Breathing and belly dance

We all tend to hold our breath when learning new techniques in any movement discipline. I even find myself holding my breath when I'm plugged into the computer in the course of my cyber business, stopping my inner flow and bracing as I bump along the choppy internet river. And its true, in belly dance there is a lot to keep track of -- like how are you standing? What's going on with your pelvis - where is it looking? Are your knees rotating inward or outward? What part of you is bearing the weight? If one arm is up in the air looking gorgeous, what is the other hand doing? Is it a dead energy hand, dangling by your side in sad neglect? What part of your body is initiating a movement? Tune into the whole of your dancer self, from feet to top of head, through hands and arms. The path I take is breath. Breathing into all parts of you to keep everything energetically pulsing, even if its just a gentle, relaxed charge. In the warm up I try to tune everyone into how to stand and to go inward, following the breath inside of the body as the lungs fill, then exhaling fully while visualizing and locating our center. Relax, center, pay attention to your inner workings, and your outer expression will sing more beautifully.