Fitness is not often associated with the term ‘fun’ and many dread working out because they believe that it would be absolute torture. Hence, imagine the horror on the faces of the Discover KL team when we were invited to MURFEST, a fitness festival in KL. Still, noting how it is touted as the place to be for all things fitness, we decided to bring along our yoga mats and show up bright and early for the event just to see if we could prove our weak selves wrong.
Among the classes held were yoga, bollywood dancing, hula hoop dancing and hip hop dance classes. There were talks during the event as well but as the team wanted to try some fitness classes, we ended up going for a bollywood dance class as well as a flyoga session. For the 4 of us from the Discover KL team, it was our very first time trying out something of this sort and we honestly did not know what we had signed ourselves up for!
The first class we tried was the flyoga session. We decided to sign up for a beginner’s class as we had no prior experience to the activity. Long yellow silk cloths were hung up across tall beams and we were almost doubtful whether the cloths would be able to hold our weight. We didn’t have much time to entertain that thought though as we were greeted by our teacher who is from the Dreams Dance Studio in SS15.
She taught us how to stretch our body in ways we never knew we could, as we hung from the cloth. Sweat began dripping down our faces and never would we have thought that flyoga would have been such a tiring workout! Most of the students during the 30-minute session groaned in pain as we went through the steps. Still, it wasn’t long before laughter ensued as we “ouch’ed” our way through the flyoga session.
Next, we headed on over to the Bollywood dance class led by Mayur and Sachin, 2 skilled instructors who both originate from India. The duo were energetic and they definitely brought a dose of fun to the dance workout. The 2-hour-long class wound up feeling like mere minutes as Mayur and Sachin breezed their way through the steps which weren’t very complicated at all. In fact, they were sassy, interesting and lots of fun.
There’s the “Balay Balay”.
The “Come here, I’ll serve you some more rice”.
And who can forget the classic “shimmy”?
It was interesting to note that the class was attended by both female and male students of various ages. There were 2 young primary-school-goers in the midst, and even an elderly woman who mentioned after the class that she definitely had had herself a good workout.
There were several other classes held during the 3-day fest as well including Latin dance classes and a yoga class where the participants laid supine for the entire session!
MURFEST was definitely a lively festival and it far exceeded our expectations. Where we had lower expectations heading to the fitness event that fateful morning, we were thrilled to find out that it was more than just a bunch of workout sessions thrown together. There was even an ongoing fitness bazaar which saw vendors from healthy food to workout clothings and even beauty products!
Now, several days after MURFEST, some of us are still feeling sore and that is testament to how hard we worked during the event and how much the instructors pushed and motivated us throughout the sessions. It was an eye-opening experience and we certainly are thankful for our sore muscles now because that would certainly translate to a fitter body in the long run.
MURFEST helped open our eyes to the fact that a fitter, healthier body and lifestyle need not have to mean boredom. It can easily translate to lots of fun Bollywood moves and suspending our bodies in the air from yellow silk ropes because the options are endless when it comes to fitness!
