Tum Like it Flat!
I was astonished to find that my friend has a stomach as flat as a flounder and she’d recently given birth. I, on the other hand, had my last child 11 years ago yet I had a stomach which gave the impression that something was about to be born.
My first visit was nerve rocking after walking into a class with over 2o women of all ages showing their nicely shaped bellies. Men were welcome, but none turned up! Perhaps they were afraid of wiggling their body parts in front of women.
I wore a pair of jeans and a T-shirt while the other dancers suited out in full costume complete with jingling bells, tassels and swinging skirts.
We began the session and I thought we’d just roll and shake our bellies a bit. But I was wrong. After our warm up exercise, we all stood in a circle while the instructor demonstrated a full dance routine.
I struggled to separate my body parts at the point where we were shown how to compartmentalize our body and move one section at a time. Then it was “Bend your knees, tuck your backside under, lift your chest, throw your hips from side to side and drop lift! Drop lift!” I felt like Eddie the eagle on a bad day. I just wanted to do something with my belly and snake my hips like Shakira.
It quickly dawned on me, very breathlessly, that if I mentally isolate my body by keeping still and just sink my tummy inward and outward, I’d get the required “belly wiggle” or what our instructor called an “Egg-rolled”. This can be achieved by picturing that you are rolling your tummy over an egg. I wasn’t certain whether an egg would have survived the pressure of my tummy muscles in a bid to learn to belly dance.
It was time for the “Corkscrew”. Imagine a corkscrew descending into a wine bottle. That’s the picture. We circled our bosoms around five times then transferred the circle to our hips then reverse the process.
When we reached our pelvic bones, the instructor asked us to visualized lifting our fanny/pelvic over a fence. This must be achieved by keeping our feet firm on the floor while dipping and lifting. I couldn’t do that in reality never mind in my imagination. She didn’t stop there. We were asked to visualized writing the figure of “8” and the letter “S” with our heads, shoulders, ribcages, tummies, hips, pelvic and feet. That was a complete body tone up.
I was having so much fun it didn’t seem like exercise even though I could feel it tightening and stretching my tummy and waist muscles. Ones we’d master the moves; we put them all together and did the routine to music. Each song had its own routine. The change of instrumental beat within each song was a constant reminder of which body parts we needed to wiggle or lift and drop.
Once you get the ball rolling in belly dancing you will never stop. I’ve not only lost 3 inches off my tummy, I have taken belly dancing onto the dance floor in nightclubs. Thanks to my friend and instructor. Belly dancing is not only an all over workout; it also appeals to the inner woman because you get the customs and the artistry of the dance with the keep-fit element. I like the fun, friendship and the exercise.
Written by Petrona Donegal
Freelance writer
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