What I've Learned

Dance this week has been quite a learning experience, so I have compiled a slight list for amusement.

When we are at the bar doing a particularly difficult set, when Tif asks "What are you guys thinking about" she doesn't want to hear "I'm hungry", she wants to hear that we are thinking about our turn out, where our toes are, pointing, square hips and chest lifted. Oops.

While doing the 10 minute sets of crunches, no matter how painful it is do not stop and close your eyes on the yoga mat. This results in sleep, and it's a lot harder to pull off falling asleep in a dance class than in your typical Calculus 2 course.

Part of learning how to belly dance is getting over the fact that the first 2 years you dance, you will feel like a duck. It's natural. The only way to overcome looking like a duck is being comfortable with the fact that at some times, you might look ducky. Once you have that established, the duck feeling magically goes away. ...I haven't accepted it yet.

If all else fails, describe the format creator when she was teaching these same movements while pregnant. For instance, hip triangles and hip V's: "So, when you do the triangle you pull your lower abs in and think about Suhaila when she was pregnant.. Her stomach would go to the sides and POOM POOM. So that's the visual you want to go for, where you're just pulling in your belly button." Then see how many of us can actually do it instead of standing there laughing.

As hard as Tif's classes are, they are much easier when you take one on one day and the other on the next scheduled day instead of unknowingly doing both classes back to back. 1 hour of her class leaves you feeling light and energized the next day. 2.5 hours of her class makes you not be able to walk normally for 4 days.

Part of not having a/c in the studio means that the front door must remain open if you don't want to suffocate. Part of leaving the door open means creepy guys walking down the street will see girls in skimpy tight dance gear and will hang around to get their jollies off of it. Part of creepy guys hanging around the school means the front doors need to be closed during the hottest part of the work out. Don't depend on the outside breeze, expect to sweat, and bring water.

Finally, everything is mental. You can't think about it too much or your body won't respond. And our bodies are more like belly dancers than we realize. "What?! You want me to do what?!?! Well you haven't paid attention to me, so I am going to go over here and do my own thing and NOT what you want me to do. Ha!!"