{"id":155,"date":"2013-05-02T12:00:51","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/?p=155"},"modified":"2013-05-01T19:45:08","modified_gmt":"2013-05-01T19:45:08","slug":"im-on-tonight-you-know-my-hips-dont-lie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/2013\/05\/02\/im-on-tonight-you-know-my-hips-dont-lie\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m on tonight, you know my hips don\u2019t lie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ve spent years idolizing the way Shakira can shake and shimmy her hips, so I finally decided to learn how to do it myself.<\/p>\n

Ah, belly dancing! I was a little scared to try it, but it is so much fun. Don\u2019t get me wrong, the moves are anything but easy. When you\u2019re introduced to a move you can hardly believe your body is capable of moving like that.<\/p>\n

However, it is so rewarding when you finally get the hang of \u201cisolating your upper abs\u201d from the rest of your body or shimmying so fast you feel like you\u2019re going to take flight.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve read my story about Pilates, you know I am always on the lookout for new, fun workouts. \u00a0I actually stumbled across free belly dancing classes online while looking for new Pilates videos. I watch the \u201cGuide: Belly Dancing 101\u201d videos Howcast.com<\/a>, a website that streams a variety of how-to videos, to learn individual moves. The introductory text on this video reads, \u201cDo you want to shake it like Shakira?\u201d My answer to that was, \u201cHeck yes!\u201d I was immediately hooked.<\/p>\n

Once I master the moves, I scoot over to freebellydanceclasses.com. An instructor named Tiazza Rose leads most of the videos<\/a>, and she is incredibly talented. She makes videos that incorporate hip hop, Zumba and just about anything else into the ancient art of belly dancing. I also like doing the belly dance workout titled \u201cFlex Appeal<\/a>,\u201d which can be found on Youtube. This video is a little more basic, but it\u2019s great for beginning learners.<\/p>\n

Not only does belly dancing give you confidence, but it is also a great workout! The morning after, my love handles scream they hurt so bad. This comes from the hundreds of hip drops, pivots and shakes I do during a workout.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Belly dancing can improve your health in seven ways<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It can improve muscle tone<\/strong>– regular and consistent belly dancing requires the movement of the legs, arms and just about every muscle in between.\u00a0 This leads to an improvement in overall quality of tone.<\/li>\n
  2. It can help strengthen your core<\/strong>– the moves required in belly dancing automatically create a strong core. A stronger core means fewer back problems, and a greater posture.<\/li>\n
  3. It promotes flexibility<\/strong>– learning how to belly dance means flexing and stretching muscles you\u2019ve probably never used before.\u00a0 Increasing flexibility decreases risks of injury and makes moving in general a little easier.<\/li>\n
  4. It burns fat and calories<\/strong>– while belly dancing includes the movement of the hips, arms, legs and core, it also an aerobic activity. The combination of these elements creates the burning of calories, shedding fat and building muscle tone.<\/li>\n
  5. It reduces stress<\/strong>– men and women who belly dance are often said to be bitten by the \u201cbelly dance bug.\u201d This bug transfers into a constant outlet for stress because it\u2019s a workout you don\u2019t spend dreading all day.<\/li>\n
  6. It increases self esteem<\/strong>– once the graceful and flowing movements are mastered, you learn to feel more in tune and at peace with your body. This promotes confidence and a sense of content with your appearance.<\/li>\n
  7. It increases joy<\/strong>– when the art of belly dance is learned, your muscles naturally become more toned and strong. This also helps aid in daily confidence and self esteem.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The only have one recommendation for someone who is just starting out with belly dance- give yourself some time. I would often become discouraged when my body wouldn\u2019t move like the instructors I was watching, but it takes a lot of time and effort to build that flexibility.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0Like I said before, your body can\u2019t do most of the moves naturally. You have to train your brain how to move specific parts of your body that have previously been neglected. As long as you have patience, you will master this beautiful, eloquent art form.<\/p>\n

    Good luck, and happy belly dancing! :]<\/p>\n

    \u00a0~Remember, you have to learn to love yourself before you can truly love someone else~<\/p>\n

    Abbey :]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019ve spent years idolizing the way Shakira can shake and shimmy her hips, so I finally decided to learn how to do it myself. Ah, belly dancing! I was a little scared to try it, but it is so much fun. Don\u2019t get me wrong, …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2522,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43726,43776],"tags":[54327,43750,26433,54326,43738,54330,49996,54328,54329,2051,43741,43753],"class_list":["post-155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-group-fitness","category-warhawk-fitness-2","tag-a-calorie-burning-workout","tag-abbey-bowen","tag-belly-dancing","tag-burn-calories","tag-flexibility","tag-freebellydancingclasses-com","tag-fun","tag-gain-confidence","tag-howcast-com","tag-uw-whitewater","tag-warhawk-fitness","tag-workout"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2522"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions\/164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}