Body Benefits of Belly Dancing

Belly dancing classes are becoming popular in more and more gyms; make sure you know the benefits it offers. Read all about it in our post today.
Body Benefits of Belly Dancing

Last update: 19 October, 2019

Belly dancing is one of the best forms of exercise for your mind and body. The sensual, feminine dance actually has incredible mental and physical benefits that many people aren’t aware of. We want to explain them in our post today, keep on reading!

Belly dancing originated in 5th century Egypt but many different variations and styles exist today. The dance basically involves disassociating the body parts by moving them all separately.

These days, a growing number of gyms offer belly dances for all levels. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise as the dance doesn’t just work out the pelvis; thanks to the coordination of movements, it actually works out all of the body’s muscles, especially the abs, back, and shoulders.

Belly dancing: a way to express emotions

Belly dance is also a way to express inner emotions and feelings. Today, there are many styles and variations of traditional belly dance; as we mentioned earlier in our post, almost all of them focus on controlling individual body parts.

Some moves require a high level of flexibility in the back, but the key is muscle contraction. One of the biggest advantages of this dance is that people of all ages can start to learn at their own rhythm.

Belly dancing is a great work out for burning calories. In addition, it trims the figure, works out the entire body and improves flexibility.

belly dancing benefits

Benefits of working out with belly dancing

We’ve prepared a list of the benefits to help you have a better understanding of belly dancing. Check them out!

1. Trims the figure

If you want to get in shape, you should know that belly dancing is just about the best way to get started. Pairing your regular belly dance workout with a balanced diet will help you lose weight and trim down. The workout itself is intense and your muscles will develop plenty of endurance, which will help you in everyday situations as well.

Regardless of if you’re moving your abs, back, thighs or glutes, many of the poses in belly dancing optimize the workout. This discipline isolated body parts for precise movements.

2. Improves coordination

You need coordination to synchronize your body and all of its movements. The act of dancing calls upon every body part; one of the hardest aspects of belling dancing is coordinating all of them.

It’s not easy but try not to give up. Unfortunately, we aren’t all born with the gift of graceful coordination. Practice is essential to progress and improve coordination skills.

3. Keeps stress at bay

As with other sports, you can manage your stress through belly dancing. It’s just another activity that can help you have fun and forget your everyday life problems for a while.

Belly dance classes turn up catchy tunes, which means you’re bound to have a blast in addition to getting your body in shape.

belly dancing stress

4. Boosts self-esteem

Lastly, belly dancing work as a great dance therapy to improve well-being and self-esteem. It allows you to become aware of your body and believe in your abilities. Your confidence and esteem will grow as a natural result of learning!

Before we end our post, remember that the belly dancing technique is much more complicated than it seems. In addition, the advantages that it offers are plenty, as we saw in our post today. If you want to try it out, remember that many gyms offer it on their class lists. Maybe it’s time to start. Ready?


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


    • Stange, M., Oyster, C., Sloan, J., & Corey, A. M. (2013). Belly Dance. In The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today’s World Encyclopedia of Women in Today’s World. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452270388.n43
    • Capriles, C. (2016). Reflexiones sobre el cuerpo femenino y la danza: Bailando desde las entrañas. Reflections on the female body and dance: Dancing from the bowels. Revista Internacional de Filosofía, 5, 225–232. https://doi.org/10.6018/daimon/270151
    • Tiggemann, M., Coutts, E., & Clark, L. (2014). Belly Dance as an Embodying Activity?: A Test of the Embodiment Model of Positive Body Image. Sex Roles, 71(5–8), 197–207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0408-2

This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.