Four times a year, the Personal Euphoria staff tries to get together and try something physical that isn’t Pilates. This time we tried belly dancing. I was really looking forward it because my Grandma has often told me stories of the time she took belly dancing classes. They used cues like, “dust the stool,” “figure eights,” and “Tarzan-Jane, Tarzan-Jane.” They are pretty self explanatory. In the first you pretend you are dusting a stool with your butt. The second you circle your hips making a figure eight shape, and finally you pull your breast bone in and then stick your chest out to depict the clear different between Tarzan and Jane.
The class was even better than I expected. It was hard to do right, but fun even when I was screwing up (which was a regular occurrence). Shalimar was a wonderful teacher. She explained the moves well and was encouraging. Years ago the staff went to a pole dancing class. That was just plain hard and between my shoulders aching and the pole burn on my thighs I didn’t really feel sexy. During the belly dancing class, I felt sexy—at least when I got something right. I ranged from feeling sexy to silly. It was so much fun. I can’t wait to go back.
As someone who is fascinated with the body, particularly abdominal muscles I was amazed to watch the different kind of control that Shalimar had over her ab muscles. Clearly, I need more practice. I’ll definitely head back.
