How to Do Belly Dance Moves for Fitness
Belly dance is one of the most demanding physical activities your body can undergo. Literally every muscle of the human body is put under stress when a person performs a belly dance. No doubt it serves as an excellent activity to maintain physical fitness and keeps your body in its right shape. Along with other fitness exercise programs, regular belly dance can help you achieve the perfect body figure.
The ancient Middle-East art of belly dancing is simple and versatile at the same time. An intense dancing session of one hour daily will not only make you an expert in making flexible moves but also take your stamina to an entire new level.
Instructions
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1
Dress is the key to get started for belly dance. Prefer comfortable and lose clothing. Stretchy pants are often worn by the belly dancers.
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Purchase a CD of Middle-East music, as this will set your mood to learn the rhythm of belly dancing.
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You must get your body warmed up before starting the actual belly dancing moves, as it will require every muscle of your body to stretch. Head rolls, abdominal stretching and hopping help you loosen up your body quickly.
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Best thing is to start with your head, moving it in clockwise circles first and then in the anti-clockwise direction. The key in this step is to keep your head level and nose pointing straight.
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Next, start moving your shoulders in circular motion. Go forward, up, back and then down. Move your shoulders in this circular direction in such a way that your right shoulder is going forwards, while the left one comes backwards at the same time. Catch up speed gradually.
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Start working out your ribs later. Slid your ribcage side to side from left to right and try not to move your hips in the process. Then start moving your ribcage in horizontal circular motion, sliding it right, front, left and back. This will loosen up all of your abdominal muscles.
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Perform ‘belly roll’ by pulling in both the top and bottom halves of your body, leasing the top and then the bottom half simultaneously. Take it slow at the beginning but try to build up pace after you get use to it.
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Shimmy your hips by keeping your torso pivot and moving the hips from side to side. Again, try to catch up speed as quickly as you can.
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Move your hips in complete circular directions by bending your knees and keeping your ribcage still.
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Slide your right foot in front of the left one, keep your knees bent and put most of your weight on the left foot. Lift up your left arm overhead and extend your right arm to the side. Then slowly bring your right hip upwards and forward then drop it back.
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Then comes the turn to work out your arms. Try to lift your shoulder first, then elbow, wrist and fingers, trying to make your arm move like a snake. Practice with both arms one by one until your movement becomes fluid.
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Practice is the key to perfection in belly dance. Keep practicing on daily basis to get your movements more fluid and quicker. Once you master the basic moves, you can go for the more advanced ones and you can learn a lot of new moves online.