Belly dancing has always intrigued me. When I was in my twenties, I was intrigued because it would make me sexier. And of course, in my twenties, that's exactly what I wanted. Somewhere around age 35, I thought belly dancing will help me stay healthy, because at that age I was really into aerobic exercise and I absolutely hated running. And now, closer to 60 than I care to admit, belly dancing means the ability to stay mobile, to keep the arthritis at bay. Let's take a look back.
Well, I think in my twenties I took a few classes and found that it was actually exercise which I, in my twenties, scorned and so stopped quickly. I was already sexy, I rationalized to myself, why learn something that just made me sweaty and that I HAD to practice! Are you kidding? I was perfect the way I was and besides, if I got any sexier, I would have to spend too much time fending off the extra attention! Just too much work for me. I really wasn't lazy, but truthfully, at that time, did not understand the importance and benefits of exercise.
That all changed in my thirties, I joined the Navy. Yes, I know odd choice for someone who thought that exercise was a dirty word. But, join I did, and to my dismay, in boot camp started running everywhere I went. Did I mention how much I hate running! I was also doing weight training 3-4 times a week. So when someone mentioned learning belly dancing as exercise; I thought, great, maybe I can build up strength and endurance without the RUNNING! So, I signed up again. Well, I learned a few moves, none of which I did particularly well. Did I mention that I was a perfectionist? My motto was, if you're going to do it, do it well! So once again I quit! It was that practice thing again, if you're going to get good at something you need to practice and well, I really didn't want to take time out from my life to do that. I hadn't yet realized that I was treating all exercise and belly dance in particular, as something external to my life, something I had to make time for, instead of incorporating it into my life, so that it became a part of me.
Well, here we are, at that magical age of "around 60"! Oh the lessons that I've learned; but I'll save that for another article. This one is about belly dancing. Belly dancing at 60? Why not? My body might not be as pretty as it was in years past, but there is something extremely important to belly dancing at my age. What is it you ask?
LIFE! It goes by whether you belly dance or not, whether you ski or not, whether you sing or not. Why live your life sitting on the sidelines, letting your own life pass you by. I can say that I have done just about everything that I have wanted to do in my life, except belly dance! So, I decided that I won't be sitting in my rocker at the old folks' home, ruing the fact that I never learned to belly dance. It's time! So, a few friends and I started a belly dancing costuming business, http://www.fabulousbellydance.com, and started learning some moves like hip lifts, hip bumps and even belly rolls. Could the belly roll be working finally, because I now have a belly to roll? Just thinking aloud!
This article was published on Tuesday 21 July, 2009.
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