'The dance of the womb'... the same dance that we have all moved to at least once in our lives, somewhere, sometime'.
By utilising the movements of the 'bellydance for birth' in its most potent form as an aid for conscious childbirth we are giving women a divine and gracious gift. As I have integrated my personal identity - Eastern roots with Western experience - I wish to reveal the art of the bellydance in this very same duality. Much of my knowledge has emerged from personal experiences, some channelled from the inner depths of my ancestral past and some researched from books, articles and by talking to a diverse range of women from both Middle Eastern and Western backgrounds.
My primary aim is not to argue the origins of 'bellydance for birth' from an historical viewpoint nor am I attempting to simply detail exact technical instruction of the dance. My greatest interest has come from the perspective of personal realisation and wisdom gained from blossoming into a mother and instinctually connecting to my primal memory and cultural identity through my association with the birth dance and its expansive rhythm.
I see the dance as cultivating multi dimensional layers of awareness, that impact on and affect a woman's emotional, physical and spiritual journey. As the bellydance has often been construed as having sexual appeal alone I don't believe this image has done it justice. My wonderful Egyptian friend Faiza, who grew up in Cairo, explained two significant facts about what bellydancing represented in the past and in the now. Firstly, that the dance was rejected in Egypt because it came from the Turks - the Ottoman Empire - who ruled Egypt for 300 years. And that it was also linked to prostitution because it was a means for women from poorer families to earn a living. Secondly, she explained that today, in Modern Egypt, many of the great bellydancers have fought long and hard to establish the foundations of the bellydance as a respectable art form protected by Law and that the knowledge of the dance has been preserved in a Cairo School for Bellydancers. This broader base allows us to view the dance as part of a cultural need and hence a life necessity, overshadowing its underworld connotations.
In contemporary life here in the West we have seen the explosion in popularity of Middle Eastern Dance. It has touched the lives of many women regardless of their cultural background in so many positive ways. Still, it was not until I was exposed to the dance in my cultural homeland at the age of twenty-one that I began to understand my true blood relationship to it. The contact I experienced from my relatives and other Arab women largely planted the seed to the more important aspects of the dance, especially in its relationship to the pregnant and birthing woman. For me there was something particularly special to feel the dance in its authentic cultural domain. The dance meeting the dancer, pulsing to a fine spiritual tune, released from structure. This influence has stayed close to my heart and further flourished in my own pregnancy and birthing journey.
And so, in the delicate arena of pregnancy and birth I witness the holistic nature of the dance utilised by women to assist them in revealing layers of truths in relation to their mothering journey before, during and after the act of giving birth. In my experience these revelations allowed my own personal expression to be explored and I came to understand that the divine moment of 'now' has such immense power. Reflected within this deep pool of sacredness I realised my perfection as a strong and capable birthing woman.
I have been particularly fortunate to have experienced the transition into motherhood in a very special, sacred place - Byron Bay Australia - referred to by our indigenous peoples as a 'fertile meeting place'. This area promotes positive birthing, informed choice, as well as 'aware' birthing mothers with many midwives supporting both home and water birth. Our pregnancy support group, attended by hundreds of women over the years has always been honest, informative, inviting, empowering and supportive to all in attendance. I was encouraged to probe deeper into my attitudes around pregnancy and birth, expanding my knowledge and awareness by learning to balance information I received from all areas of the birthing arena. My environment felt like a warm, extended family, and I will be forever grateful to have been a part of this vibrant birthing community. Just as importantly, the affirmation of my status as woman and mother was acknowledged and entrusted to me in reflection with the great oceans and the lush mountain terrain enveloping this paradise.
It is within this encouraging network of women that the unveiling of my personal story and creative fountain through dance and writing began to flow.
As I document aspects of my life journey describing the emotional, physical and spiritual benefits of 'bellydance for birth' I would in turn hope to inspire all women to take a closer look at their own mothering journey and feel ready to bare the layers of her story. The intense level of feelings and thoughts that arm you in its wake can be surprising. By taking a deep and honest look into our lives, in all its many shadows and colours, we can truly begin to understand what has influenced and formed our belief systems, values and personality over the years. By stripping down to the rawness of our deepest sub conscious and connecting to the feminine principle we can begin to let go of restrictive baggage. But this does not mean that we are in a state of denial rather it implies total acceptance of who we are as women without denying the scope of our emotional world that allows us to be fully present and fully human. In our quest for a blessed life we can be free to greet our mothering nature with open arms, instinctively opening the doors to our love and our fears never denying our femininity.
The process of surrender that takes place on this journey into awakening is deeply represented in the art form of 'bellydance for birth' where we can dance into a place that invites us to face our deepest selves including our inhibitions as we enter into the birthing domain. In a recent conversation with a hospital midwife on natural birth outcomes, she told me that on the whole in her regular observations of birthing women those who were most free from inhibition, had better birth outcomes and less intervention (besides unforeseen complications). I explained to her that this process of shedding inhibitions was the same feeling evoked from experiencing 'bellydance for birth' and that the dance was a positive tool designed to enhance a woman's birth preparation. It is not only immensely enjoyable and sensual but also significant in helping a woman to tune into the true seat of femininity that resides within her hip and pelvic region, a place often construed as being sexually secretive and out of bounds.
'...both Arabic and African dance centre on an articulated torso...both dance forms are earthy and strongly rooted, and are based on a wealth of movement in the pelvis, seat not only of intense sensation but of our deepest taboos'.
(Beauty & the East, Wendy Buonaventura, Saqi Books, 1998).
I say touch, explore and enter this domain through story, song, dance and ultimately birth. I feel eternally grateful that I have had the experience of giving birth totally informed, and have further been able to reap the benefits of my cultural dance and share with so many other women the joy and beauty it wholeheartedly represents. I hope the positive aspects of my birthing experiences will enthuse other women to see the possibility of transformation in amongst the horror stories that we so often hear when pregnant. On the other hand I do not wish to negate or sugar coat both the emotional and physical sensations of giving birth or the difficulty in accepting a disempowering birth experience. I strongly hope to convey a faith in women to be informed by 'birthing from within' and seeking out truthful birth dialogue from as many sources as possible as today there is so much information available to pregnant women, from books, videos, internet, hospitals, birthing centres, mothers tales, etc. If the feeling you encounter from the advice you see, hear or read does not resonate with your truly open self or pulls you away from your intuition keep searching until you find a point of deeper connection that supports your feelings. Don't ever forget, in all of this abundance of information, both the wealth of intrinsic knowledge and the innate birthing biological information that is stored within the exquisite recesses of our female primal brains, ready to be utilised when labour begins. (See Primal Brain)
Finally, if you are moved to take positive, affirming action toward your pregnancy journey through reading my book then I will be overjoyed. It only requires the first step; courage and you can begin to dance to the rhythm of the music as you give birth to the rhythm of your body....
Photo: Morgane |
| |
|
|
|
