This chapter tells you about the spirit of Tangolates and how it raises the level of your endorphins. It also details the ways in which it can apply to different people in very different situations, such as parkinson or pregnancy. In this chapter, you will see the basics of posture.
The spirit of Tangolates
If Pilates is a mind-body method; Tango is a soul and body dance. Now, together, they are a mind-and-soul body workout: two bodies moving together with one mind and one soul. There!
After you try Tangolates, all other exercise routines you can do at a gym look lonely, sad, and boring. They all lack the socializing spirit of Tangolates, a spirit that has to do with real life and real people, with sharing, with being aware of yourself and of the person who is working next to you; a spirit that makes you celebrate your strengths and overcome your weakness together.
Not just a technique
You’ve got it. Tangolates is not just a technique. It is much more than that. Tangolates is a philosophy of life, it’s a feeling, it’s an attitude.
The names of the exercises may be the same as those used for the Pilates equipment: the Elephant, the Saw, The Swan Dive. You will also have new names and exercises from Tango, like Chambergo, Double Chambergo, The Pivot or The Ocho. In fact, the classical Tango figure, The Ocho (The Eight), melts in perfectly with the Hundred of Pilates and becomes the Hundred-and-Eight.
If you find a better thing to strengthen your abs with than the Hundred-and-Eight, please let me know!
With Tangolates, you will always be working your abs, your derriere, your legs, your arms, and your entire body. And that is not all. You will be losing some pounds and even getting rid of some cellulite as well!
And don’t you worry about getting tired, or getting bored, or not having the consistency to carry on. There is no record of anybody abandoning Tangolates, as there would be no record of anybody leaving the dancing floor if Richard Gere or Jennifer Lopez were there holding their arms out to dance with you, as they did in the movie “Shall We Dance?” just imagine! Now you have that opportunity…
Play It Again, Zorro
If I had to choose what I like best of Tangolates, I will definitely go for the fun of it: the music is great; it makes you feel like a million dollars in the arms of the Great Gatsby; plus it gets your endorphins going, and so it keeps you enjoying it all the way to a slim body! For those of you who are younger, remember the movie in which Antonio Banderas danced with Catherine Zeta-Jones? Now tell me, wasn’t that scene absolutely gorgeous?
Your Endorphins
Everybody knows what endorphins are, right? Endorphins are those precious hormones that are released by your brain when you are happy.
Once endorphins are released you feel happy and you lose part of your sense of time or fatigue and can literally dance throughout the night! The end result may be that you end up burning more calories waltzing than painting the roof.
There are a few things that make your endorphins go. All of them evoke nice feelings: dancing, listening to good music, playing with a puppy dog, or a little kitten, making love, drinking a glass of good wine by the fireplace, to name just a few.
Let Them Flow
Would you believe me if I told you that with Tangolates you will get your endorphins flowing? Would you? Well, I give you three reasons to prove myself right: first, you don’t sweat; second you share, and third, the music is great.
In a regular class of Tangolates you will be able to:
‰ 1. Listen to music
‰ 2. Dance
‰ 3. Share
The satisfaction that these three activities give have been analyzed in numerous research studies and investigations, and the results indicate that in general, human beings are not indifferent to the stimulus of music and dance, of sharing with others, and of assisting and being assisted. You will be no exception, I guarantee you.
One, Little Two, Little Three…
Back Pain, Parkinson, Pregnancy. What do they have in common? The answer is: Nothing.
Yet, the three of them benefit from Tangolates. How? Why? Well, lets go one by one.
