Health Benefits of Belly Dancing

Belly dancing was originally a ritual performed in the Middle East in the preparation for pregnancy and childbirth. Later, it became a popular dance performed for audiences. In recent years, belly dance has gained more popularity among Western nations due to its health benefits for women.

The key to this beautiful dance is the idea of isolations, meaning movement of individual body parts while keeping other parts motionless. For example, hips might be making circular movements, while the rest of the body is still. This takes some practice in the beginning.

Belly dancing is one of the exciting ways to exercise. Usually, if you enjoy your exercise program, it is more likely that you will stick to it. Finding good belly dancing classes will definitely help. Belly dance is not one of the easiest to learn and that is why in the beginning it is recommended that you find a good training instructor to show you those first moves and to correct your posture. As you become more comfortable, high quality instructional DVD would be a good training tool as well.

Some of the known benefits of the belly dance include:

• Dance leads to body awareness
• Emotional health
• Improved self-esteem
• Increased sensuality
• Good calorie-burning work out, with regular exercise
• Stronger abdominal and back muscles
• Endorphin production
• Greater flexibility
• Increased blood and oxygen circulation
• Relaxation
• Can correct posture problems
• Muscle toning
• Reduces cellulite
• Stress reduction
• May help relieve depression
• And last but not least--It's fun!

Belly dancing can relieve menstrual cramps and can also be used as a preparation for childbirth and for postpartum toning, since these exercises tone the pelvic muscles as well as the back and the upper and lower abdomen. Some of the exercises for the dance include proper breathing techniques.

Belly dance can reduce the risk of osteoporosis and can also strengthen bones, since it is considered to be a weight-bearing exercise.

Belly dancing can be enjoyed by women of all shapes, sizes, and ages!

Sources:

The complete guide to natural healing (group 11, card 1)

http://www.internationalbellydancing.com/healthbenefits.html

http://www.ketisharif.com/article-healthcourse.html