My Day

By Dr. J. Ester Davis

Happy New Year!

Did you make a 2022 resolution this year?  What was it? Losing weight?  Improving relationships?  Getting up earlier? Looking for happiness?  Saving more money?   Then what?  Belly Dancing .  for a flat tummy? Oh, I see.  Only about 8% of people will achieve their new year goal.  About 11% want to improve a relationship.  But Forbes suggests that it is a good idea and just maybe you will be part of the 20% that truly accomplish them. Several years ago, I wrote an article on ‘Belly Dancing’.The comments came nearly all year via social media messages about where you could go dancing.  Amazing!!!

Not every workout is for everybody.  Some of the exercises are ok, some are not.  But one thing is constant, you have to make a commitment every year and keep it.  I have had this treadmill in the house and it looks tired and tattered.  I really do not like it anymore. The workout video was awful.  The gym membership is a no-go-no-show.  Kickboxing was great!  The walk in the mall. Naw.  My yoga class was the worse.  But, for some reason, belly dancing had staying power. No costume though.   I understand some devout followers have a matching costume. That makes it . . . Yeh.  No comment.   So, go over to the computer to be enlightened.  The internet is so fabulous.  Prepare to be amazed!!

Here are some of the more fine points.  Belly dancing is all about rhythm.  You have to know how to move and what feels good, whether it’s when you are stepping to a sizzling beat or in your own zone on an elliptical machine.  It is no secret that dance can help you get fit, but now experts are telling us that it can do so much more.  Through belly dance and other forms of rhythmic movement like the Nia Technique and striptease aerobics, women can improve their overall health and even fall in love – or at least make peace – with their bodies and their inner spirit. The best part is you can get into your “1909” clothes.

Dance forms like hip-hop and salsa (love salsa) are especially popular because they are styles that celebrate, accentuate and celebrate your curves and rhythms.  That, I might add, happen to come natural. So many people think that belly dancing is designed solely to please men because it is so sexual.  It is a sensual dance, but I found that it had deeper roots.  When you are belly dancing, you are using your abdominal and low back muscles to “rock and roll” your hips.  You are also massaging the womb, ovaries, kidneys, and liver.  All of that “shimmying” and “shaking” helps pump the lymphatic system. What you say!

This is getting better and better.  The best part of my research was that belly dancing mimics the moves women make naturally in childbirth.  It is a dance with roots in sub-Saharan countries. And it is a serious exercise that is giving out new diplomas.  For example, you can now attend a striptease aerobics class, stripology.  Some dancers are blending the moves into leg strengthening, squats, (ouch), pilates with the quarterback snap. Anything that makes your body more flexible, limber, and stronger is essential in 2022.

May I have this dance?  A little 20% exercise will make the year more optimistic.

Esterdavis2000@gmail.com