Å bevege seg fra skam mot livsbejaelse

The purpose of this article is to illuminate women’s experiences of participating in belly dance classes, and how belly dance movements may contribute to new insights in the experience of their own bodies. The study is qualitative, using a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach, and is based on the experiences of 48 women in Northern Norway who participated in a belly dancing course lasting up to 12 weeks. Several were overweight, while others struggled with various bodily ailments. Some women, spontaneously recounted experiences of shame associated with having a large body. Belly dancing brought them in touch with various emotions they were not previously aware of containing and had significance for their experience of their own bodies. They were in good mood, and laughter flowed freely in a safe community during the exercises. The women expressed that belly dancing helped them gain a different access to themselves, and that previously known shame became less prominent. Through belly dancing, they experienced moving from shame to embracing the diversity of life, here referred to as affirmation of life (in German: Lebensbejahung).