Tag Archives: Belly Dancing

Gotta Dance!

Good evening!

I have gotten home from my belly dancing class this evening, and I am still really jazzed!! I have to tell you, it is such a happy class! It is hard for me to go there and not have an absolutely great time!! I know you must be sick of hearing me say it EVERY SINGLE WEEK, but I just LOVE BELLY DANCING!! and you know what, I think it isn’t just belly dancing anymore, I think I just love to dance!!!

Who knew??

I have never been a terribly physical person, I have always excelled at things that involve your mind, and thinking, or a talent like music, or the arts. Dance, which yes, I realize is also an art, I had just never thought it was something that was ever going to be in my repertoire, and I SO LOVE IT!!

Dancing has literally changed me.

It changes the way I see myself.

It changes the way I think about the future and what I now think is possible as opposed to what limitations I had previously placed on myself!

For the first time in my life, and I mean EVER, my inside and outside are starting to become more congruent!! They both are finally HAPPY!! I mean truly, unadulterated, no facade H-A-P-P-Y!!!

I wish that I had the opportunity to provide every single person out there to have this euphoric feeling that I am feeling now. I am convinced, now more than ever, that this feeling is the feeling of joy that is placed upon you when you are doing ANYTHING that honors your authentic self!! For me, right now, that is dancing, for you that might be cooking, singing, drawing, writing, sewing, walking, or whatever!!

My challenge to you this evening and for the rest of the week is to get out there and find an activity, ANY ACTIVITY that honors who you are on the inside – the best of who you are capable of being, and if you feel like sharing, please fee free to let me know in the comment section what that activity might be for you! You’ll never know who might come along and read what you have written – you just might inspire someone to get out there and find THERE OWN PERSONAL activity too!!

I look forward to chatting with you some more tomorrow! Until then…

Have a FABULOUS evening! πŸ˜‰

The New Me!

Good evening!

Ok, sometimes I even dazzle myself!! Tonight was the first night of my new belly dancing class, I have officially graduated on to the intermediate class! WHOO-HOO!! That, however, is not the amazing part.

Ok, let me back up a bit. Taking the beginning belly dancing class is the just that, the beginning. It is a bunch of the basic moves that will help you go on to further your belly dancing skills. Well, once you leave beginning basics, you have a decision to make, you either go on to do cabaret belly dancing, or tribal belly dancing.

My take on the difference is, that cabaret is a cross between basic belly dancing and show girls – it is glitz, glam, lots of bells and veils, but not a lot of anything else – skin is the operative word there!!! Another thing that stands out to me, about Cabaret is that it is also very choreographed, and everyone pretty much wears the same costumes.

Tribal belly dancing, on the other hand, is more like dancing as if you were raised in a gypsy caravan and you were all taught to dance by the same old respected woman in your community – it has a much more earthy/family feel to it, with lots of layered costumes, and it the moves are choreographed, but in a different kind of way. What I mean by that is that you learn handfuls of moves, and then while you are performing, there are different cues that the leader gives out to tell you what set of moves you are doing next. It is much more spontaneous in feeling, and in my opinion, waaay more fun.

Well, why did I tell you all of that? Well, since tonight was my first night of intermediate dance class, I had a decision to make. Cabaret or tribal? Caberet is from 6:30 to 7:30. Tribal is from 7:30 to 8:30. For those of you who know me, I am usually a to-bed-by-8:30 kinda gal! I need my sleep, and I get up at 5:30 every morning so that I can write my morning pages. Well, I knew that I wanted to do tribal, the style just seemed to make my insides sing!! but, I had decided on cabaret, because it was earlier.

So, I went to class this evening, exercise gear in hand, and I was there early and ready to go. I did my hour of cabaret, and man, when I am telling you that was hard, I mean – my abs, and thighs are going to be screaming for DAYS!!! πŸ˜‰ It wasn’t particularly fun, because I was so lost more than half the time, but I am committed to doing this, and I know I will figure it out if I just stick with it!! The hardest part for me in this class, is that I just didn’t feel like I would be able to relate to anyone here. They are all really young girls, skinny, very fit, and waaaay more graceful than – that is for sure. Well, when we got close to the hour being up, in walks some of the ladies for the tribal class. and in that moment, I knew. I knew I had made a mistake. I WANT TO BE IN TRIBAL, my soul screamed!!

So, class ended, I walked up to the instructor, Jody, and asked her if I could change to tribal next week. She said, “well, this is what we can do…”

Now, at this point I was sure she was going to tell me ‘no’, but what she said next surprised me, and how I responded surprised me even more.

She continued on by saying, “…if you have time, why don’t you stay for tribal tonight, and see which class you like better. I don’t want you stuck in cabaret if you would prefer tribal.”

at which point, I said, “YES, I HAVE TIME!!!”

So, long story short, I belly danced for TWO HOURS tonight!! I can’t even believe it! The old Christina would NEVER have had the stamina!! Plus I swam hard for an hour yesterday, and I have another hour Zumba class tomorrow!! Now I am not in the best of shape, and I am not getting any younger, but right now I feel like I can conquer the world!!!

I can not WAIT for next weeks class (I need to find me a broom skirt!!)! and you have got to know, mamma is taking ibuprofen, grabbing the heating pad, and crawling into bed – because I am sooooo tired.

So tired, but soooo happy!!!

LIFE IS GOOD!!! πŸ˜‰

Have a FABULOUS evening!! πŸ˜‰

A Thursday of Randomness!

Good evening!

I am so tired! It has been a long day! Well, where do I start?

I got up this morning, late, because I had stayed up too long last night, trying to cram a little more time with my sister! Shocking, right?? Anyway, I finally got myself out to work this morning and even managed to surprise myself by getting there on time. WHOO! HOO!!

I had a pretty darn good day at work today! I just love working with my girlfriend, Chris. She always has a way of explaining things to me that makes either understand them, or makes me feel better! It is important to work with friends!! πŸ˜‰

When I got home this afternoon, it was to a too quiet empty house. Jennifer and Austin went home today, after stopping by my work place so we could all have lunch together, which is part of why I was having such a good day at work! Ok, so maybe a BIG part of it! πŸ˜‰ But is was very quiet when I got home this afternoon, and my sweetie came home and made a fabulous – and healthy dinner this evening for us! That was so fabulous!!! I got to cuddle with him on the couch a bit this evening, before he headed out to his truck to do some final errands of the evening! πŸ˜‰

I am excited that tomorrow is Friday! I can’t wait!! Our house is clean, and after some organizing in the dining room tomorrow night, I will be able to claim that my house is spotless, well, at least for 10 minutes!! πŸ˜‰ But, when the house is clean, I have a MUCH EASIER time of relaxing, and I know that makes both Jason and I happy!! πŸ˜‰

Oh, I wanted to tell you that I signed up for a 5 week, 2xs a week Zumba class down at my place of work! It only cost me $25, because I am an employee – I can not wait to start!! I know that Zumba is supposed to be really tough, but I am falling in love with dancing – the ultimate un-exercise feeling exercise for me!! πŸ˜‰ Plus I start my intermediate belly dancing class next week. I am scared and nervous at the same time, but I know I will have a blast!!

Anyway, I am going to close up shop here, and get my booty into bed for the night!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! πŸ˜‰

Fearless!

Good evening!
I thought the word “Fearless” would be an appropriate term for this evening!! I just got done with my belly dancing class, and I am feeling TERRIFIC!!! Tonight was the last class of a three month session, and we are now off for a 3 week span until the next round of classes start. That is a little bummy, but I MUST tell you, that I just CAN NOT BELIEVE that I DID IT!!!

pssst…Let me divulge a HUGE secret to you right now, I am a 320 pound woman, and I am

BELLY DANCING!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!?!?!?!

I still have to pinch myself to make sure that I am ACTUALLY living my life and not just dreaming all of this!

Within the past 3 months, I have found a confidence that I NEVER thought possible, and NOW I REALIZE NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!!! My momma was right, I CAN do anything I put my mind to, if I am willing to do the work to earn it!! Man, she was ONE SMART COOKIE!! It is too bad that it took me 35 years to learn that she was telling me the ABSOLUTE truth!!

Something happens to me when I am dancing! Time flies, I feel like a child again, and even though I am sweating and starting to get sore, I push through because I am having such a FUN TIME, and for one brief moment, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and say, “WHO IS THAT WOMAN? I WANT TO BE HER!!! and I look again, and realize IT IS ME!!! LOL! πŸ™‚ THAT, my friends, is called GROWTH!!

I think I realize that THE KEY, for me is to find the FUN IN FITNESS!! Dancing, swimming, hula hooping, skating, bike riding! These are the things that I NEED to be doing to get healthy, but not doing them to get healthy, but just for the act of bringing more fun into my life – fitness will come, if I can play in this kind of way!

So, for now, my word is FEARLESS! I can do it! I just have to be FEARLESS to take that first step, EVERY SINGLE DAY!! FEARLESS!! I can do it, and I know that you can too!!!

Something to think about: What is something that you can do to add a little more FUN back into your life???

Have a FABULOUS evening!!

I Feel Pretty!!

Good evening!

I had such an excellent evening!! I always am soooo JAZZED after belly dancing class!! and guess what????

WE DANCE WITH VEILS TONIGHT!!!! πŸ˜‰

That made me feel like a bug-a-jillion dollars!!!!!

Who knew that you could actually get toned and fit while twirling, and spinning, and flipping, and making butterfly shapes out of your veil!!!

SO

MUCH

FREAKIN’

FUN!!!!

Seriously, how could I NOT have discovered belly dancing before??? What else could I have been missing out on because I was a big ol’ chicken!?!?!?! Our instructor, Jody, did a full veil dance for us at the end of class, and it was soooo SENSUAL and MESMERIZING!!! You literally couldn’t take your eyes off of her!!

THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO!!!!

I aspire to dance like my dance instructor when I grow up!!!

Can you imagine??? I don’t care, if God didn’t want me to dance, he wouldn’t have put a song in my heart, dang-it!!! πŸ˜‰

I LOVE dancing!! I know that I will be one of those women who will be doing it for THE REST OF HER LIFE!!!

As I go off to bed, and join my dancing dreams in la-la-land, twirling, and smiling like a FABULOUSLY crazy person…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! πŸ˜‰

Note to Chunky Dunkers: 1 hour down, only 2 more to go!!! I am DETERMINED to keep my weekly commitment!!! πŸ˜‰ Oh, and plus I have started to track my food again today!! I am very happy to report that I am on target!! WHOO! HOO!! Oh, and did I mention that I passed up a HUGE cookie platter at a work celebration today??? MAMMA IS FEELING GOOD!!! πŸ˜‰

Calling All Belly Dancers! Or Would Be Belly Dancers!

Good evening!!

I am sorry to be getting to my post so late this evening! In all honesty my sweetie and I have taken it upon ourselves to stay up extra late tonight because it is our FRIDAY night for a FOUR-DAY-WEEKEND!!! WHOO! HOO!!

Anyway, I have had a very FANTASTIC evening! I had my Artist date with myself!! I am a very lucky date, after some shopping at the art boutique, I took myself out to Venti’s for a healthy dinner – YUM! ThenΒ  I sat and read a magazine,while I enjoyed the cafe’s ambiance,Β  and patiently waited for belly dancing class to start!!

Now, you might be sick of hearing me talk about belly dancing, but I have to tell you!!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!

Tonight, i even got brave enough to ask the instructor, Jody, if I could take pics of the advanced troop doing a dance for us!! and wouldn’t you know it???

SHE SAID YES!!!!!!

AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

OK, so I pulled my camera out, as if I were giddy kid getting a long awaited for present at Christmas and these are a few of the pics that I was able to capture!!

Even in still pictures, don’t they just look great!!! These ladies are the ladies that I want to emulate!! I hope that there will come a day that I will be in this group having a blast and dancing my little heart out!!!

I want to take a quick moment to invite anyone who might be reading this, if you have had any inclination, or any interest no matter how fleeting in giving belly dancing a try – I HIGHLY recommend this class. This class has completely changed my beliefs about what my body can and cannot do! I couldn’t not have had this new found confidence if it weren’t for this dance class!!

Jody is a fantastic instructor, she is extremely patient, and after one of my very first classes,Β  I reported to my husband, that I couldn’t believe I was actually able to do some of the moves because she kind of tricked us into them!!! She breaks them down, and then when you put all the pieces together – a MIRACLE happens – YOU ARE BELLY DANCING!! and the prince is PHENOMENAL, SERIOUSLY!! For 3 months of weekly classes, it cost me less than $10 per class!!! SO ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT!!! If anything, try it for just ONE class!! I am sure you won’t be disappointed!! πŸ˜‰

Anyway, I am going to ske-daddle off to bed, because it is WAAAAY past my bedtime! but, if you live in the Salem area think about taking this class, maybe you will have the same kind of AMAZING experience that I am having!! Call RJ Dance Studio at (503)363-3341 or go to RJ Dance Studio’s website to get more details!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! πŸ˜‰

As Promised!

Good morning!

As my hubby and I finish up and get ready to head out for the day, I thought I would stop and take a moment to post those pics I had promised from last night’s belly dancing performers!

Yes, she is actually dancing on top of glass!! AMAZING! πŸ˜‰

We really did have such a GREAT time last night!! The costumes were beautiful, the dancers varied and extremely talented, the music was energetic, and the room was just electric! I can’t wait until it is MY turn to get out there and show my MOVES, but first I had better get out there and keep practicing so that I can HAVE moves!! πŸ˜‰

Have a FABULOUS day! πŸ˜‰

Belly Dancer’s ROCK!!!

Good evening!

Tonight my sweetie and I had the most fun going to a club tonight to watch a bunch of belly dancing performers and troops shimmy, shake, pop, and wave! To say we had fun was quite the understatement. I mean, just look at this man’s face!!

Does this look like a man who is NOT having fun!?!?!?!? LOL!! πŸ˜‰

The performers were just BREATH-TAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL, and I am so envious of their dancing – I can NOT WAIT to get to that level of ability!!

Instead of spending time tonight posting pictures, seeing that it is so EXTREMELY late, I am going to say goodnight! I will post tonight’s pictures first thing in the morning!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! πŸ˜‰

A Really Late Post!

Good evening!

I just wanted to make sure that I touched base before I climbed into bed this evening! I am soooo tired!!

I had an hour and a half long belly dancing class tonight by a substitute instructor, and she REALLY kicked our heinies!!! πŸ˜‰ No, she did a FABULOUS job, but she worked us out from HEAD TO TOE, so I am gonna be ONE SORE MAMMA in the morning!! Scratch that – I AM SORE NOW!!! πŸ˜‰

This pic is of me striking a pose!! Paula, one of the other students, was very sweet in offering to take my picture, and I just HAD to jump at the chance! I would have taken more pics, but our class of 6 has somehow managed to dwindle down to a class of two. So that is a bummer, but I am still having a blast.

My focus in class has changed from “Let’s see if I can be brave enough to do something scary”, to “Let’s see what else my body will do if I practice!” It seems like a minor change, but it has really made me stop and think about EVERYTHING that I demand of my body, and what I DO and DO NOT do to take care of it! I have to remember that this is my soul’s vehicle, and it will only last so many miles, so I have got to start taking better care of my engine, er…uhm…so to speak!! πŸ˜‰

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home this evening – I was craving cheerios with a sliced banana for dinner, and I wasn’t sure if we had any of that so, I made the mistake of grocery shopping on an empty stomach. NO, an empty stomach that had just worked out hard for the last hour and a half!!! So, let’s just say I may have gone a little crazy, and bought a little bit of EVERYTHING!!! πŸ˜‰ The good thing is that after belly dancing class, I am on an adrenaline high, and I ONLY WANT to do or eat things that are healthy, so ALL of my food choices fit that bill!! I am now contemplating doing our weekly grocery shop under those conditions EVERY time I shop!! LOL!!! I wonder what my sweetie would think of that??

NOT TOFU AGAIN!!! πŸ˜‰
(I really do LOVE that man of mine!!)

On that note, I am taking my happy, but exhausted self to bed!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! πŸ˜‰

A Surprising Evening!

Good evening!

Let me just start out by saying, I am soooo thankful it is Friday tomorrow, because I am not sure how many more bad days at work I can handle without getting a break!!! In my office, my boss hands out colored, and funky shaped paperclips if you have done a good job, and a red one if you’ve made a big boo-boo!! We display our paperclips like medals of valor or something!! LOL!! So, it is kind of a fun competition between our team! Now, we don’t really get paperclips very much, we are all just too busy to really even notice, but my co-worker Chris and I were talking about it the past few days, how it really would be nice to get a few more handed our way! Silly, right?? Anyway, I was having one of those horrible, wrotten, no good, yucky days, and this is what I saw on my desk when I got back to my office, which was after EVERYONE else had already gone home!!

This simple little sign literally MADE MY DAY!! I left knowing that someone loved and cared about me enough to remind me to smile, and then when I looked closer, I realized that Chis not only left me this sweet little sign (it is in her perfect handwriting!!), she gave me ONE OF HER PAPERCLIPS!!!! OH!! When I realized that I had to sit down, because it had made me a little verklempt!! Thank you, Chris!! You probably didn’t even realize this seemingly small gesture meant to me!! I owe you one, friend!! πŸ˜‰

Tonight I had my belly dancing class!! Are you sick of hearing about that yet?? I am finding that I am catching on to the moves a little bit better every week, and although I am struggling a little to flow smoothly from one move to the next, I am still having such a GREAT time!! πŸ˜‰ The class is an hour long, which is just long enough to get me on an endorphine high and I go home feeling ultra jazzed!! What a FABULOUS feeling!! πŸ˜‰

At the end of tonight’s class, we got to choose which type of belly dancing we wanted to go into – there are three main kinds (I think): tribal, cabaret, and oriental! However, don’t quote me on that, I think that is what our instructor said!! I am choosing to go into tribal-type belly dancing! It is more free flowing, more gypsy-like, you get to more freely express yourself in your costuming, and the dances are more of an improv, follow-the-leader-with-subtle-cluesΒ  type of dancing. She once described it as, you all could have grown up in the same village, so your costume fabric is similar, but you dress and dance a little more freely and it is more representative of your own personal style. Right now, my own personal style is the goal – so that is where mamma is going!! YEAH!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! πŸ˜‰