Preggo Bellydancing



photographed by Craig Lovell, available for purchase at inmagine.com

It has been my experience, for some reason that a lot of cabaret bellydancers either have one child or no children, and in the Tribal set ( which I had some brief involvement in), the procreation was a little more pronounced, but not by much. This is not a judgement, having children is not for everyone, I am just not sure how many of you will resonate or identify with this post. Either way kids or no kids whether by plan or nature, bellydancing while preggers ROCKS!
     I am sure Aunty Rocky, a walking wealth of knowledge, would have a lot to say on the subject but here are my own reasons that bellydancing for two is the neatest thing ever.

    When a Solo dance becomes a Tango

1. You really feel that life inside you. You know that person on some level, and it is the epitome of "two heads are better than one", only internalized. You are dancing a solo dance, with two people. It is really really cool.

2. As Tempest mentioned in her last post those times as artists when we wait for inspiration can be terrible. I have been accurately described by those who know me as "Fire or Ice", which means that I fluctuate from bursts of passion and inspiration to almost a cold comatose non-emotional state. During the non-emotional state inspiration never ever comes, I look at those times as my recuperation times, but they usually have me chewing my nails waiting for the next burst of inspiration.
    Being preggers there is no "ice" time for me. The inspiration is always there, the creativity is constantly within my reach. It is just like all that " being one with the earth, connected to the Mother" stuff that sounds so hokey but really means something.

3. These movements feel RIGHT on a primal level. Most of us keep dancing because moving our sacral and root chakras in a world when we have little opportunity to do so feels so good. It releases stuff. It focuses on on areas that get little attention in our upper chakras focused world ( AKA brain/throat area). Pregnancy, I guess because there is a PERSON in my sacral chakra right now, makes it a necessity to focus on those two lowest chakras. Moving them feels so amazing. Shimmies feel like a massage. Undulations feel like I am "making something", akin to painting a picture. It really is amazing.

4. Emotions are not far off. I pretty much have two switches....Cry or Kill. I either want to stab everyone, or like my experience in the grocery store an hour ago, cry when people look at me wrong. I am an emotional hot mess. But this being my third child, I have learned not to be afraid of emotions either during pregnancy or outside of it. Emotions can be a wonderful tool in dancing, and they really add fuel to our dance. I have a wealth of fuel, folks. And dancing it out keeps me from wanting to stab everyone.

5. I can tell he likes it. I knew that my first two were girls, and I am pretty sure this one is a boy. Of course I may eat crow at some point, but probably not. :)

I am sure there are a million more positives, but that is good for now. On another note, I saw his little heartbeat yesterday and it was amazing.

Lator gators, gonna go have some peaches and pepperonis. ( for real).

Post From Under the Rock

pic found at bellydanceforbirth.com

I have no patience these days and absolutely no patience for writing. Every time I sit down to do a blog post I say "meh" and go do something else. So I'll condense.

Here's What's Going on in My Little Corner

1. Well, the biggest news is....I'm pregnant! I am very happy and feel very at peace. We have been debating a third child for some time and since this was a surprise, I am guessin this one wants to be here. :) But I already have mom-brain. For those of you who don't have kids that is when during pregnancy and for about 8 months after you are dumb. Putting the remote in the refrigerator and the cheese on the mantel dumb. Hey, my body is making a person. I apparently don't have time to think.

2. They think they got all the cancer in my husband. They took 8 lymph nodes, a large chunk of his arm, ( looks like a shark bite), and a skin graft from his leg ( which surprisingly hurts him the most right now. It doesn't help that the nurses keep calling it the "donor site"....creepy). When he is not on his "happy pills" he is hobbling around, and looks pretty pitiful. The whole thing has been a huge strain,and I am relieved ( knock on wood) that we are on the way to recovery. But the past month and a half has been a blur. The only cool thing is the outpouring of creativity from my family and my husband and I as we come up with awesome stories to explain the large chunk of his arm that is missing. My brother wrote this concerning the wound...

i told garey busey his genetic self-experiments with sharkbearwolf blood would end badly. ......... From that day henceforth the mutated bite wound became self-aware. Later describing itself as "The Singularity". Realizing that non-bite marked humans (what the Singularity would come to emotionally refer to as "fleshy abominations") were at a disadvantage, the singularity set out every full moon to systematically exterminate all "inferior beings". ............also........ you can put M&Ms and shit in there


Yeah, we are all sort of nuts. In a good way. in a fun way.

3. Two kids, and one on the way. Burgeoning writing career. Husband in cancer-recovery. Yeah, it is an understatement to say that bellydance will be on the back burner for a while. Sucks in a way, but not at all in another way. When you have been dancing as long as I have, bellydance never really exits your life, it is such a part. But it shifts....and it is shiftin' again. I have never been one of those people that goes to every workshop, show etc., but now I am goin' to none. It is an adjustment, but I'd say I am o.k. with the trade off.

4. I am having major issues leaving comments on all of my readers blogs. For some reason it will let me do it half of the time. So yeah, I read everyone's blog, and I want to comment. For now I will just have to read your posts and comment in my mind.

5. Bellydancing feels so GOOD on my pregnant body. Just some soft undulations and some small tight shimmies really relieves the back pain I am already feeling. Yay, bellydance!

Lator gators.....