba started about a month ago, my sister, mother and I headed off to the sport centre to try out this new craze. We did not know what to expect other than what we had seen on recent TV commericals. I expected to see gym fanatics, or even teenie poppers! But instead found myself in a room full of over eager 60-70years old women!

I'm not even sure how to begin describing my zumba experience over the next hour. The closest description I can come up with is that it was a zumba exorcism. Now imagine your grandmother or great grandmother screaming, shaking, sweating, gyrating, panting and flailing all over the place. Boy was it an experience, one that would haunt me for the next month. My sister and I kept sneaking panicked/ amused glances to one another the entire class. These grannies were exerting more energy screaming then they were moving their bodies. I could not concentrate on anything other than this over eager, 60 year old Asian female trying to shake her hips like Shakira and I mean TRYING to! It was more like she was experiencing an electric shock all while bouncing up and down, while hyperventilating! I suppose she was trying to find her own path to her inner Shakira!

I'm somewhat curvy and definitely have hips and thighs, so as i became more comfortable with the insane choreography our instructor was teaching us, I braved a look into the mirrors to see what i looked like. BIG MISTAKE. Being on the front row allows you to see every move you make- it wasn't a pretty sight people. I was dong my best to keep up with the instructor, but every time she yelled to me "SHAKE IT" I could not managed to "GIGGLE IT" At one point I swear i am not exaggerating here- My sister can back me up, she forced us to spread our legs apart as if we were doing a pile style squat. We then had to plant our hands on the ground in front of us. In case you are having a hard time picturing this- my feet were on the ground, my hands were on the ground and my butt was STRAIGHT IN THE AIR! we then proceeded to "shake it" up and down for 16 counts - which felt like about an hour! Now remember i was in the front row! to say i was mortified would be an understatement. I had to resist the urge to turn to the granny behind me and apologies. I have some serious junk in my trunk and i cant imagine what it was like for the cute little granny behind me. I also did a quick little glance to my crotch and to my horror I had a tiny hole that was expanding ever so fast as we giggle our cha cha! glancing back at granny to cute, who i had hoped did not notice was smiling at me with her two front teeth missing! As 9 o'clock approach I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I figured the warm down session would be next. But boy was i wrong! Somehow, this crazy women (the instructor) managed to cram 3 songs into the remaining 6 minutes of class- and she actually increased her enthusiasm! She was literally in my face screaming for everyone to "shake it", "move it", and "let me hear you." The class finally came to end and I am almost positive that every granny left feeling as if they barely escaped with only a shred of dignity left. I would definately recommend you try out Zumba with your girlfriends if not for the experience but for a laugh!

- By Severine Duval

Loving the chase...

I was reading 'The chase' over the weekend by Samantha Brett and came across a quote, "Once a girl becomes too available your self worth increases and you may begin to tell yourself that you can do much better..." - Tosh.

This got me thinking. The fact is men need the chase. I decided to practice this theory on my boyfriend over the weekend, and as it turns out its true! I completely ignore him, and acted as though i had better things to do then worry about his every need. I wasn't needed, clingy, overly affectionate and basically didn't give a damn. And as it turned out the less I cared the more he did! He became much more attentive and seeked my attention more and more. Men love to play games, they love the challenge of earning something much more then be given something. Over the centuries men have been chasing after something, and more importantly been rewarded for it! Men feel empowered if they've gone after something and gotten it, claiming something rather than having it given to them is a sense of accomplishment and really that is what has driven mankind for centuries. While mentioning this theory to my boyfriend he admitted that men value something or someone they've had to win over much more. I've always thought that by making things easier in a relationship such as by always checking up on him and worrying about him i was been a good girlfriend but the fact is men find independence sexy and are much more attracted to girls who either don't give a rats about them or who are too busy for them. By making things easier for a men were boring them death, but by living our own life we are making things much more appealing and interesting for them! I've always wondered how and why men stay with their girlfriends who are complete bitches to them and I now know why, it all about the chase!

- By Severine Duval

Hollywood and cheating spouses.

First it was the Tiger Woods scandal and now Sandra Bullock's cheating husband Jesse James? It intrigues me how no amount of fame, beauty, talent, wisdom or wealth can ever shield a woman from a cheating partner.

Sandra Bullock, a refined actress that exudes talent and beauty now finds herself in a situation a lot of us infamous women unfortunately wind up in. The question is, it doesn’t really matter how beautiful you are, how rich and famous you are or what a good wife you are. Men are men sadly and they have their needs and low thresholds for temptation.

If it can happen to Sandra Bullock, Sienna Miller or Jennifer Aniston it can definitely happen to us. Isn’t it scary how we think that? All these actors and actresses have such a pristine, ‘untouchable’ sort of aura around them. Then a husband/boyfriend cheats on them and I sit here and wonder, “Why? But she’s so beautiful! Why would he want to cheat on her?” The answer to that question I think is, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly; we are all prone to the same things.

It’s sad though isn’t it? You think you have this perfect relationship but all it takes is temptation for a man and yes even for a cheating woman, but I mean come on seriously, how often do us women really cheat in comparison to men? That may come across as a sexist or feminist remark but from the little that I have seen in the past 24 years men take the cake on this one. So the question is, do men usually cheat because they are just not capable of thinking with their head and get carried away with a woman’s physical beauty and their dire desperation for getting under the sheets with someone hot and new? Or is it because us women do get too comfortable and forget the basic things we used to do to make our men happy when we first started out? It does take two hands to clap.

Because at the end of the day men are definitely visual creatures and women are in their head a little too much (you have to admit it ladies!). So when and how do we draw a medium? Because let’s face it there is plenty of couples out there who’s relationships and marriages do work without any infidelity. What magic do they work on their relationship?

Would sharing, listening, understanding, compromising and always keeping things exciting keep your man/woman from straying? I say, why not?

- By Simran Sagar