My Story: From Darkness to Dance
This week marks Mental Health Awareness Week, and as I reflect on my own journey, I feel called to share a personal chapter of my life where belly dance became more than just a dance form. It became a lifeline.
Back when I was at university, I found myself in a very dark place. I was away from home, overwhelmed with stress, health issues, family pressures, and insomnia that left me physically and emotionally drained. I remember feeling isolated, lost, and disconnected from myself and the world around me. I was carrying a weight on my chest that no one could see, but it was crushing me from within.
Finding Community Through Dance
It was during this time that belly dance found me. Or maybe, I found it out of sheer survival. I joined the belly dance society at my uni on a whim, not realizing that this decision would change my life. It wasn't just the movement—it was the music, the rhythm, the way I could express emotions I didn’t have words for. But more than anything, it was the friendships I built there.
Some of those women I danced with during those years are still my closest friends today. Even though we now live in different countries, they were my anchor when I was drowning. That belly dance society wasn't just a hobby, it was a community, a sisterhood. We danced together, laughed together, and sometimes cried together. And it taught me one of the most valuable lessons—belly dance is not a solo dance. Yes, there are solo elements, but at its heart, it's about the connections we create. The community we build around the dance is just as healing as the dance itself.
The Healing Power of Belly Dance
For me, belly dance became a form of therapy, a moving meditation, a safe space where I could reconnect with my body, feel joy again, and let the music carry me through the hardest days.
As we honor Mental Health Awareness Week, it's important to acknowledge that mental health isn't always visible, but spaces like dance classes, societies, and communities can become hidden sanctuaries for those struggling in silence. Movement has always been a part of human healing. In many ancient cultures, including in the Middle East and North Africa where belly dance is rooted, dance was used as a way to heal, celebrate, and release emotion. Some scholars note that certain dances were believed to support women during key life moments such as childbirth, marriage, and other rites of passage.
Today, science also supports this. Dance movement therapy is recognized globally as a powerful tool for emotional release, self-expression, and trauma recovery. The act of dancing, combined with music and social connection, helps release endorphins, lower stress hormones, and improve mood.
Belly dance, with its undulating movements, heart-centered postures, and grounding rhythms, has a unique way of bringing us back into our bodies and reminding us that we are not alone. We move together. We heal together.
Join Me for a Mood Boost
If you are looking for a little lift this Mental Health Awareness Week, I created a special Mood Booster lesson on my on-demand platform BellyFit by Leilah.
This class is designed to get your body moving, shake off stress, and connect back to joy—even on the toughest days.
You can join me anytime, from anywhere:
https://www.bellyfitbyleilah.com/programs/mood-booster
Sometimes all it takes is one song, one shimmy, one movement to feel a little bit lighter.
References
Koch, S., Kunz, T., Lykou, S., & Cruz, R. (2014). Effects of dance movement therapy and dance on health-related psychological outcomes. A meta-analysis. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 41(1), 46-64.
American Dance Therapy Association. (n.d.). About Dance/Movement Therapy. https://www.adta.org
Al-Rawi, F. (1999). Grandmother’s Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing. Interlink Books.
Morocco (Carolina Varga Dinicu). Various lectures and articles on the cultural context and healing origins of belly dance.