Dancing with My Disabilities!

Title: Dancing with My Disabilities! I had my shoulder and both hips replaced, and I am changing things up a bit on this blog! I began belly dancing in 2010! Yes, you read that correctly!! I am going to be blogging about my experience as a woman with several joint diseases and conditions who had her shoulder and both hips replaced who now belly dances, dances hip hop, performs, teaches dance to children of all ages and abilities, teaches belly dance fitness classes to adult women, teaches chair belly dance movement classes to people with mobility issues and disabilities, and takes a Pure Barre class as well! I still have pain, but I want to blog about how I have fun too! Please read Chronically Mommy (chronicallymommy.blogspot.com) for info on health/pain and being a mom to a 13-year-old son. I have avascular necrosis in my shoulders, hips, and knees, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondylitis, Sjogren's, fibromyalgia, hEDS, POTS, MCAS, vascular/ocular/hemiplegic migraines, pseudotumor cerebri, trigeminal neuralgia, occipital neuralgia, endometriosis, and chronic shingles. I found out that I have autoimmune arthritis in my cervical spine and a bulging disk in my lumbar spine. Fourteen years ago, my spine orthopedic surgeon told me I had a small amount of inflammatory arthritis in my SI joint. The question was if the spinal involvement was due to Psoriatic Spondylitis, which is a more severe form of Psoriatic Arthritis or is it a new diagnosis of Ankylosing Spondylitis? Now, they have an updated term, Axial Spondylitis, which fits my symptoms and diagnostic proof. Whatever the diagnosis, the treatment will remain the same. I had my left hip replaced in 2003; my right shoulder replaced in March of 2010. I gave my right arm to be ambidextrous! LOL! Lastly, I had my right hip replaced on May 10th, 2012, and I began belly dancing two years prior to my right hip replacement surgery. Yes that's correct! I began belly dancing in 2010, just after my shoulder replacement, before my son was born. I performed for the first time in 2012, five days prior to my right hip replacement surgery. Pain is still another part of my life. It is just a question of when, where, and how much, but I would like to use this blog to write about my experience as a woman with several joint diseases and conditions who had both hips and a shoulder replaced and now spends her free time dancing, teaching, and performing! I began dancing with a troupe in February of 2014, Seshambeh Dance Company. I now take a Pure Barre class on Monday mornings, teach ballet, tap, and creative movement on Monday evenings to children of all ages and abilities, take a hip hop class with all adult women on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, teach a belly dance fitness class on Thursdays to all adult women, and teach a chair belly dance movement class to people with mobility issues and disabilities as often as I possibly can. Join me in my journey! At times, I take 16 to 20 pills a day. I give myself an injection each week on Fridays for my autoimmune/autoinflammatory arthritis diseases. Just when one thing is doing better, something else goes downhill! My attitude, however, is always going uphill! I am 49 years old, have been married for 24 years, and my husband and I adopted Mick in Dec. of 2010! I have a lot on my plate right now, but I take it one moment at a time. I believe that God will never give me more than I can handle. However, I do need to learn to ask for help sometimes instead of always doing it by myself!

Blog Title: Dancing with My Disablities!

Formerly Now Read My HIPS, and before that, I Already Gave My Right Arm to Be Ambidextrous.
Help, I need somebody,
Help, not just anybody,
Help, you know I need someone, help.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me.

And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But every now and then I feel so insecure,
I know that I just need you like I've never done before.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these daya are gone, I'm not so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh.

Dancing with My Disabilities

Dancing with My Disabilities
Asmara "Beautiful Butterfly"

Blog with Integrity

BlogWithIntegrity.com
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Friday, December 30, 2011

How to Make 2012 a Happy Year!


The next edition of ChronicBabe's blog carnival goes LIVE on Monday, January 2, 2012 and it's all about new year's resolutions. What's your plan for the coming year? Is there something you've committed to doing, and do you have an accountability buddy? What's going to change? What's going to be freakin' awesome? Tell us! Not only do we want to know, but also...you'll help inspire others. 

To make my 2012 a happy year, I am making a very important resolution for myself. I am going to make sure to exercise regularly. Now I know that is probably the most common resolution, right up there with weight loss every year. For me it's different though. Before we adopted our son, Michael, a year ago in December, I was going to an aqua aerobics class three times a week, walking, and began a NIA class. I was feeling great! Then when we brought home a new baby, things changed! I began to slack on the exercising, put on weight, began to feel worse again, and because of my feeling worse it made it even harder for me to exercise regularly. It was a circle of disaster!!!!


Basically, for me, I need to exercise to keep my joints loose, my muscles warm and to keep my weight down. It gives me some energy, not a lot, but more than the usual amount. My fatigue is really bad and on top of the pain can really bring me down. It can really make me not want to do anything but lie on the couch all day, all week, well forever actually. 


I found something that worked for me, and exercise is the key to keeping me active. No, I will never be in the Olympics or dance competitively or anything like that, but I am happier and healthier because of the exercise. I have gotten back into the exercise slowly in the past year so my resolution for 2012 is to keep it up and continue to add new things to keep it fun.

A Little About Belly dance...
A beautiful and distinct ancient dance form, belly dance or raks (raqs) sharki (also called danse orientale), has a deep history dating back thousands of years in the Middle East.  It is a dance of celebration and is done by women of all shapes and sizes.  It is a dance of beauty and feminitity and embraces and celebrates the true beauty of the woman.  

Although most often characterized by sharp, sensual and isolated movements of the torso and hips, belly dance is performed using every body muscle- including those in the arms and hands.

Not only is belly dance fun to watch and to learn, but it has many health benefits as well.  It has a healing quality (physical and emotional), improves muscle tone and flexibility, promotes healthy weight loss, improves balance and coordination, builds stamina and strength, helps to maintain a healthy metabolism and can help to condition the body for childbirth. 

One of the biggest myths is that belly dance is a dance of seduction performed to and for male audiences.  In fact, bellydance tradition handed down through generations of women states that belly dance originated as a dance to celebrate and promote fertility and healthy childbirths.  It was a dance to celebrate mother earth to many.  It is thought that belly dance aides women in preparing their abdominal muscles for labor and even today, in places accross the Middle East and in North Africa, many of these movements are used in birthing rituals.  In countries across the globe, many couples hire belly dancers to perform at their weddings as it is thought to bless the couple with a future of fertility and healthy babies/children.

Moreover, in the harem sub-culture, it is noted that women would enetertain each other by belly dancing for one another.  Contrary to what many believe, the women in the harems would rarerly even see the king or sultan. (www.bellydancebysamora.com)
I began taking belly dance classes off and on about a year ago. I started in the beginner class and am now in the advanced class. I take the advanced class on the weekend and I still take a beginner class during the week. I really enjoy it. I am hoping to perform a dance number in our spring concert. Wow! Now that's big news! 


The beginner class is currently having a cardio belly class which is fast paced and makes you sweat! It is great for weight loss. I really enjoy belly dancing because it is easy on the joints, has wonderful movement for my muscles and joints (especially my back and neck), and my body knows if I miss a class. I actually hurt more if I don't dance! That is fantastic news. It makes me want to go back for more. There is no jumping or anything that is hard on my joints~I mean I have 2 joint replacements already and will be needing 4 more in the near future.


If you have read my blog before too you know that I was a professional ballet dancer. I really have a passion for dance. The belly dancing has given me back this passion for dance. I am able to do something I really enjoy, that is good for me physically and mentally as well as emotionally. It makes me a happier person. I am easier to be around! Just ask my hubby!


So for the year 2012, I want to make it a happy year. To be happy, I want to be dancing! And by dancing, I am exercising, I am keeping my weight in check and my pain and physical body as well as my mental and emotional body in check. As long as I keep it up, I will not have to worry about falling back into a rut and having to work my way back into an exercise regimen. So I hope to continue, and stay happy in 2012!!!!! Happy New Year to you all!







2012

2012
Performance 5 days before my Hip Replacement Surgery!

2012

2012
Performance 5 Days Prior to my Hip Replacement Surgery.

Belly Dance

Belly Dance
Before the Performance 5/6/12
Watch live streaming video from arthritisfoundation at livestream.com