Product Description

Originating in ancient dances and rituals related to family, life cycle and childbirth, bellydance is based on movements that come naturally to the female body. Some bellydance movements mimic natural intuitive motions associated with pregnancy and childbirth, others have been traditionally used to move the baby into the best position or relieve the discomfort of labor.

This unique dance/workout program has been designed to be safe and effective for pregnancy and follows the guidelines of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists.

Organic, flowing, energizing movement of bellydance helps to improve abdominal control and awareness, relieve aches and discomfort associated with pregnancy, avoid swelling and cramping and prevent excessive weight gain. Bellydance hip movements will tone the muscles of your pelvic floor, whose strength is all-important for the birth, as well as for your postnatal recovery.

And, beyond all these benefits, it offers a fantastic motivation to stay beautiful and graceful throughout the pregnancy - in touch with your inner goddess!

The program consists of 6 SECTIONS: WATER: Warmup and stretches; slow, meditative section; opens by building dance Combination 1 EARTH: Movements focused on the abdomen and lower body; medium-paced rhythmic section; the section culminates in building dance Combination 2 AIR: Upper body movements; medium-paced rhythmic section, introducing Combination 3 FIRE: Travel steps; medium-to-fast-paced dance section; in this section we build and practice Combination 4 DANCE: Slow-to-medium-paced section: we put together Combinations 1, 2, 3 & 4 into a graceful flowing dance; LIGHT: Cooldown, slow, meditative section

Remember, each body type and each pregnancy is diffferent. You may want to ask your doctor or midwife to view this DVD first, if she or he is not familiar with this form of dance/exercise.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22188 in DVD
• Brand: STRATOSTREAM
• Released on: 2006-03-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 35 minutes

Customer Reviews

Dancing Abundance
WorldDance New York has just released a new DVD of belly dancing for prenatal fitness. Let me begin by saying that I evaluated this DVD from my perspective as a Nurse Midwife who teaches belly dance for pregnancy and birth. I was not pregnant when I tried out this video. I have to say that the producers have put together a thoughtful, satisfying, and safe program for belly dancing during pregnancy.

The program is intended primarily for beginner belly dancers and non-dancers. Seasoned belly dancers may not find this video to be very challenging for themselves, but will certainly find it useful as an outline for developing and teaching prenatal belly dance classes.

Naia is an absolutely beautiful hostess and video instructor. She exudes a complete comfort with her body and her wonderful smile conveys that she knows the secret of creating life. She is absolutely resplendent in her abundant state! A goddess for sure!

The production quality of the DVD is excellent. The voice-over is in Naia's own voice, and her calm, clear and poised manner of relaying the information is very reassuring to the viewer. The use of a voice-over, the expert camera shots, and the occasional inset boxes illustrating movement options all contribute to the exceptional quality of this video. The entire video experience is further enhanced by Jehan's beautiful and evocative music.

After a welcome sequence in which all of the requisite cautions are outlined, the dance program itself starts. The program is comprised of five parts, each named after an element. Throughout the entire program, the viewer is given reminders about some of the normal body changes to be expected with pregnancy, and information about how some of the belly dance movements can be helpful in countering common pregnancy discomforts and in preparing for labor and birth.

The teaching format is a follow along plan, with relatively little actual breakdown of how to do the movements, but because the movements presented are the most basic and simple ones from the belly dance repertoire, I feel even absolute beginners should easily master most of them.

After watching it a few times, I wanted to see for myself how much of an actual workout performing the video would give, so I did the entire program as presented. It was a very gentle and grounded workout that gave me some mild cardio stimulation and had some really good thigh and glute work.

In evaluating this video, I had an opportunity to communicate with both the producer, and the OB/GYN consultant on the program. I can tell you from my conversations with them that a lot of thought and care was given to creating a fun and safe program. The choice of movements to include was deliberately limited to the safest and most comfortable for use during pregnancy. All of my personal concerns about an exercise program for pregnant women, including being aware of the changes in the center of gravity that occurs as pregnancy progresses, and being careful to avoid injury as a result of the normal joint laxity that occurs in pregnancy, were addressed in this program.

I also wanted some input from other birth professionals, so I took the time to share the DVD with a couple of the OB/GYN docs that I work with, and both felt that they would have no problem approving its use for their own patients.

Any woman using this video is sure to feel like the mother goddess, the giver of life that she is as she follows along with Naia in this beautiful and affirming video program! I congratulate the producers for creating an outstanding video that is sure to fill a need in the market. I will recommend it without hesitation to anyone looking for a prenatal belly dance fitness program.

A Unique Prenatal Workout!
Are you tired of the run-of-the-mill aerobic workout videos for pregnancy? Try something new, fun, and energizing! Pregnancy is a time of transition, change, and growth physically and emotionally. With the ups and downs through this amazing experience of your body, reward yourself with some time of rejuvenation for your body and spirit!

Prenatal Bellydance offers a unique alternative to conventional prenatal workouts. Belly dance is not only physically beneficial in offering a fulfilling workout, relieving muscle and joint tension and discomfort, but also in helping you to feel beautiful, sexy, and comfortable with your changing body. With movements that flow with the natural rhythm of your body, skillfully and knowledgeably adapted for safety and effectiveness during pregnancy, you can groove your body and boost your mood with this prenatal bellydance workout.

Naia, the host, takes you through a smooth warm-up, then step-by-step through each movement of a dance routine. The movements are then combined into dance combination segments, piece by piece, in a flowing manner. Everything is fully demonstrated by Naia and some movements even have an alternative offered for your comfort and fitness level. You are then ready to combine all the dance combinations together into one beautiful belly dance routine! The DVD ends with Naia's cool-down movements. All segments are accompanied by fun and movement-inspiring Middle Eastern music. I appreciated that the music is soothing and flowing, not boisterous or shrill. One track of the dance routine offers Naia's instruction with the music. A separate track offers just the music without voice-over, if you'd like to perform the routine without instruction, or just move to the music all on your own. The movements are beautifully and skillfully demonstrated, the video and sound quality are excellent.

I think this DVD offers a good level of workout for moderation in pregnancy. Experienced belly dancers may find the routine basic, as I did, so they need to keep in mind that the routine is designed to be completely appropriate for prenatal exercise, keeping belly dance safe and healthy for pregnancy. With this in mind, I found the routine very enjoyable! Beginners will find this a liberating and enjoyable introduction to belly dance. Some previous dance experience may be helpful, but certainly not necessary. This is a workout that allows you to just go with the flow and just learn as you go, you're doing this for yourself afterall...the important part is to enjoy the movement, music, and some much needed time nurturing your beautiful self and baby!

Hey, it's a fun workout...give it a chance...!
OK, it's true that this workout isn't the most newbie-friendly--Naia does only a so-so job of actually breaking down and teaching the steps and movements, and cueing, especially in the last segment.

But I don't think this means it's a bad workout. I've bought bad DVD workouts (including Middle Eastern dance workouts) and this isn't one of them!

I'm of the school of thought that if I master the workout on the first go, it's not going to hold my interest. I can handle having some workouts that I miss a few counts...so what? I suppose if you're the personality that gives up if you don't get the steps and/ or movements right the first or second time, this workout isn't for you.

I disagree it's not "beginner"-level, although if you're looking for an introduction to Middle Eastern dance, I'd recommend other workouts. Naia could do a better job breaking down the steps and making the counts and cueing simplier.

Also, I feel that for the money, it would be nice to have more features for the DVD. I like the "music only" feature, but besides that, there's not much. For the money I'd like more than one 30 minute workout, for one. Or a segment going into detail the various movements (always a good idea!) or SOMETHING MORE.

I actually DO like this workout. It makes me feel looser, less cranky, and one of the few workouts that I feel graceful doing as I go into my 3rd trimester. I think it's worthwhile having in your pregnancy workout, even if there are some flaws. Give it a chance; not every workout is nailed the first go-round, and learning is a good thing!