Where for art thou, Jade? (I just watched Firefly Lane so the Romeo and Juliet reference just happened :D)
It has been a long time since I have written a post or have been active on socials and I thought I would let you know why and what I am up to.
I am back teaching again, dancing daily and enjoying life!
(So stay tuned for new class and product offerings and dance related posts).
But I have gone through quite a bit in the interim. I’ll briefly mention some of the physical stuff in this post and perhaps in a later will cover some other events.
Sooo, where to begin. I think we all know that the COVID era was not great for face-to-face dance classes and performing. I decided to let my regular dance classes have a pause until things settled down a bit. I did not realise how long it would take for people to settle though!
I also didn’t realise how much good bellydance had been doing for my body these past decades. As I danced less, I started to get some muscular skeletal problems and the physio said that belly dance must have been keeping my body in good condition.
These issues went from bad to worse. COVID was a really tough time to get decent medical care in this area. Unfortunately, it turned serious and I was told I had a stress fracture to my spine! Plus pinched nerves, bulging discs, and severe relentless constant pain. I wasn’t able to walk or sit or drive or do much of anything for so many months. It took more than a year to be able to walk properly again and a year and half before I could dance. It was such a difficult time, to go from a dance teacher and performer to lying in bed shaking in severe pain with no relief.
I don’t recommend the experience!
It has been a humbling however, and I have learnt to be grateful for every movement my body does. I never thought I would be joyful at being able to reach the bottom shelf of the dishwasher for example! But gratitude for even the little things is much more present in my consciousness now. The pure joy I felt when I could finally dance an entire choreography took me by surprise.
I intend to share some details about how I have healed and what modalities have been the most useful to get back to dance condition in future posts.
So what is the moral to the story?
Always keep dancing!
The great thing about belly dance in particular is that you can do it at any age and it is more nurturing for the body than many other styles.
Have you found belly dance helpful in your recovery from any illness or dis-ease? Please comment below.
Other health related posts you may like include Is Belly dance the answer to fibromyalgia pain? New scientific study. and Natural tooth whitening. Does oil pulling work?
Comments