BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN: RETURNING TO DANCE AFTER TAKING A BREAK

Happy New Year!

Since many of us have taken a holiday break, I thought the first post of 2015 ought to be about getting back into the swing of things dance-wise. Sure, many dancers work during the holidays- and I am one of them- but still, all that un-structured downtime, studio holiday closures and…well, yeah… all those sweet treats we’ve indulged in do take their toll! You show up for class, rehearsal or a show and mentally, you’re rarin’ to go, but the next day you feel like you’ve been run over by a truck. Why? It’s because you’re a dancer living in a body that- even if it’s only been a few days- has gotten used to sitting at a table swathed in a cozy fleece onsie munching on leftovers and drinking booze!

Of course, this doesn’t only apply to the holidays… you could be getting over an injury, illness, or maybe you’ve had a surgery- or a child! In any case, bouncing back after being sidelined for a while     ( even a little while) might not be as easy as you thought it was going to be.

 Here are some ideas that might make the transition a little easier for you.

  Go Easy At First

  By that, I mean cut yourself some slack… but I don’t mean slacking off! Acknowledge the fact that you haven’t trained for a while and take things slowly.  Whether you’ve been gone for a few days or a few weeks or months, ease back into dancing.  Your brain thinks it can do what you were capable of, and your muscle memory probably does too- but your physical body might not exactly be down with that concept…yet.  Test the waters a little; you definitely don’t want to be so gung-ho that you injure yourself in the process of trying to prove yourself.

If you’ve been out because of an injury, make sure you’ve followed your doctor’s orders to the letter.  If you were prescribed physical therapy, make sure you’ve completed your course before you even think of returning to class or performing.

 Any medical restrictions that have been placed on your dancing due to injury are there for a reason, and that reason is to insure you are healthy enough to continue   your dance practice!

Prepare Yourself Physically…And Emotionally

Be sure to warm up completely- this should be your regular M.O. anyway, but many of us just kinda skip over this process, because it seems so tedious.

 It’s not.

Warming up is integral to being a healthy dancer, as is cooling down- especially after you’ve taken a break!  Maybe you need a longer warm up than you did previously. If so, go with it.  Remember, even a scant few days out of the game can make a big difference, so do some light cardio before stretching- your tight tendons and lazy, underworked muscles will thank you profusely!

Emotional preparation is in order right now too. That means accepting your situation- no guilt, no shame, no little inner voice cutting you down cause you can't shimmy or turn, gained a few pounds or don’t have the stamina to last as long as you did before you took some time off.  Now’s the time to be your own cheerleader, not your worst critic! You want to motivate- not denigrate- yourself  back to work.

 Remind yourself that it can often be frustrating as you return to peak condition, so be gentle on yourself emotionally. Whose the meanest boss in the world? You are. Fire that slave driver and have your own personal Human Resource Department hire a compassionate coach who can see your potential and help you get back into fighting shape in a positive way, ok?

Work Hard…But Work Safe

 When you return to your “regularly scheduled program”, do the absolute best that you can, but do it safely.  It’s always better to err on the side of caution than push your boundaries a little too far. Remind yourself that this situation will change soon. Allow your body to re-familiarize itself with your dance practice.  Remember, our muscles don’t listen to reason. If you over-do it, the only way they know how to protest is by shutting down…going into spasm, or (yikes) getting strained or torn.  Let them know whose boss, but baby them! Soon, they’ll once again be your obedient servants.

 Last but definitely not least, remind yourself that  your situation is temporary, it will pass…and you’ll be back to where you were sooner than you thought you’d be!

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Back by popular demand!

 The  outrageous “One Zill Up”  tee  features  a universally understood symbol…driving the point home with a  finger cymbal!

 The black short-sleeved shirts are 100% soft ring-spun cotton jersey , with a slim fit for a feminine silhouette and a tear-away tag.

Available in women’s MEDIUM, LARGE & X-LARGE.

$20.00 plus postage & handling here:

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 …And while you’re at it, get your signed copy of  The Belly Dance Handbook: A Companion For The Serious Dancer 

Photo  and  graphics by Maharet Hughes

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SETTING DANCE GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR

 With 2015 looming on the horizon, most of us are in a flurry of wrapping up our un-finished business of the past year, while at the same time making New Years Resolutions. Setting goals, and putting them down on paper- or on your computer screen- is definitely a way of making them real.

Take a few minutes to sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk with yourself, deciding upon exactly what you want to accomplish in the next year- and how to go about getting it!  What you want is clarity in your desires, permission to achieve them, and allowing the time to make them real.

 Here’s a few ideas I’ve used when making dance-oriented…or any kind… of New Year’s Resolutions.

 Take A Personal Inventory

Have a stroll down Memory Lane, and   see what you accomplished. Seeing what has worked for you in past year. Did you accomplish everything that you wanted to?

 If not, why not?

 Looking at what you did in 2014 will help you to define and refine what you want to do in the coming year. Avoid making the same mistakes!

Write It Down, Say It Out Loud

Once you decide on what goals you’d like to work on, say it out loud-to yourself and others, and write them down!

  These former thoughts are now no longer just free-floating ideas in your head…and that’s a good thing!

 But remember, now that they’re tangible, there needs to be follow-through, and that’s where most of us hit stumbling blocks: the goals aren’t going to manifest themselves- you have to help them along their path to becoming reality!

  Take Baby Steps

 Break up all of your long-term goals into specific, shorter, bite-sized tasks, so they won’t be as daunting.

Were your goals and resolutions from last year a little too gung-ho, or maybe a tad lofty?

 Dreaming big has always been a personal mantra of mine… but then I have to step back and remind myself that if I’m reaching for the stars, I’m the one who needs to build the spaceship!

There are many ways of building your personal rocket to the stars- it starts with an idea, the idea gets fleshed out, and then put into action.   Know that any stage of this process might have to go back to the drawing board. Taking baby steps is the key here, and so is giving yourself some wiggle room- allow yourself the kindness of putting your dreams into action without abandoning your plans if they don’t go exactly the way you wanted them to. You can always re-evaluate your goals and go to Plan B- or Plan S, if need be!

On a personal note, writing The Belly Dance Handbook was actually a New Year’s Resolution that I made in 2007, for the New Year of 2008… and, of course it didn’t come out that year!  The idea had been floating around in my head already for years, but that’s all it was until I put it into action, and took the appropriate baby steps  to get it done.  2008 was the year I started this blog, and it was all about testing the waters and laying the frame work  for actually writing- and finishing- my book.  The book took a good six and a half years  to finish,  but I kept adding it onto my resolutions for the next step, the next phase, the next year. As of  January 11,  2015, it’s been out for a year!

 Get Specific

 Were your resolutions too vague? “Practice more” is a great goal, but it’s kinda broad. Setting a more specific goal– and allowing yourself to re-consider and re-set it as needed might be easier to make that goal a reality.

 For instance, instead of “Practice More”, you might want to decide to drill on your own for at least fifteen minutes a day…only for the month of January. Put this into your calendar, and just do it. It’s only thirty-one days, after all.  If this idea is working well   for you at the end of January, then by all means continue it through February…and if it works well in February, continue it through March.

  Some things work better on paper than they do in real life. If your goal is not working for you, don’t beat yourself up, just re-define it. Don’t abandon it, amend it! Pick something do-able, something that will work with your schedule.  You’re not going to get penalized for being unable to commit to your original goal, you simply want to make it something you can do!

  Maybe your goal needs to become “Practice Fifteen Minutes A Day, Three Times A Week” or “Home Drilling Sunday Mornings, 10am-11am”.  Perhaps   an every day practice won’t work with your life- it was a good idea, but many of us are not full time dancers; we’re college students, moms, or career women in addition to being dancers.  In order to fulfill your goals on practice, make those sessions something special, not   drudgery, cause you’ll only wind up putting it off. Make your practice like a hot date…with yourself! Soon, you’ll find out that your “relationship” with dance is blooming, because it was allowed to grow naturally, over a period of time.

 Reward Yourself

 I’m a damn champion at holding personal contests (with prizes, of course) or dangling a carrot in front of myself so I can get a reward for something I wasn’t all that crazy about doing.  Maybe I’m easily duped, but it seems to work every time!  That’s how I finished   The Belly Dance Handbook.   I’d give myself a small reward every time I completed a chapter…or an entire book edit.

 I make “deals” with myself constantly on a smaller level to help stick to my every day goals as well.  Sometimes they’re pretty crazy, but that’s how I move forward.  My life is constantly all about small challenges and rewards.  I’m always   holding self-imposed   mini-challenges like “If I sew all the elastic onto these ten sets of finger cymbals for my class, then I can get that new MAC lipstick!”  Or  “ If I walk twenty minutes a day, every day, after three months, I’m allowed to not walk for a week!” But the thing is, by the time I had walked every day for three months, it was a habit, not a burden… and if I didn’t walk for a day, I actually missed it!

Believe In Yourself

 New Years Resolutions and goals in general are about figuring out- with your mind, body and soul- what is best for you as a dancer.  They’re optimistic and they often seem far-fetched.  But, as they say, if you’re gonna dream, dream big!

Perhaps for 2015, your first Resolution should believe in yourself as a dancer. If you give yourself permission to do that, then everything else you decide to achieve will fall into place easily.  

 I believe in you…you can do it!

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 Get a signed copy of The Belly Dance Handbook: A Companion For The Serious Dancer here: www.princessfarhana.com/shop.htm

 

Photo & Graphics: Maharet Hughes

TIPS FOR MIND-BENDING BELLY FLUTTERS

Photo by Maharet Hughes

The question I  probably get asked most frequently is how I get my abdominal flutters so strong, even, sustained and large enough to see from the back of the room- no matter what size the venue is. First of all, my flutters do not come from an ability to move my abdominal muscles in and out quickly.  I could definitely do that… but if I was engaging my abs by pulling them in and out super-fast, then I wouldn’t be able to layer belly rolls with my flutters, a movement that I call the  “flundulation”.

I’m going to share a few tips to my super-human flutters with you.  With a little ok, a lot- of practice, you’ll be able to achieve mind-bending flutters yourself.

The main secret for  "alien belly",wild-looking flutters is to keep your  abdominal muscles soft and relaxed, while your skeleton remains in standard dance posture- pelvis neutral with the tailbone tucked slightly towards the floor, ribcage lifted, and shoulders back and down. This sounds a lot easier than it actually is!

 Think about it: our abdominal muscles are constantly engaged, whether we’re conscious of it or not.  When enter in performance, our abs are always engaged- we’ve been trained to do that!  When we walk into a party or social gathering, we automatically pull up into a regal posture, without even thinking about it. Trying on a costume or an item in a store’s dressing room, we immediately suck in our stomachs. 

Letting our bellies remain relaxed is completely conditioned out of us by society, so it might take you a while to get the hang of keeping your skeleton engaged and your abdominal muscles soft. When I was training to do this- and I taught myself, no one showed me- I’d place my hands on my sides, actually hooking my fingers just under my top ribs, so I could really feel my ribcage staying lifted as I let my belly go soft.  It looks kinda dorky, but try it- it works!

After you’ve gotten comfortable with that, it’s time to discover your diaphragm, which is the place of initiation for all my flutters.  The diaphragm, the large, major muscle that controls our breathing, is strong and kinda dome-shaped, sitting in the lower middle of your torso. Though we’re usually not aware of it, the diaphragm contracts rhythmically as we breathe as we breathe in and out. But if you concentrate, you can control the diaphragm- like when you breathe in deeply, holding your breath before diving into water. Think of your diaphragm as an inflatable ball. It fills up as you inhale and deflates when you exhale.   So you can feel it in motion, place your hand on your diaphragm and breath slowly and deeply.

 Once you’ve located your diaphragm and felt it moving naturally, try it a few times with conscious control, breathing in and out slowly and deeply as you keep your skeleton lifted and your abdominal muscles soft and un-engaged.  Now, try exhaling sharply, cutting the diaphragm’s muscle movement off. You’ve done this correctly if you feel a little clutch or catch.  Repeat this a few times, allowing yourself a couple of moments of regular breathing in between so you don’t get all light-headed and dizzy.

 A word to the wise: while many people advocate catching your breath and “cutting it off” at the throat, I don’t advocate this practice. Not only are the little “catches” you make while doing that visible to the audience, the movements also can cause the tendons in the neck to pop out and look sort of stringy and ugly…even on younger dancers! 

Instead, try to visualize that little clutch or catch staying  just at the top of your ribs, directly under your cleavage…or, if you're a guy, directly under and between your man-candy pectoral muscles.

 Remember, the diaphragm is one of the strongest muscles in our body; it’s in constant use as we breathe. If you repeat these practice movements even just a few times a day, the strength in your diaphragm will build up at lightening speed…and soon, you will have a flutter that the audience can see from the back of the room!

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 If you liked finding out a bit about abdominal technique here, then you’ll LOVE my instructional DVD, “ABS-olutely Fabulous”- it’s packed with info on flutters, belly rolls, and undulations!  Get it here:

http://www.princessfarhana.com/shop.htm

AVERAGE HUMAN...OR DANCER? TAKE THE QUIZ!

Photo by Maharet Hughes

 Some people say dancing is just “a lifestyle”…I say it’s more than that...it's life itself!  It's in the DNA! We  dancers are a distinctly different breed.  We are dancers foremost, and human beings  second. Sure, Whether you’re a performing professional , instructor or student,  dancers are not like everyone else!

In order to more fully research the “dance genome”, I’ve created a quiz. Get a pen and paper, and mark down the letter of the answer that best describes you:

1. You have a tough time differentiating between stage make up and every day make up. You use an inordinate amount of cosmetics no matter what, and frequently have to “tone it down” for daily  wear.…but you’re uncertain what that means or how to go about it!

a)  Every day make up?

b) This has never been a problem

2.You refuse to listen to music during a massage, because you start counting the beats and phrases

a) Huge problem…and I only listen to talk radio for the same reason!

b) What do you mean?

3. You seem to have pulled a network of muscles in your leg, shoulder or back… do you:

a) Ice the injury down for a few minutes, pop an anti-inflammatory and carry on with your day

b) Schedule a doctor visit immediately

4. You just met a new Special Someone… but  finding the  actual time to date is becoming frustrating.

a) What is this thing you call “dating”?

b) Are you crazy?

5. By some  sublime miracle of fate, you  have a gap in your weekend schedule; do you think to yourself:

 a)  Ahhh… so this is how the other half lives…uh, what should I do?

b) We all need some downtime!

6. Holidays mean nothing to you, because you’re always working or in class.

a) What, exactly, is a holiday?

b) Holidays are a time to celebrate with family and friends

7. You own costumes and  ratty sweats… nothing in between!

a)  Sometimes I dream about going shopping for a cute little dress, but then I get my act together and go to class.

b) I practically live at the mall!

8.You can never find a bobby pin or safety pin, no matter how many packages you buy.

a) I know, right?

b) WTF is up with that?

9. You always wondered  what that phrase “dance like no one is watching” was supposed to  mean…

a) What does that mean?

b) I wish!

10. Your feet are constantly dirty and calloused:

a)  In another life, my feet will be pampered and perfect

b) Eeeew, gross!

11. Your  purse is always filled with essentials like band-aids, ibuprophen, Top-Stik, and false eyelashes

a) Oh, and  hair spray,  an Ace bandage, sewing kit, extra jewelry, and five lipsticks!

b) What the hell is Top-Stik?

12. You can always be located: just follow the trail of glitter!

a)  So true!

b) Isn’t glitter just…like… a “thing” for an eight-year-old girl’s  birthday party?

 Ok, time to total up the score:

 If you got mostly A answers- and I’m sure you did-  it’s clear you are one of us with the Super Powers!

If you got mostly B answers:

 Not sure how it’s possible you read this far…but thanks! See you at my next gig, I’ll come on out after the show and say hi!

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 Purchase a  signed copy of my books “The Belly Dance Handbook: A  Companion For The Serious Dancer”  or my memoir “Showgirl Confidential: My Life Onstage, Backstage And On The Road” here:

http://www.princessfarhana.com/shop.htm

 Both books are available wholesale for teachers or studios- to make an inquiry, visit this link and click on  “email” in the top right hand corner:

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