Indigo Earth Healing Arts

The other day a friend showed a group of us several basic belly dancing moves.  (Yes, I hear you snickering.)  It involved moving different parts of the body, isolating them from all the other parts. I was surprised to learn that there were specific movements for the chest.  And I was even more surprised at how hard they were to perform. 

It pointed out to me what a taboo it is for women to let there chests move around.  When dancing the hips are allowed to move, but not really the chest.  Especially not lifting the chest, or moving it from side to side.  No wonder it was so difficult!

Since then I've been practicing (and yes, I can hear snickering again).  I walked downtown this afternoon lifting my chest as we were shown to do.  It is different than sucking my gut in (which, if your chest is sunk in, gives the gut no place to go), forcing my shoulders back (which just makes them stiff after a while), or lifting the breasts. 

This is more of a lifting of the ribcage and sternum, which automatically makes the shoulders go down and the long back muscles work the way they're supposed to.  I was amazed at how straight my spine was and how much less effort it was to walk.  And lifting the chest this way doesn't feel like work, either.

Now I'm really wondering what would happen to the osteoperosis epidemic in this country if women were allowed to lift their chests without shame.  (More snickers, I'm sure.)  Ladies, try this exercise and then pay attention to how much time you spend unconsciously trying to diminish your breasts and distract attention away from them.

Also, we learned a move where you step forward while you lift your pelvis on the same side.  I tried that while walking too, in a more internal way.  Again I was amazed at the grace and power that came with it with much less effort. 

Again, I wonder...if women were allowed to move as they were designed to, would we need exercise regimes and diets?  I bet a lot of indigestion is due to this caved chest syndrome.  What else can you think of that would be related to this?