back |

Personal Best

27

Lawyer and Belly Dancer

 

Belly dancing takes me to a different place, a different time. There is something about Arabic music, it’s completely absorbing. I forget where I am, who I am, what I should be doing. I'm half Indonesian, half Australian. My father is Muslim so I've grown up hearing a lot of Arabic music so dancing to it feels very natural to me.

 

I’ve been belly dancing for almost 5 years. I dance in a two hour class each week, I also do a private lesson and I dance at home. Belly dancing is such a feminine, earthy dance that dates back thousands of years. It’s such a great way to get back to basics.

 

I’ve always loved dancing and belly dancing celebrates being a woman. The oriental costumes are beautiful, when you put them on you feel so feminine and exotic. I love wearing my costume, even though my stomach is exposed I feel completely comfortable. A woman is meant to be curvy. The costume accentuates those curves - especially when you're dancing!

 

Just being able to belly dance gives me confidence. It is a skill - and a very difficult one to master. To be a good belly dancer you have to be able to move muscles in your body that no non-belly dancer can. It requires a great deal of co-ordination. Belly dancing is also a great workout for your whole body and gets your adrenalin pumping. Drum solos are exhausting, the drum beats are quick and relentless and the whole time you are shimmying, moving your hips from side to side frantically. After doing about 3 drum solos in a row I feel like I've run a marathon.

 

But most importantly, belly dancing makes you really feel like a woman. The combination of the music, the moves and the costumes is exotic, earthy and empowering. With my dancing I can be creative; I’m free to express myself.

It is a huge stress reliever, I come out of a class and I am so happy, I am on a natural high. The other great thing about belly dancing is that you can do it till you are old, there are grandmothers doing it, you can dance til you die!

 

31

Corporate Strategist and Tae Kwon Do Black belt

 

 

I found out about Tae Kwon Do through a friend nine years ago and I had also seen martial arts movies, I found it intriguing.

 

The hardest class is the first class; you start so far back in the school and see the others who have been training for years. It is aspirational because you are constantly watching the people who are ahead of you in class. There’s a lot of respect there, when I look at a black belt I think that’s someone who has persevered, they have really stuck in there.

 

When I graded for my black belt it was a hard slog, Tae Kwon Do is very demanding mentally and physically. It is hard to get motivated to go to class sometimes, but I find if I turn up I learn a little bit more about myself and feel better. I respond to being challenged.

 

For my grading I had to spar with two people at once and demonstrate the techniques I’ve learned.  It’s a demonstration of fitness, technique, balance, focus and concentration.  I broke wooden boards with my hands and elbows, and I had to break four tiles with a downward punch. I learned mental focus, when you concentrate and use good technique you can do it without breaking your hand. There is no way I could have broken four tiles with my fist if I hadn’t learned Tae Kwon Do.

 

People who know me will probably laugh but my patience has improved because of Tae Kwon Do and the discipline it requires. I’ve learned to back off things and keep calm.  I have a lot of internal confidence, it’s not like if 20 people attacked me at once I would be able to deal with that, but I do have a sense of security that if pushed I could deal with it physically and mentally. I can also feel myself growing in strength and confidence because Tae Kwon Do helps me realize the barriers I have within myself and how to overcome them.

 

You don’t have to be some small, slim, agile person the day you walk into class. You can just try, and though repetition and refinement you’ll get there, that’s why Tae Kwon Do can be good for everybody.

 

43

Podiatrist and Dog Lover

 

I’ve had Lily for 2 years, I call her my little blonde and she has turned out to be one of the most wonderful things in my life.

 

I live opposite the beach and she motivates me to get up early in the morning to take her walking. If I didn’t have her I would probably just get into the car and go straight to work, instead I get out and walk along the ocean and breathe in the sea air. In the evenings we go down to the park right on the water and watch the sun set.

 

Lily is a good motivator, even when I get home after work and it’s dark and I’ve had a bad day. I will always take her for a walk; dogs definitely get you out and about.

 

She is also great for meeting other people; it is really social, complete strangers will talk to you. It’s funny, they often know her name but not mine, other people just come up and say “ooh can I steal your dog?” because she is so cute.

 

I used to be quite a gym goer, but these days I just do yoga a couple of times a week and I walk with Lily. Walking Lily is so much more peaceful and enjoyable, gyms can be so crowded it’s almost like another day in the city, instead I just grab my shoes, grab Lily and out we go walking along the coast.

 

It is a gorgeous relationship because she is so full of unconditional love. I try and take her everywhere I can, we go for drives, she likes to go visiting, if it wasn’t against health regulations I would even take her to work, I’m sure my patients would love her. You can have such a strong relationship with dogs because they really need you.

 

It’s been proven that patting an animal lowers your blood pressure and I think it’s true, she is so fun to be with. Lily is spontaneously happy sometimes for no good reason; sometimes she just goes completely nuts with happiness, and it tends to rub off on me too.