Belly Dance During Pregnancy --For Pregnancy Fitness and an Easier Birth

DANCE OF THE WOMB DVD NOW AVAILABLE!!

Belly dance during pregnancy is a phenomenal way to get in touch with body changes during pregnancy and it is also great for labor pain management. Maha Al Musa's book, Dance of the Womb, shows you how to incorporate belly dance into your pregnancy and birth.

Dance of the Womb, includes not only instruction for belly dance during pregnancy, but also an introduction to birth physiology. But, I think, the best thing about this book is that Maha shares her personal story and the strength she gains from her intimate connection to a community of women.

• Visually this book is a treat. The colors and the photographs are beautiful, rich, and evocative.

• The tone of the book is intimate and personal. I felt like I was having a conversation with Maha.

  The book begins with summary of the benefits of belly dance during pregnancy and birth. It then moves on to a basic description of birth physiology.

• In addition to describing the role of the pelvis, uterus, cervix and the stages of labor, there is also quite a bit of discussion on the primal brain. Maha talks about how the primal brain is of vital importance in the birthing process.

• The instruction on belly dance during pregnancy begins with a simple warm-up. Maha then gives an introduction to hip circles, spirals, the figure 8, hand and arm movements, and chest isolations. These are the movements that are most easily performed for pregnancy fitness. These are the movements that provide the most help for labor pain management. They also seem to be the movements that come most intuitively and easily to women during labor.

  The hip circle and the figure 8 help to rock and swivel the baby into an anterior position (baby's back facing your front), and into tucking/flexing its head in preparation for birth. These movements also help you to cope with the sensations of labor and help you ease into the rhythm of the contractions.

• Maha gives two wonderful mantras for women who desire a conscious birth, "Your body knows what to do in birth so allow it and trust it." and "Be prepared to assume responsibility in the birth of your baby."

• At the beginning of each section Maha relates a little bit more of her story, symbolically linking it to each belly dance movement. She shares her struggle to integrate her Middle Eastern roots with her Western upbringing. She searches to connect with her literal birth mother while focusing on connecting to her own femininity and the Mother within.

  Maha finds integration and wholeness in the belly dance and in the community of women the surround and support her.A quote from Maha:

  "...the fulfillment of a woman's sensual needs in Arab culture was created by the women themselves. By establishing a potent women's circle where we express our need for attention, love, praise, and nurturing for one another and our children, the relationships with our men--husbands and brothers--then become a much more balanced affair where a large part of a woman's need to be gratified is already taken care of. Women nurture and understand feminine desires and are able to freely express it!"

  This aspect of the community of women in Middle Eastern culture (and in other traditional cultures around the world) is one of the things that most draws me to belly dance. It is a dance that is done not only by women, but for women in a circle of women. Belly dance is about women supporting, inspiring, strengthening, encouraging, and empowering each other.

• At the end of the book there are photos demonstrating how to use the belly dance movements for labor positions. Then follows a conversation with three midwives about how they view the benefits of belly dance during pregnancy and birth. Then Maha shares the birth stories of her two sons.

• The belly dance instruction is basic. If you are an advanced belly dancer or have already had some significant experience with belly dance during pregnancy, you may find that you are already familiar with these moves. However, I think this book is still worth picking up if just for Maha's personal story and the way it makes you feel empowered about pregnancy, birth, and simply being a woman.

• Maha also has a DVD available with belly dance instruction and it also includes footage of the homebirth of her third baby! Review on this coming soon....

For more on the book, Dance of the Womb, and Belly Dance for Birth see Maha Al Musa's site.

See belly dance during pregnancy for more information on the benefits of belly dance.

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