photography by CiogiArt Studios

Most of us realize that doing chest lifts is harder than it may look. Some of us have even had some back pain associated with it. Here are the things I try to keep in mind when I do them:

1. Don’t use your lower back – the strength of the movement should be just under the sternum, with your diaphragm area doing most of the work. Some people also do this movement by squeezing their shoulder blades together to sort of pop the chest out. I prefer using the muscles just below the breasts and sternum, as I said – it makes the movement cleaner, because your arms don’t want to flail around everywhere like they do if you use your shoulder blades.

2. Don’t move your pelvis -keep it still and neutral. Bum not sticking out, but not tucked way in, either. Some people sit while doing them at first, so they can get to know which muscles are supposed to be moving, and which aren’t! Do it in the car on your drive into work! It’s good to learn this in muscle memory, kinesthetically, rather than just watching people do it or reading about it alone. Feel it, girl!

3. If it hurts, do it WAY SMALLER. Period. If it hurts badly, please see a physician! I want you to keep dancing over your lifetime – not to get injured.

4. Don’t start by doing chest pops – begin by doing the movements very slowly. Control is the name of the game here. Also, this will help you stretch out and limber up your muscles over time. Be good to your gorgeous bod.

5. Don’t focus on the size of the movement. Make the movement precise, controlled. As your muscles get stronger over time, and you become more limber, the movement will be larger. But seasoned dancers are impressed by control, not by someone injuring themselves – which is difficult to do gracefully!

If you’re unsure about what a chest lift is, here is Sharon Kihara (whose how to videos I’d recommend!) doing a series of them mixed with other movements (between 2:39 and 2:59). I must say that I’m not sure if this video is on YouTube legally, so let me know if the linky breaks! But basically it’s a lifting of the chest, just like its name would indicate.

As a dancer, we need to learn to trust what our bodies are telling us – when it hurts, stop, slow down, or make the movement smaller. Aside from that, have fun slowly getting your body used to the movement, and enjoy!

Tags: belly, bellydance, bellydancer, chest, chest lifts, dance, dancer, fusion, how to, lift, Orientale, pointers, pop, raks, raqs, tips, tribal, tutorial, upper body