Greetings! The holidays are here!

This is the time for remembering friends and family, a time of good thoughts, and for looking back at the past year as it slips away with every minute.

This year marks what is perhaps the most significant year of my life. This is the year I became a mom! My beautiful baby girl was born in August and the joy she has brought to us is hard to describe. Even the holidays feel different and kind of have new meaning to me this time around. Bringing in the tree and decorating the house was now for the purpose of seeing little Sofie's eyes light up when she curiously looks at all the lights. Trying to capture her every "first" moment with the camera has been fun and rewarding.

Most of my year 2008 was spent being pregnant. Since this was my first time, I had no idea what changes it would bring or what limitations I would have. I can look back now and say that not much has really changed, I was still dancing, teaching, and performing right up until I went to labor. My pregnancy was easy and enjoyable. I was more calm than ever, did not crave for anything, did not have weird moods (totally boring, huh!), and only slept a lot more than usual. I believe that its thanks to having belly dancing in my life that I was able to continue my everyday routine, and its probably also what contributed to my easy, joyful and fun pregnancy.

I feel that the birth of my baby has been the greatest achievement of my life, and anything I might have said or thought about it before, I take back. Nothing can compare to the experience of giving birth. I cannot say it was easy; no, it was not, it was harder than I expected, but it was also 100 times more empowering then I ever imagined. I was committed to having a positive experience with this birth and it exceeded all my expectations. I did it at home in a birthing tub, in the presence of beloved people, candlelight and the smell of my favorite incense. No drugs, no doctors, just me, my gut instinct and my support team whose help was invaluable. I could not imagine it doing it in a hospital and if I ever have to do it again, it is exactly how I will do it.

And, there was another great thing that was born as a result of this pregnancy...

I'm INCREDIBLY excited to announce the birth of my second DVD "Amira's Belly Dance and Yoga for Pregnancy"! It took me longer to create this DVD then it took to be pregnant LOL. Countless hours of research, script writing, checking, correcting, interviewing, shooting, editing, $$$$$ etc. over these last months have finally culminated into a whopping 3.5 hours worth of never-ever before seen material and information. I have dreamed about doing this project for years now, and the time finally came to do it. A long time ago, when I had first heard of belly dancing, the thing that struck me the most was the fact that belly dance was originally performed as a part of birthing rituals!!! I thought this is the coolest thing I had ever heard and I started to do the research. Now it is here! I've got to tell you, I'm so proud of it and I cannot wait to hear what the feedback will be. Among many others, I'm very grateful to the 6 belly dance mothers who agreed to share their thoughts and experiences in the interviews. Their input adds tremendous value to this DVD. Nothing is better then to hear it from "real people". THANK YOU!

The DVD Includes:
Studio Instruction - 1 hour 30 min. Introduction
- Yoga Warm - Up
- Strengthening Exercises
- Pre - Natal Belly Dance
- Exercises During Labor
- Cool Down

In Depth Interviews with Professionals - 30 Min.
- Jill Colin, CPM - NARM certified, practicing midwifery for 20 years, and a mother of four.
- Dr. Shadia Koury, D.C., F.I.C.P.A., a mother of two.

Interviews with Bellydance Mothers - 60 min.
- Six happy mothers generously share their very personal accounts, and what roles belly dance and exercise have played in helping them through their journey toward childbirth - before, during, and after.

Performances - 10 min.
Two performance videos of me dancing with my growing belly.

... and my favorite - the outtakes/bloopers.


For the holidays, I'd like to offer two different specials, available ONLY to newsletter subscribers!

First, a package deal containing: - My 5 star "Bellydance 101" DVD - The "Music for Bellydancing" companion CD - The Belly Dance Chronicles "All in the Family" 2009 Belly Dance event Calendar, - With FREE PRIORITY SHIPPING anywhere in the USA. This is a $50.00 value for only $31.95 !! To take advantage of this great offer please enter the coupon code XMAS when checking out. To order yours now CLICK HERE

Also, as a holiday introductory special, as a great gift for all your favorite moms-to-be out there: - My new "Belly Dance and Yoga for Pregnancy" DVD - The Belly Dance Chronicles "All in the Family" 2009 Belly Dance event Calendar, - All with FREE PRIORITY SHIPPING anywhere in the USA. All for only 24.95 ! To take advantage of this great offer please enter the coupon code XMAS when checking out. To order yours now CLICK HERE

Don't forget, these offers are available ONLY to you newsletter subscribers. Both offers will end Jan. 1st, '09 And as always, it's FREE SHIPPING for any order over $39!


That's all for now, but please stand by for my next newsletters with much more information and tips on bellydance, upcoming events and specials at the store.
safe
Meanwhile, I do want to wish you all the absolute happiest and healthiest holidays! See you soon!

Till next year...

Amira

Don't forget to keep dancing your belly...

In coming issues we will be able to bring you special offers on everything related to ehance your experience and your performance art through bellydancing. Plus I'll be providing links to my new Video Blogs which will be online soon and if you haven't done so already, I highly encourage you to visit my NEW MYSPACE PAGE! You can find it at www.myspace.com/amirasbelly.

Due to my ever increasing performance schedule, I will no longer be answering personal emails through my website any longer. Instead, I am moving my contact presence directly to my MySpace page. Before my next newsletter, I will have my MySpace Group established where we can interract and discuss the bellydancing community more personally and in our own community so please stay tuned for that. If you haven't joined MySpace, I highly suggest you do as it is not only the largest social networking website on the planet by FAR, it is also the most effective way for me to communicate with everyone so please, if you aren't already a MySpace Friend on my page, send me a Friend Request. Also, we will be featuring special offers and promitions for my new DVDs, Audio CDs, and other awesome products exclusively on there so please check back on the page frequently.