Is Belly Dancing Good For An Overweight Woman?

The thought of belly dancing often evokes mental images of slender women with full skirts, revealing shirts or vests, hip scarves and bare midriffs dancing for groups of men. While there is some truth to the costuming, belly dance originated as a spiritual dance most frequently done by women for women. Belly dance encourages and embraces women of all sizes, making it a beautiful, healthy, ideal undertaking for an overweight woman. While belly dance does not promise weight loss, it provides low-impact cardiovascular exercise, boosts confidence and improves personal body image.

Low Impact

Belly dance can be very easy for an overweight woman to adapt to because it is a low-impact dance. Unlike aerobic or ballroom dance, belly dance provides a gentle workout that adds no extra stress to your feet, shins, hips or knees. But even though it is a low-impact dance, belly dance still provides a stimulating workout. Many of the isolations, hip circles, and undulations require you to move your body in ways you would not normally move, awakening muscles you may not have realized could be strengthened or toned.

Natural Motion

Belly dance relies on the body's natural motions, making it an ideal dance for an overweight woman. Many of the movements take time to learn because they are unfamiliar, but they all have a feminine and intuitive feel to them. Additionally, because belly dance relies on the body's natural motion, dancing and learning will feel good regardless of whether your movements are small or big. You will also find that these movements help your body tone itself, as opposed to needing weights or other equipment to achieve the same effects.

Confidence Boost

Belly dance can greatly improve personal confidence, an area where overweight women often struggle. In beginner classes, all participants --- star athletes included --- need to work to learn the motions because they are unfamiliar. As you continue learning and mastering new movements, your newfound capabilities will give rise to added confidence and grace. Additionally, because traditional belly dance idealizes curvy women, belly dance can help promote a healthy body image for overweight women.

Physical Benefits

Any added activity can help an overweight woman lose weight, but belly dance does not promise significant weight loss. You will feel your muscles become more toned from the extra use, and the exercise itself will help improve your cardiovascular health. If you are seeking to lose weight through belly dancing, take classes that focus on cardiovascular movements such as shimmying to help shed some extra calories, and augment your dance classes with a healthy, well-balanced meal plan.