I Tried Belly Dancing And Here’s Why I Loved It

I never thought I would ever try belly dancing. The moves and the way you had to control each muscle was crazy to me. I thought if I wanted to start getting healthy the best way would be to do a basic routine. However, I could never stick to one and always felt bad about giving up on them. Finally, I started to watch belly dancing videos again and decided why not.

So, here is the story of when I tried belly dancing and why I ended up loving it.

1. It wasn’t like a normal boring exercise routine

Exercising in the community gym, or running around the block a couple of times wasn’t my cup of tea. I didn’t like going on runs with my mother around our neighborhood, because the scenery never changed. Belly dancing might not have included any scenic routes, but it was something different. It was actually fun! The women on the television also made it easy for anyone watching to pick up on the moves they were using in the dancing routine. Which I had to try several times, but thats another thing I liked about it. You were learning something new, something that not everyone knew about.

Also it never felt like I was working out, it always went by quickly. When it was over I wanted to do more of it.

2. It offered me bonding time with my sister

When you think exercise you don’t think of family bonding. However, every  Thursday after dinner the fit channel would start playing the belly dancing unit. I had been doing this for a couple of weeks now, but my sister found out about it and wanted to join. Together we ended up finishing the easier portion of the show, before moving to intermediate moves. It helped us get that quality sister time we hadn’t had in a while.

3. It helped me embrace my body

I know I’m not the first or the last girl who has had problems with the way she looked. It was bad in high school, because all the girls were taller, slimmer, and had no traces of acne anywhere. I felt the complete opposite being shorter, and more heavier set. I always wanted to hide under loose clothing.

In dance it requires you to be more open. It exposes you, as each body part is used. Stretching and  using limbs and muscles you didn’t even know where there. Becoming more aware of my body I started to look at myself more and the way I moved.

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Slowly, as time went on I started to see how different my body was changing from before. I might not have lost much weight but I felt strong. I felt like my muscles had become more defined and I noticed certain moves weren’t hard anymore. My body was beginning to feel like I wanted it to, and I felt great honestly. I started to not care what everyone else looked like, and who boys paid attention to. At the end I was on the road of recovering, and there I wasn’t going back.

I cannot say that belly dancing is for everyone, or that everyone will immediately fall in love with it. It’s hard to get into, and some people don’t like the commitment of it. Let me say this though, if you want to try something new and out of the box, why not this? Why not just try it out. If you don’t like it, you can stop, and never have to do it again. On the other hand you might just start to like it.

I tried belly dancing and loved it. If you have a similar dance, or sport that you tried and liked let us know in the comments below!