Belly Dancing: Shoulder Shimmy - Women's Fitness

Belly Dancing: Shoulder Shimmy - part of the women's fitness video series by GeoBeats. Now we are going to learn how to do a shoulder shimmy. So the first thing I want to say about the shoulder shimmy is that we are very much trained to not shake what naturally wants to shake sometimes, so you want to make sure you are relaxed. Because it is a fast movement, if you try to make yourself move as fast as you can it can look very tense and not natural. So you really want to lengthen the exhale. The body is more relaxed on the exhale. So when you do the shoulder shimmy, do not hold your breath. Slow down the breathing and it will look much better. So I am going to start by just alternating the shoulders back and forth, back and forth. And again, I would like for my hands to remain fairly steady. They may not be 100% perfectly still, but they are not flying around in space. So again, I have to imagine that my hands are locked in little mouseholes and only my shoulders can move, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Then when you feel comfortable there, you can kick it up a notch. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Exactly. And again, remaining calm and relaxed, engaging that low belly so the pelvis is perfectly still. And then when you are really ready, you go for gold. Now if you notice, I am wearing a coin hip scarf. And when you get comfortable with this movement you will find that there is no sound coming from the hip scarf. When you are first starting, this will probably happen and do not get discouraged. Keep that contraction and start slow. Gradually build your speed, and that is your test. If you can wear a coin scarf without hearing any noise, you have gotten pretty good. Then you can have a little fun with it, dipping down, layering it with some chest isolations. Arm isolations. Possibilities are endless. And that is your shoulder shimmy.