How to Fit Bellydance Practice Into a Busy Schedule

How to Fit Bellydance Practice into a Busy Schedule
 
The mere thought feels paradoxical! How can one hurry up and bellydance while expecting to experience the benefits of mind-body-soul connection or drilling technique into true mastery? The mere suggestion may trigger a bomb of emotional angst within us as we respond to the, yet again, mixed messaging of our culture which hails self-care as important as ambition thereby dumping the onus on us to be everything to everyone and then everything to ourselves as well…all before 5pm. Understanding that 5pm was used as a joke in that sentence of course! We all know that the end of the work day has become undefinable for most. Honestly, how can we fit bellydancing into a busy schedule? Without minimizing the predicament, here come some tips to bring your love of bellydance into your daily routine!
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Get Real!
This first tip is the hardest one to accept. But, if we can swallow this pill, the rest can fall into place beautifully. I’m gonna give you 20 minutes. I know you want to practice for 6 hours a day and this sucks to hear, but if you’re reading this blog, I’m going to guess that you need this reality check. The good news is, just 20 minutes a day of uniquely planned practice can transform your dance and your life! And here’s a hack… if you truly can’t stand this idea, you can stack your increments and opt for a 1hr 40 min session on the weekend instead. Now to the good stuff…
 
Get Organized!
I love to make lists! Don’t you? Let’s make a list of categories to organize your daily practice plan.
 
Day 1. Melt into Meditation – 20 minutes
This is the easiest one and perfect for a Monday! Find a quiet comfortable place to lounge with your body supported. Close your eyes. Tune into, slow down, and expand your breathing. Gaze at the vast dark pool of potential at your third eye space. See this spaciousness as a blank canvas upon which to paint. Understand that your dance, your life, and your identity are just like this canvas. This mental break can be a helpful reset so that you can take back the paintbrush as the artist of your life and stay clear through the potential graffiti of outside influence. Honing this ability not only clears space for your creativity, but also teaches us how to become still within chaos. Therefore, this one simple tip could have transformative effects not only on your dance but on your command of your schedule and life as well!
 
Day 2. Indulge in Visualization – 20 minutes
This next one is the perfect combination of calming one’s self and indulging one’s self! It’s a more active form of mediation as you will still be experiencing the benefits of shifting your brainwaves, but you will also begin the process of dance – in your mind’s eye first! This preliminary creative journey builds energy, positive anticipation, and is a very effective way of self-teaching as you will be drawing your creativity from your intuition as you visualize while sending messages to your body of how you would like it to perform when you get physical. Preceding physical practice with free form visualization can speed up your physical progress in any subject tremendously. Find a song that really inspires you. Visualize without limits!
 
Day 3. Enjoy Guidance – 20 minutes
Now you’re ready for guidance! We’ve made this easy for you at Ansuya.com where you’ll find hundreds of video lessons that you can access on your own schedule so you can fit this into anytime of your day! Choose a video in a subject that fits your current fancy, grab a notebook and pen, and enjoy just watching the first time! While there are many short videos to choose from, also allow yourself to pick just 20 minutes of any video lesson as you can continue into the lesson the next week. As you watch the video feel free to make notes of parts that you think may bring you challenge. Relating to the lesson by just watching first will make your physical practice and progress far more effective! 
 
Day 4. Practice – 20 minutes
Now you’re ready to dance! Get up and boogie with me baby! Do your best following the instruction in the video and use your notebook to jot down parts that you may want to review and repeat.
 
Day 5. Little Drills – 20 minutes
This is where you can go back through the video with your notes and brush up on the challenging bits. Take your time as, remember, you can repeat these steps at as many practice sessions as you like! You have no deadline, only a desire to practice daily and you're killing it! Drilling the "sticky spots" will speed up your progress and enhance your joy as you feel your performance improving through taking the time to give those details your love and attention! 
 
Day 6. Progress Post – 20 minutes
Members of Ansuya.com are invited to join our exclusive online Facebook group where you can upload your practice video and ask me questions or just share your proud progress moments! So, spend one or as many practice sessions drilling your work as you like and then video what you've got and upload to the Cyber Temple goddess! It's time to shine! 
 
Day 7. Journaling Session – 20 minutes
Your last day of the week is perfect for a restful journaling session to reflect on what you learned and what you gained during the week and what you are excited about in your upcoming week’s practice. Remember to congratulate yourself on the amazing job you did bringing a balanced practice into your life and busy schedule. If you missed a session, don’t worry. Remember, you weren’t doing this at all before so by doing this at the pace of even once 20-minute session per week, you are still making progress! These small bites will result in huge gains. By the way, reading this blog counts as a session! You are researching the topic of your interest. Look at you go!

Extra Tip
This practice plan is scalable! When you are on "go mode", you can skip steps 1,2 and 7 and slam on more and more challenging videos to make your practice time uber challenging. Just remember, you can fall back into this "home practice" anytime to keep your connection grounded, your process loving, and your expression authentic!