My Jakarta: Christine Yaven, Belly Dancer

Christine Yaven fell in love with belly dancing 10 years ago when she was in Australia completing her master’s degree. When she moved back to Jakarta, Christine felt the city’s fledgling belly dance community was in need of an overhaul. Teachers weren’t properly trained, studios espoused the wrong philosophy and full-figured women were often told they were ‘too fat’ to dance. Belly dance is a Middle Eastern folkloric dance. There are many types of belly dance. The one that we would usually dance for an audience is called raks sharki, where the music is composed specifically for the dancer. Then you have the classical style, called tarab, which is like our Ella Fitzgerald, that kind of era. There’s also sha’abi, which uses street-style music that evolved from protest songs, and I would say it’s very dangdut. And there’s baladi, which means “of the country,” so it’s like kampung music, it’s normally instrumental, kind of like a call and answer with musical instruments. I used to do Latin and ballroom dancing, but it’s really difficult in the sense that a dance partner is essential and there aren’t many good male dancers out there. Also, ballroom and Latin dance require high-heel shoes, which I’m not really comfortable dancing in. And the last reason would be, it requires me to be slim — I can’t be overweight and do it on a competitive level. So, I decided to shift to belly dancing. I just saw an ad I thought, ‘I’m going to give it a try.’ My goal is to show Indonesian people what true, artistic belly dancing is, and to show them that belly dancing isn’t for slim girls only. It’s the curves that make it beautiful. When I came back from Australia, I was looking for a teacher. I wasn’t ready to be a teacher myself, but I wanted to continue dancing. I couldn’t find any teachers except for one, and this woman was teaching the wrong technique and philosophy. She had beginners doing semi-backbends in their first class, and she told me and a few other girls that we were too fat to belly dance. I was talking to one of my teachers in the States, and she mentioned she would be traveling to Indonesia. I hosted a workshop for her, and she stayed at my house for two weeks, and every day we did private lessons. I told her about the situation here, and she taught me everything she knew. I started off by giving free classes to my friends at my house, we called them ‘tea parties.’ Everyone brought potluck food, we got together, and people started saying, ‘You know, why don’t you make it a real class? Rent a studio.’ So I did. I started off with five students once a week on Saturday mornings while I was still working full-time. And now it’s been six years. It’s definitely popular now because of the all the hype. Belly dancing is promoted in the media as a weight loss thing, that you’ll flatten your stomach and become slimmer. But that’s not the case. Belly dancing will help you gain body confidence and better flexibility and posture, but it’s not a dance to lose weight. It’s also being promoted as an erotic dance of some sort. Yes, it’s a sexy dance, but not erotic. At first there was a lot of backlash, but as soon as people see me, then it’s OK. Some students would bring their husbands, or the younger students would bring their mothers because they wanted to meet me, to make sure I wasn’t teaching anything scandalous. But because I’m a very serious person and I don’t look like an erotic dancer, they look at me and go, ‘Oh! You’re Ibu Christine?’ They take a look at my stomach, and they say, ‘OK, I’m going to go home now.’ Which means they think I’m not one of those erotic dancers. I think my image — I speak English, my body shape and being more educated — helps a lot dealing with the backlash.

Natural Remedies for Sciatica | Current Health Articles

Lower back sciatica is quite painful and originates from your sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in the body. The pain extends from your spine to your hip and posterior area and then down the rear of each leg. While not a separate condition itself, sciatica is symptomatic of yet another problem, such as a herniated disc or another cause. Although lower back sciatica may ease with time, it may not, and the discomfort is usually quite debilitating.

When walking it is important to always maintain proper posture. Walk upright with your head held upward. One way of teaching yourself the proper posture when walking is to get you back against a wall so that your head heels and your buttocks touch the wall and walk outwards maintaining that exact posture. When you sit it is good to remember to keep your thighs parallel with the floor and sit in an upward position and slouch back slightly. Sleeping is always one of the key ways to maintain a day free from lower back pain caused by sciatica. If you wake up pain free you are more likely to have a pain free day. The best way to sleep at night is by sleeping in fetal position with a pillow in between your knees.

A natural approach found from researching information on sciatica is simple techniques for pain management with the practice of exercise. If the pain is severe and resistant to this treatment, the next approach may involve a more structured version of this type of solution.

Physical Therapy proves beneficial to some sufferers. A medical professional should prescribe therapy. A professional physical therapist will avoid exercises that irritate the nerve and bring on attacks. Therapy that strengthens the muscles holding the spine in position promote good posture. Yoga, undertaken carefully, is beneficial for sciatica sufferers. Some yoga positions, such as forward folds or twisting, may exacerbate sciatica. The benefits of yoga include mental and physical balance, and many people find Yoga exercise offers permanent healing for sciatica.

First, you may think about trying acupuncture, where very slim needles will be applied to your skin. Believe it or not, many don’t even feel these, and do find significant relief here, from lower back sciatica. Of course, you will want to be working with an experienced and licensed practitioner. The idea behind this practice is that your energy is unblocked and your health is thereby improved.

There’s another natural solution to sciatica problems: Sciatol. If you think prescription drugs are not working for you anymore you should try it. Sciatol is a natural supplement that helps you support and maintain a healthy spine, nervous system, and sciatic nerve. Now that you are familiar with info on sciatica problems youll know that this natural product can help you. Sciatol helps you to reduce pain, swelling, and discomfort. Sciatol also helps you prevent muscle spasm while maintaining a smooth mobility of joints. You should try it!

Professional piano teaching, a comprehensive piano pedagogy textbook for teaching elementary-level students

Teaching Pilates for postural faults, illness & injury

Teaching choral concepts, simple lesson plans and teaching aids for in-rehearsal choir instruction

Teaching patients with chronic conditions

How Muscles Learn, Teaching the Violin with the Body in Mind