Posts Tagged ‘belly dance moves’

’3 Minute’ Belly Dance Workout

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Sometimes I know I should exercise, but either I feel like I don’t have the time or I just don’t feel like working out. In most instances, I realize that I do have time for 3-4 minutes, which is the length of many belly dance songs. So even if I don’t feel like working out, I’ll play one song and start moving.

The moves I usually do are circular, rolling movements like circles and figure 8’s of the hips and ribcage, undulations, head and shoulder rotations, and body vibrations (see my blog “Good Vibrations – Shimmy On”). These moves give me the most ‘bang’ for my workout ‘buck’. Because circular belly dance movements work in a full range of motion (360 degrees of direction), my muscles get thorough, condensed exercise, especially in the all-important core area. I know I’m not going to get an aerobic workout in 3-4 minutes, but I can get my circulation going and massage my stressed muscles and joints.

For me, the 3-minute workout almost always tricks me into doing a much longer workout. Usually by the time my first song is over, I’m enjoying myself so much that I just let the music continue to play, and before I know it, 10 songs (about 30-40 minutes or more) have just flown by. That’s what happens when you’re having fun!

So even if I just bellydance for 3 minutes, I know that I’m getting the most out of my time by doing full range of motion and vibrating movements. The enjoyment factor usually insures that I end up dancing longer than 1 song and getting an aerobic workout too.

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Losing Weight with Bellydance

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

People often ask me if they can lose weight by bellydancing. The answer is that you can lose weight with any sustained physical activity if you eat a healthy, balanced diet and you don’t have any underlying medical problems.

Belly dance moves  include those that are slow and wave-like as well as those that are fast and angular. You can use belly dance moves in a sustained, aerobic workout and burn a lot of calories. If you burn enough calories, bellydance will help you lose weight as well as sculpt your muscles, increase your flexibility, and improve your circulation. However, if you eat more calories than you burn off with your bellydancing, you’ll still gain weight, even though your body will be in better condition.

I think that one of the most beneficial aspects of bellydancing for weight control is that it’s so good for stress reduction. There’s nothing like listening to your favorite music and dancing freestyle with moves that are fun to do. It really takes your mind off of the problems of your everyday life. Since over-eating is often caused by too much stress, anything that you can do to focus your mind on something pleasurable is very helpful.

With bellydance and proper diet, you can lose unwanted pounds as well as experience many other benefits. For many women, it the best ‘weight’ to go!

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Warming Up to Bellydance

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

It’s accepted wisdom that it’s important to ‘warm-up’ your body before doing prolonged physical activity. It’s especially important if that activity is strenuous and engages a lot of different parts of your body.

There’re many techniques that can be used in warming up, including stretching and other moves that increase your circulation, breathing, and heart rate. I’m with the school of thought that believes in not over-doing a warm-up, especially with stretching that is too extreme for cold muscles and joints. I like to save the deep stretches for the cool-down at the end of a workout, when the body is already warmed up.

My favorite warm-ups for any activity are (surprise, surprise) simple belly dance moves. Rolling hip and ribcage circles, undulations of the arms and torso, and traveling steps, all serve the requirements needed to circulate energy to every part of the body and to get the pulse rate up.

Circular belly dance moves are really effective because they engage the muscles and joints in a full range of motion, and fast staccato moves increase respiration. Using my favorite music also helps me relax and focus on my warm-up more fully.

When I teach a belly dance class, I don’t have to lose valuable class time by using warm-up moves that have no relation to bellydancing. Unless it’s a class for absolute beginners, I can start the class by going right into basic belly dance techniques. That way the students get both a fun warm-up and at the same time, a review of the all important core foundation belly dance moves.

So, no matter what physical activity I want to do, a few minutes of basic bellydancing gets me unkinked and ready to safely push myself harder and further with my workouts. I’m not alone – millions of women have also warmed up to the idea that bellydance moves are a hot addition to their fitness routines.

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All Shook Up

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

I once read that many animals will shake or shiver after a stressful experience. This is their body’s way of releasing the stress so that it doesn’t accumulate in their body and cause harm. Of course, I immediately thought of the many shaking, vibrating, and quivering movements (shimmies) that we do in belly dancing.

Any belly dancer will tell you that it feels great to shimmy. I know of no other dance form that has as complex and refined a vocabulary of so many different types of shaking movements (horizontal hip shimmy, up & down hip shimmy, knee/body vibration, stomach flutter, shoulder shimmy and bounce shimmy, to name a few). There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s a wonderful way to release stress and tension, especially when you dance to music that inspires you to move energetically.

Modern life is so fast paced and complicated. Working, taking care of family members, following the news, and dealing with the duties and obligations of everyday life takes its’ toll.

Because modern life is so relentlessly hectic, and our attention is focused on the tasks we have to do, most of us don’t even notice the stress building up until it reaches some critical point and our minds and bodies break down in some way. Belly dancing helps us become more aware of our body, so that we’re more apt to pay attention to our stress before it gets too high.

Ideally, we should just shake and shimmy every time we get stressed out. However, that just isn’t possible in today’s society (you’re co-workers will think you’re out of your mind if you immediately try to ‘shake it off’ every time your boss yells at you!). So we belly dancers make up for it when we have the opportunity to dance – a socially acceptable way to shake and shimmy to our heart’s content.

There are many physical, mental, and emotional benefits to shaking your body. An excellent article to read is “Shake Away Your Stress & Tension” on Lea Houston’s web site, SelfCareCelebration.com. Belly dance techniques are a proven and safe way to get the benefits of shaking, but Lea’s information will show you that most any shaking will do.

After a hard day’s work, or even just when I can grab a private moment or two, I’ll do a few shimmies. Try it. You can get all shook up and feel great!

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