Joana Saahirah´s World Blog
A Collection of Articles, Videos, and Freebies on Egyptian Dance, Self-Discovery & Empowerment
I don´t know who needs to read this but...
I don´t know who needs to read this but...
In our dance journey, and in our life, we´ll face opposition. Inner and outer opposition.
That opposition comes in the shape of personal insecurities, self-sabotage, trauma, a belief system that brings us down - that´s our inner opposition.
That opposition also comes in the shape of naysayers, critics, haters, and folks who are so frustrated with themselves and their life, they simply cannot accept that someone else -...
Truths on Self-Confidence nobody Told you About
Am I Self-Confident?
We can affirm that I am. Most of the time.
I believe in myself - my inherent value, talents, and ability to make great things happen.
Sometimes, I fall off that wagon - big time. Life throws me a punch and I doubt myself, I go back - even if for just a moment or a short season - to a disempowered place of victimhood, lack of self-trust, and amnesia. But, make no mistake, I know my way back home.
You can tell when you´ve gone astray...
3 Things that Instantly Change Your Life
The obvious isn´t that obvious - here´s something experience has taught me; something I tell my students, frequently.
In other words, in our search for the extraordinary, we ignore the power of the ordinary, the simple, what´s right in front of our eyes.
In a time when everyone and everything seems to exist at a high speed - too fast, if you ask me -, we need to slow down, take a step back, and reconnect with what truly matters.
In this blog post - 3...
3 Principles of Self-Empowerment
Self-Discovery & Empowerment are essential parts of my work. They´re also, in my experience, an indissociable part of Egyptian Dance.
When I first wrote about it - in my first published book "The Secrets of Egypt - Dance, Life & Beyond" -, I was criticized, ridiculed, and not-so-secretly hated. That was in 2013, the year the first edition of the book came out.
Today these concepts have become trendy and plagiarised.
I could tell...
Random Pleasures that Feed my Soul
Images that speak more than words
A couple of pleasures that feed my soul
Consider it basic self-care. Rituals of self-preservation. Routines that nurture what is human in me
A creamy cappuccino, come rain or come shine.
Sprinkled with cinnamon or dark chocolate.
Books.
Reading them, above all; smelling their pages; browsing bookshops; discovering new books; last but not least, writing books (I have two published; more on the way).
...
My Mum´s Golden Self-Empowerment Rule
Self-Empowerment comes in all shapes and forms.
It can come from teachers, books, life events, tragedies and pleasant surprises; it can come from strangers and from the person next door. It can also come as a surprise, from where you least expect it.
I grew up with a tough mum. Hard as nails, demanding, no-patting-on-the-back love style; doing the solo parenting job the same way Jesus held the cross - suffering, in plain sight; not making an effort to hide it.
...
You have to die in order to live
I know it´s harsh but it´s true: you have to die - again and again - in order to live.
I am crazy. That´s a fact. But keep reading.
I look forward, yet again, and I see the crossover.
It shows up like an Indiana Jones bridge - crumbling, dangerous, adventurous, uncertain in its ability to sustain me; not promising to get me, safely, to the other side.
I´ve been here before - this moment of death and rebirth - but it always catches me...
The Poetry of Egyptian Rhythms
There´s poetry in Egyptian Rhythms.
I´m aware that´s not how most dancers, and even musicians, see rhythms but that never changed the facts: rhythms aren´t just rhythms.
They´re Poems.
Each Rhythm, a Poem.
Each Rhythm, a flavor, a story, a mood, and a feeling.
Each Rhythm, a cultural context with an entire world on its back.
Maksoum (click here to listen to it) tastes like honey. It´s a poem about a sweet, happy love affair.
...
Give it to Yourself
Picture this (sorry in advance for the unpleasant image):
I have my period.
I´m exhausted. Gloomy. Feeling like hell. And my inner demons crawl out from under my bed, like in a terror movie.
On the mirror, I see a distorted reflection of a woman I used to know. I look at my swollen belly and aching breasts - I sigh; I turn around and observe my butt, my thighs, my back. For some reason I don´t care to scrutinize, I don´t like what I...
An Intimate Portrait of Mahmoud Reda
We´re on the highway, between Cairo and Alexandria, and Abdel Wahab is playing on the radio.
There´s light - a light you only find in Egypt, attached to a scent of past and hope - peaking through my window in the backseat of the car. A soul-comforting light; one of the reasons why I lived and worked in Egypt for almost a decade of my life; a return home.
There's me, Mahmoud Reda, and his wife, in the car.
I´m singing...
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