BD Assignment #1: Practicing Posture

Posture is the foundation of the dance. Arms are the frame.
And no matter how much you drill your moves and listen to your music, your dance is going to be lacking if you don't have good posture... not to mention you could injure yourself or cause yourself problems down the road by building imbalanced muscles or wearing on the joints and spine.
So let's practice our posture this week!
No dancing here, just holding poses. I'll breakdown basic belly dance posture below. Practice this posture whenever you finding yourself standing somewhere... brushing your teeth, doing dishes, waiting for something, feeling bored. See if you can practice throughout the day, every day for one week.
Basic Posture
--> Set your foundation
Feet: hip width apart, weight evenly distributed
Knees: bent and soft, thighs engaged for support
Pelvis: neutral position, tailbone pointing down, no tuck or tilt
--> Stack and Lift
Rib Cage: lifted, imagine a string pulling up from the center of your sternum, engage upper belly muscles to offset arching the upper back
Sternum: Open and spread
Shoulders: Back, down and soft
Head: floating, imagine a string pulling up from the crown of the head and through the back of the neck, lifting the weight off the shoulders
--> Finish the look
Arms: framing the body, soft curves in shoulders, elbows and wrists, energy extending from shoulders out through the finger tips
Face: relaxed and engaging
Belly Dance Posture Tutorial
Practice as much as you can! Hold the position for as long as you can. Then add some variations:
* Try different arm variations * Bend the knees more, and more again
* Then add the arm variations to that
* Shift the weight to one foot, lift the other leg onto the toes, bring the knee in
* Do the other side
* Then add the arm variations to that
Share your experience with Lulu and other students by posting below!
Where was the strangest place you practiced your posture this week?
What was difficult for you?
How do you feel you've progressed?
What do you need to work more on?