Ask me about Prenatal Restorative Sessions (email km@karlamariefineart.com) including Belly Dance and yoga techniques. private sessions can be held in home or at studio.
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BELLY DANCING AND PREPARING FOR CHILD BIRTH
I always told my students in class how wonderful belly dancing was during pregnancy. Although I hadn't put it to the test. I understand child birth because I have had 3 children but never understood my body until I started to belly dance. I just knew the movements from class and the constant intense work on our lower abdominal and back muscles as well as our pelvic floor muscles had to be of huge benefit during pregnancy and labor. During pregnancy the work on balance and understanding the shifts in your center of gravity as well as increasing circulation and flexibility during class proved to be of great benefit. After a delivery with an epidural for my first son, and a c-section for my second son, I was able to experience a completely natural, drug free labor and delivery for my 3rd son. I attribute this, in large part, to the work I did in class (belly dancing and yoga) and of course my doula, Addy Meisenheimer and my husband and the confidence I had in knowing my body. I found this article and wanted to share a bit of it with my lovelies as many of you are expecting babies. I was blessed to be able to teach my belly dancing class the entire pregnancy up until 1 week before delivering at 37 weeks and I reaped the benefits of this during my labor and delivery. What a wonderful experience it was.... I have been offering prenatal restorative private sessions including belly dancing and yoga techniques for expecting moms for a couple of years and it is one of my favorite offerings. A special time for mom and baby and a unique experience to me as a guest in this moment to allow them to rest, restore, relax, and connect.
"Childbirth must be prepared for. Dormant muscles must be built up little by little, step by step. All it takes is a little work, which certainly would never harm the mother or the unborn child. Strengthening the muscles also helps in carrying the child through pregnancy and greatly reduces stretch marks on the abdomen.
Training classes, such as Education for Childbirth courses given at one of the major hospitals in New York City, try to accomplish in a few short months or weeks what should have been started in childhood: namely the shaping-up of pelvic muscles used in pregnancy and childbirth and to regain shape and muscle tone after birth.
The first lesson in the Exercise Review Sheet of that hospital says: "Concentration Exercises -- Object: to learn muscular control of muscle groups. Particular attention is paid to strong contraction and absolute relaxation of the rest of the body."
The technique of Oriental dancing is one of contractions and releases while all other muscles not involved in the movemen are relaxed.
Class 2 goes on: "Stand with knees easy, feet parallel and with the weight of the body well over the arches of your feet. Rock your pelvis upward, Tighten slowly your buttocks and lower abdominal muscles. . . Lying on your back, with legs bent, press back firmly on floor, contracting abdominal muscles at the same time -- release."
This is a position assumed in almost every Oriental dance at one point or another, where the head reaches the floor from a backbend and the body relaxes untill the spine rests on the floor. The knees are sharply bent and the feet outside of and close to the thighs. Slow rhythmic breathing is followed by fast shallow breathing, acceleration of which increases with contractions, producing a variety of abdominal movements.
One of the women, who attended classes of this sort, was the wife of a prominent lawyer of Turkish background and mother of twins. She told me that one of the movements her obstetrician stressed was a rippling movement of the abdomen, the old Arabic "belly roll" - what we now refer to as the "camel".
It was explained that the upper part of the wave, as her doctor termed the movement, was to be done between the contractions of the womb, and the lower part of the wave, or bearing down, was to be done as the womb contracted. This would aid the mother considerably in expelling the baby with minimal wear and tear on all the internal organs and muscles involved. Fighting the contractions through fear and preoccupation with the thought of pain would only tense the muscles and tear them rather than allow them to stretch gently during the uterine contractions and relaxations.
The rolling movement itself is no child's play to learn, for when done wrong it only serves to stetch the stomach muscles. The lower spine, pelvis, diaphragm and abdomen are involved. This is extremely difficult to describe in writing & must be demonstrated, explained step by step, felt gradually muscle by muscle.
Each little muscle must be found and developed in turn, before the whole can be manipulated to the extent that each split second can be perfectly controlled. Rather than sharpness and angularity, there must be a smooth, circular, undulating motion."
excerpt from Shimmy Goddess
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