Swirling my way to Belly Dancing

Posted by in Fitness & Health | 15 comments


Recommend this article?

TurqSpin.gifI’ve been dying to join a [tag]belly dancing[/tag] class ever since my daughter first introduced the idea to me four years ago. Finally after signing a petition, Fitness First The Fort launched “Belly Dancing” wednesday classes. I was late for the 10:00 AM class and ended up watching the women move their bodies to Egyptian music. How exotic.

I caught up with the teacher at the locker area and she said that I can still catch up. She’ll bring colorful hip belts next week for only 700 pesos ($14.00). It costs 750 pesos in Market! Market!

I was brimming with excitement and teased my husband.

“And once I learn the rudiments, I can practice belly dance in front of you.

My second daughter overheard me and shrieked, “I didn’t hear that! How disgusting!”

*sigh*

My daughters still think of me as a mother and not as a woman. Or her idea of belly dancing is sleazy sexual entertainment and limited to young women. Or did she think belly dance as stripping?

I didn’t want to upset her anymore.

Really, there are many reasons why women take belly dancing .

* Exercise and dance;
* A fun hobby that nurtures self expression, celebration, fantasy and feeling pretty;
* Community and sisterhood;
* Cultural involvement;
* Balance of the yin when a career demands a lot of yang energy!;
* Physical and psychological therapy for reclaiming self esteem and for healing on many levels;

According to the American Council on Exercise, Belly dancing has emerged as one of the hot new workout trends in recent years. See, I hope to work hundreds of muscles, burn calories and de-stress with belly dancing.

I know that I will…

– love the control I learn to have over my body and how I stay fit.
– love the feminine connection I make with myself.
– love the mystical feminine components of belly dance.”

My age shouldn’t stop me NOT even my belly fats. I’m going to swirl my way to fitness. Belly dance will keep me younger — body, mind, and spirit!

Let’s see. Stay tuned.



If you enjoyed this post, please recommend to your network by adding a plus one . You can also get Email Updates of any new posts by adding your email address below:

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed.

The comments posted on my blog are moderated. I reserve the right to remove comments, words or phrases that are defamatory, abusive, incite hatred and advertise an email address or commercial services or just plain spammy. I also reserve the right to remove posts that to my opinion are off-topic, irrelevant, ad-hominem, personal attacks and or just plain rude. (January 16, 2009)
  • http://ilocana.com dexie

    ooh, go momma :)

    i want do that too after the baby but it’ll depend on how busy i’m going to be once the baby gets here. chances are i’ll probalby buy a DVD of it.

  • LG

    I’m sorry your daughter feels the way she does about belly dancing, she sounds as if her perceptions of the art are probably coming from stereotypes and misconceptions. I would highly recommend her to visit http://www.puredance.org which is a tribe of dancers who come together to spread world peace and healing through the art of dance. I happen to be one of them=)
    I hope you do take the belly dance classes. No woman is ever too young or too old– this dance is ageless! Also remember this dance is for woman of all shapes, sizes— it’s designed to cater to the body of women.
    Go ahead and take the classes, you’ll mesmerize people around you with your confidence and believe me your daughter will come around sooner or later. This is especially true when she gets older, wiser and less judgmental.
    Good luck & good shimmies.

  • http://aboutmyrecovery.com noemi

    dexie: hehe. Yes I see DVDs being sold around. I might also buy just so I can practice along with it.

  • http://crayolaskies.org cris

    wow really fitness first started belly dancing class?? :)

    cool, haha maybe i can try one or something when i get back.. haha my problem now is to figure out how to dance! hahaha :)

    i like the boxing class though — it’s really fun :)

  • http://www.kurokuroatbp.blogspot.com Toe

    You go girl! :)

  • http://aboutmyrecovery.com noemi

    Cris: yes after a lot of us signed up for a petition. Other branches already had like Manila or Eastwood . I see a lot join boxing class . I should try that too.

    Toe: Go me!

  • http://aboutmyrecovery.com noemi

    LG: thanks for the link. Yes I think it is due to stereotypes of belly dancing.

  • http://silverheartz.com Vivian

    Wow! How sexy!
    hmmmm i wonder if it’s hard….i’m sure your belly gets a good workout.
    Hard rock abs sexy body movements……heck i wanna join too!
    do you get to wear sexy outfits as well? =)

  • http://aboutmyrecovery.com noemi

    Vivian: The teacher wears the flowy skirt and a top which shows her midrif. The belts are placed over her hips. The bells are so you know if you are moving your belly muscles properly. As for the rest of the class, most wear their gym outfits with the belts on their hip. yes join the class if you know of one or if you’re a member of FITNESS FIRST.

  • http://crayolaskies.org cris

    yeah try the boxing haha super fun :) i think i’m more a boxing person than a dance person coz i had the hardest time in body jam (which they say is the *easiest* class na in fitness).. either that or i was too conscious haha :p but hmm reading all the positive comments about belly dancing, i think i just might try it too when i get home. anything for me to lose weight! :)

  • http://aboutmyrecovery.com noemi

    Cris: I can only last 40 minutes with body jam due to my fractured leg which limits my moves. When I saw the belly dancing classes, it looked like the girls were having fun.

  • http://blog.kapenilattex.com Jon Limjap

    My Fil-am cousin occassionally sidelines as a belly dance instructor, but what makes her an unusual instructor is that she’s obese. I don’t want to put a number on her weight but the only way to describe her is “hindi mo akalaing kaya niyang gumiling nang ganoon.”

    In fact, she was featured one time in Unang Hirit along with belly-dancing enthusiast Regine Tolentino. Regine quipped on the show: “tignan niyo naman mga misis kahit anong klase ng katawan niyo pwedeng-pwede pa ring magbelly-dancing!”

    Of course after I translated that to her my cousin exclaimed “that biatch!” in jest.

  • http://aboutmyrecovery.com noemi

    Jon: the belly dance teacher has a healthy belly too. Being a belly dancer doesn’t mean one needs to have perfect belly. In the middle east, most belly dancers are plump.

  • Michelle

    Belly dancing is good while your pregnant, it is good for your back and as you dance, your stomach craddles the baby. so belly dancing is good for the baby, if you read about the history of belly dancing , it was about a woman who celebrates her femininity and body especially at the time of childbirth

  • http://www.belly-dancing.org.uk Laura

    I heard that ‘belly fats’ as you call them, actually make it easier to start belly dancing… you cant dance with your belly if you havent got a belly!!! :)

Switch to our mobile site