Since about the late 18th century, our pop culture, and many belly dancers included, have related to belly dance as a form of seductive art entertainment (primarily for men). And we see more and more women (and more men) use the dance as permission to be powerful, to get attention, to be mesmerizing, seductive, hot, flirtatious, sexual, sensual, confident, feminine, and fun.

 

As much as these elements were a part of my journey and discovery, I often felt something important was missing from how I was learning the dance with various teachers (there was no internet at the time).

 

It felt as if something very important was not being talked about or honored. I was having such profound, spiritual connections with joy, oneness, ecstasy, healing, wholeness, self-love, visions and conversations with God in the dance, that I did not know how to talk about it or integrate it, and I certainly did not sense others around me having a similar journey.

 

So I began to dance alone, and not in community where I lost interest in learning technique choreograph, and was more curious about the "ancient healing medicine" of this dance that I could not "prove" (until later in life, a master's degree later).

 

The dance had opened up so much for me, including deep-seeded ancestral body shame, sexual shame, and therefore self-worth shame. Deep in my subconscious mind I was "ashamed" to be a beautiful, powerful, confident, unapologetic sensual--and spiritual--woman. I was living with the belief of how will anyone in my family (my Islamic "tribe"), ever see belly dance as a "sacred prayer dance/healing dance," the way I experienced i?

 

As time went on, and as I did my soul searching and soul-cleansing, I found my missing words that longed to express a deeper knowing about the dance that I wanted and needed affirmed in the "real world." And the real world that affirmed my inner knowing were the women I studied,danced with and my graduate studies, which was more like a 3 year rites of passage of re-birthing my voice, spirit and purpose in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The missing words and experiences I found to express my longing and innate knowing of the "ancient medicine dance," came clearly through my graduate studies and healing/shamanic initiations at Sofia University (formerly Institute for Transpersonal Psychology). We were immersed in creating daily sacred practices to help us remember, make contact with, and honor the Sacred Feminine--the Priestess--the Healer--the Goddess--the Shaman--the Muse--and I found mine in the dance of the womb--the dance of the heart--the Dance of Desire.

 

 

I teach ancient belly dance as an embodied spiritual practice of sensual movement, meditation and rituals, in community with other women, mothers and goddesses of all ages, shapes, colors, orientations and sizes.

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I teach ancient belly dance as

* an invocation to cultivating divine feminine energy, inner knowing, clarity and creative expression

* an ancient, serpent dance with roots to birthing rituals, moon cycles and Kundalini energy

* a breathing movement practice of undulations, creative circles, infinity circles and shimmies

* a dance of joy and celebration that often comes from the creative alchemy of anger, grief, despair and shame

* a natural birthing dance for women preparing to birth her child, her warrior and Mother Goddess

 

This class holds space for students, teachers, mothers, healers and seeksers to cultivate the embodiment of one's own core spirit in the basic, primal movements of ancient belly dance.

It is my prayer that as we heal and empower the temple of our bodies and souls through this natural kundalini dance and embodied presence, we will naturally heal and bring more awareness and honor to the true face and essence of belly dance and the Divine Feminine in All Beings.