Bellydance: My favorite exercise!

[rdphantom]

I've recently started watching a bellydance instruction show called Shimmy on FitTV in an attempt to exercise more.  I've really gotten into it, more than I thought I would.  It's fun, challanging and a great workout.  According to several web sources dancing burns around the same number of calories as moderate walking: MedicineNet, Nutristrategy, and The American Cancer Society.  But more importantly, it's motivated me to get up and move more than any other exercise because it's FUN!  No other form of exercise has motivated me to keep up with it for any length of time, and I have been dancing almost twice a week for two months now.

Bellydancing has had a positive effect on my body image, too.  I have become preoccupied with my belly and hips not because of their size, but because of what they can DO!  How my hips can shake and shimmy, how my belly can undulate.  It's sensual, empowering and fun, and it's taken me out of the "I must exercise" mentality to "What can I learn."  And that is why I'll continue with it.

Want to see the dancers that inspire me?  Jenna, Jena 2, Sadie, Nathalie, Ansuya, and Blanca.    Right now I don't look very much like them, and sometimes that's frustrating.  But when I dance I FEEL like them, and that makes it all worth it.

RD