Goddess Dance: Prenatal, with Sera Solstice - Belly Dance & Meditation for expectant mothers. Includes complete how-to and prenatal belly dance instruction

The Perfect Pregnancy Workout Bellydance: (two stars) This DVD was $25, and was by far my least favorite workout. The moves are so simple and basic that I found it boring, and only did it a couple of times. The workouts are both half an hour and are virtually identical, with only a few very minor changes. Had there been a totally different workout for the "level two" I definitely would have given a better rating. As it stands, I think throwing in that second workout was misleading, because it's pretty much the same thing. The higher cost put my expectations higher, and the dvd simply did not deliver.I used to work out regularly, but haven't since my first pregnancy (I didn't exercise at all then, because I was sick the whole pregnancy), and my daughter's birth. We walk a lot, but that's pretty much been it (she is a little over two years old), so I am not some fitness guru or dance expert. I only recommend this if your fitness level is zero, and you are already over six months pregnant before you decide to try a Prenatal workout. If by the end of my pregnancy (I'm a little less than six months now) this is the only workout I can handle, I'll come back and up the rating.Bellydance Prenatal Fitness with Naia: (four stars) if all you are looking for is a quick thirty minute workout, this is a good pick. The movements keep rolling along, and nothing is super complex, but there are great strengthening moves in here that will certainly help tone all the right muscles for labor and delivery. There's not a ton of talking or any filler either; this DVD is a flat thirty minutes of focused exercising. The segments get combined into a sort of choreographed dance, but some of the moves aren't all that "dancey" to me compared to other DVDs that I have. Still, all in all I like this DVD, and choose it on days when I'm not up for a longer Prenatal workout. It goes by quickly, and I don't get bored.If you get impatient when you can't follow along with a workout immediately, skip this one. She doesn't take a lot of time doing the moves super slowly. Unless you are an experienced dancer, or have done tons of bellydancing, it will take you some practice to get parts of this workout down perfectly. I'm still a tad clumsy at certain parts of it, but I could care less. I keep it moving regardless of the "quality" of my dancing ability, and manage to enjoy myself. Watch it once before trying it, and slow down parts that seem confusing. You CAN get it over time.The only thing I don't care for about this dvd is the bizarre counting. She does an eight count, and her tone is odd and distracting.Amira's Bellydance and Yoga for Pregnancy: (four stars) Ok, overall Amira put together a very thoughtful and effective Prenatal workout, however, over time a few things about this DVD grated on my nerves. Maybe it's because I am six months pregnant now? There are little snippets about the history of bellydancing and childbirth mixed in with the workout. While these are interesting to watch a couple of times, it then becomes a minor irritation having to skip over them every time you want to work out. I want to stay in my workout zone without being interrupted, and I felt all the history/ trivia snippets should have been combined into one segment that was completely separate from the workout.Another thing that bugged me is that the cool down comes after a "Labor Exercises" segment that cannot be done by women 32 weeks and after. It would have made more sense to put the cool down before this part, so that women 32 weeks and on don't have more to skip over.Apart from that, I thought the workout was very well done, and incorporated many traditional belly dance moves (hips circles, rib slides, bicycle hips, infinity circles, etc.) The whole workout is about eighty minutes long total, but is easy to break down if you don't have that much time.Goddess Dance Prenatal Bellydance with Sera Solstice: (five stars, in spite of a few minor issues) This is the longest Prenatal workout that I have done, but I love the thoughtful extras like the standing and seated meditation segments. Sera Solstice is a good teacher, easy to follow, and good at breaking down the moves. This entire workout moves at a slow and soothing pace, and teaches you two different dance combos that are then combined at the end in a nice performance dance.There is a six minute warm up, and then the first combo is 22 minutes, and the second combo is 31 minutes. The two combos are combined afterwards in a six minute dance segment. If you don't have time for both segments, do the warm up with combo one on some days, and then the warm up with combo two on others. It's a great way of breaking down the dvd into multiple workouts, and your body will thank you.After the dance portion of the workout there is a slow standing sort of dancy meditation to help you connect with your baby and body, and following that is a seated moving meditation section. These are very relaxing, and definitely put me in a calm place. Both of these sections combined take about 22 minutes. I like to save them for right before bed time to help me sleep.In total, I think if you go through and do the whole DVD it's roughy an hour and a half.My only small complaint is that some of the moves are done for way too long. The repetition of certain movements got to be dull to me, and I'd get impatient for the next one to come. Not a huge deal, just an observation.I will definitely recommend this teacher to other women though.Other Bellydance DVDs that aren't specifically prenatal, but I am enjoying them while pregnant:(Note: vigorous hip shimmies and fast turns aren't recommended at 28 weeks and after. SLOW it down, and be mindful)Foundations of Belly Dance with Sera Solstice: I can still do most of this at six months pregnant, and I love the combinations. I slow down the sections with shimmies (chapter five and chapter six which take up about 17 minutes total), or sometimes just do my own thing while they play. Eighty minutes total. This has my all time favorite warm up and moving meditation with stretches (that part alone is 30 minutes, and I'm loving it while pregnant)Bellydance East Coast Tribal with Sera Solstice: What can I say, I'm a fan of her teaching. I did this workout for the first time today, and had no problems with any of the movements. (Not that I can do them all well, mind you...) the Twenty minute warmup is great, and then ten minutes of drills, all totally doable during pregnancy. Following that is a seven minute dance routine that is fairly slow paced, and I still have no issues with it even with my giant baby belly. For some reason the entire dance segment comes before the instruction of each combo instead of after, and that's weird, but it's a good workout. Don't worry, she DOES show you how to do all the stuff in the dance routine.Luscious, Sensual Goddess, and Love Potion Bellydance Workout with Neon (three separate DVDs): These may be a bit harder for some to follow, but I still consider myself a beginner, and I'm enjoying these workouts while pregnant just to keep some variety. Love Potion is the most difficult one for me to follow, because I'm not spectacular at footwork, but I still pop it in and give it my all. Luscious is my favorite of the three, but I enjoy the other two as well.This has to be the longest review I have ever written, but I started bellydancing at fourteen weeks of my pregnancy, and it has been so empowering for me!!! I'm working out four times a week (along with plenty of walking), and feel like I'm in better shape than I was right before I got pregnant. I highly recommend trying these DVDs for yourself!!!!!(I'm happy to answer any questions about these DVDs if you have any)

I bought this dvd largely because I couldn't sleep. Four to five months into my second pregnancy, and all my joints and muscles were totally locked up, with serious pain in my left hip socket. Having done some belly dance off and on since college, I knew that of all the exercises I could pick, belly dance would be the one that would loosen my locked-up body and let me feel good again. I looked at some of the other prenatal belly dance options, including trying out "Amira's Belly Dance for Pregnancy" through Netflix, but I chose this one because of its obvious focus on describing technique. I'm not a very experienced belly dancer, but I know enough to realize that the movements are so internally based, that it is almost impossible to just watch and copy.Sera Solstice does an amazing job of breaking down each individual movement into its parts and describing them clearly. I am nowhere near as graceful as the ladies on the video, however, her descriptions are so clear, I can close my eyes and focus on allowing my body to follow her directions, almost letting it feel its way through the space. I can feel my body unkinking as I go through the movements--the knots in my body actually pop loose as I move, sometimes giving me an extra inch or two of reach out of nowhere. Since starting to do this video regularly (I aim for every other day, but sometimes it's only twice a week) I sleep a million times better. I actually sleep through night most nights! While I do other prenatal exercise videos as well, including the excellent 10 Min Solutions Prenatal Pilates and Leisa Hart's FitMama Prenatal workout, this is the one I turn to when my body feels tight, painful and uncomfortable. It's gentle, effective, and it works better than Advil for getting rid of those joint pains and muscle spasms.Even though I'm not that into the included meditations (it's just not my style), I highly recommend this video for other expecting moms, even if they've never done belly dance before. The dance instruction section lasts over an hour, but though the exercise is drawn out and sometimes repetitive (which is actually a really good thing for toning and understanding the movement) it is never strenuous. That said, most of the movements require you to be somewhat squatting/standing on bent legs, so your thigh muscles might protest the first few times through the workout. Just take it at your own pace and rest when you need to. On the plus side, I have noticed significant improvement in my leg strength and endurance, which I'm really excited about. I know it will really benefit me come delivery-time when I'm trying to stay in birth-friendly positions. This video keeps your muscles and joints flexible and feeling good even as your belly gets bigger.

Okay I do not believe this DVD is exactly geared at technique, so if your pregnant and you happen to belly dance this will not break down all the moves. For instance Sera goes over chest slides but doesn't really break them down, she breaks down the important moves that would actually effect your baby. Such as hip movements, she goes into detail over hip drops what what you should do depending on how far along you are. There is a good introduction where Sera talks about how far along she is and what belly dance has brought to her as well as what the DVD will be over. There is a great 20 minute warm up that gets you moving but not too much. This is a really gentle DVD. Then she does two combos, they are each about 15 minutes or so, but fun to do and memorable. There is a performance section and then Sera does a labor meditation section. I personally didn't enjoy the meditation section but so rather than say anything negatively about it, I'll leave it up to you if you like it or not. I get calmed and find my center with quieting my mind with Yoga.I'm currently 13 weeks pregnant and wanted to keep belly dancing but wanted something a little gentle and fun to do between classes. I like that the DVD is short and sweet so I can practice before I go to bed or before work or before my husband gets up on the weekend. If you are looking for a gentle belly dance DVD and/ or you are pregnant and interested in trying belly dance this DVD is fun and great! I really enjoy it and look forward to sharing this practice with my baby.

awful.go get something else.awful quality,bad pictures.

Highly recommend this!