The Way of the Belly: 8 Essential Secrets of Beauty, Sensuality, Health, Happiness, And Outrageous Fun

by Neena Bidasha, Veena Bidasha, Nancy Bruning

  Whose life couldn’t use a little change?
  In The Way of the Belly, Neena & Veena, known throughout the world as the Bellytwins, will show you the fun, sensual way to rediscover or enhance the real you. These dynamic sisters have developed a unique plan to becoming the person you want to be! Maybe you want to shed those extra pounds, tighten and tone the body, look and feel sexier, spice up your wardrobe, be a better lover, take years off of your face and body, or all of the above.

You’re about to begin a life makeover plan so enjoyable that you can actually stay on it for the rest of your life! This book shows you how—the Bellytwins way. It’s an outrageously fun mind-body-spirit makeover with a twist—a hip twist, that is, as well as bold colors, a little glitter, and a great big smile! Go on—make the most of what you’ve got!
The Way of the Belly also works on changing or enhancing your internal core—that is, your intuition and emotions—in order to increase confidence and make you look and feel more beautiful and alluring.

You can be all you’ve ever imagined—maybe even more!

Genres: Nonfiction

173 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2006

Reviews

[Shelby]

While this book has great info on belly dance and the life of a belly dancer, it's not written...well. It's not bad, but it's not good. I enjoyed reading the beginning about the twins' start in belly dancing, growing up, how they eat, etc. But some things like the woo-woo spiritual nonsense really bored me, and once I got passed the "diet" (they hate that word) part of the book, I became incredibly bored. I had hoped to find a little more insight into the art of belly dancing, but reading the personal accounts of people who work with celebrities didn't do much for me.
I'm not saying this book it terrible, there are great points, especially on how to better yourself and your body so you can dance. But it felt a little too artificial, and maybe if they hadn't had someone writing for them, and they wrote it themselves or published two different books, each written separately, I think I would have enjoyed it more.
Take their lifestyle with a grain of salt. Not everything they do will work for you (sorry, but I can't give up diet soda ladies and there's no way I'm going to take pics of myself doing a "fashion show"), but it's a good read if you just want to learn about people who belly dance.

[Star]

This is a fun DIY makeover book. It's like dishing with your girlfriends. Neena and Veena are very sweet and open about their philosophies on beauty and life.... if not at times, a little fluffy: for instance "We consider ourselves vegans, vegitarians, and meat-eaters..." ...um, okay, isn't that better described as an omnivore? But they tell it from their perspective seemingly largely unedited by outside critique.
The biographical information, I wish was a little more clear... it is sprinkled throughout but never gets into specific detail, so because they are personable in their writing, I would have liked to have gotten to know more about them personally. But the books focus is more on YOU, not them.
It even comes with a dvd (which I didn't realize at first- a pleasant surprise).
It covers diet, exercise, spa treatments, wardrobe, make-up, sex... all kinds of girl stuff. It is light, self help type reading.
It is definitely evolving on the phenomenon you discover when you are involved with bellydancing that women become more confident and self-conscience in respect that they want to pay attention to how they look and take care of themselves better. They feel the freedom to dress more playfully and open up to their femininity and youthfulness. That new found appreciation for their bodies tends to overflow into health practices and joy of experiencing life; new tastes & experiences.
I think, as the Bellytwins mainly have a large audience of students through their dvds (they've sold millions)- this was a logical next step to supply the sort of mentorship that most women receive from their instructors, when they are going to in-town classes, not using a dvd. So I think it is excellent that they saw fit to take that extra step to giving their "virtual students" that extra level of mentoring that they might otherwise have not had access to.

[Fostergrants]

i wanted to give two and a half stars because i really do think the twins are great, so i'll round up. this was my first ever book or dvd on bellydancing. the book is lovely and the instructions are very clear and precise. they made an effort to include a lot of different chapters in the voice of the twin best suited for that subject. that was cute. the dvd is simple to follow. there - now can i rant? the twins are stiff and perfect, and stepford wife-ish. right down to the over designed outfits that reminded me of a bad episode of "Dynasty". there is nothing organic or sensual coming through anywhere. technically, i can't critique their dancing because i'm not an expert...but what i really missed here was the HEART of bellydancing. dancing should grab your spirit and lift it up. this seemed more like a beauty pageant guide. if only they would relax and have a little fun.

[Jae]

This is a fun book and great as a gift for belly dance fans and anyone who fancies a taste of the art of the belly. I had hoped it would go deeper into the history and cultural background but despite that disappointment, it still makes for an interesting read. The moves are described in some detail, which is helpful if you already have plenty of basic knowledge. If you are a demonstrate-and-let-them-follow kind of teacher and you want to up your game by describing moves and more actively instructing, this could be useful. Essentially, it focuses on the beauty and sensuality of the art. It is well illustrated, lovely and glossy. Could be a great hen party gift, especially if belly dancing is on the evening's menu!

[Jennyfer]

This book takes a fun look at fairly common-sense ways to look and feel better: diet, clothing, skincare, and so on. Some great recipies in there, too! It's also got a brief (very brief!) introduction into bellydance, and while it may be a way for newbies to dabble their toes in the dance, to feel sexy and pretty, it's definitely nothing new for even the more experienced beginners. The accompanying DVD is likewise dreadful.

If you're looking for an all-round lifestyle book, this is a good one; if you're looking for a proper bellydance book, look elsewhere.

[Angelar]

This book is a pretty cheesy self-help selection which forays a bit into new-age silliness by constantly personifying the reader's "belly"--a non-religious, non-mystical term which could easily be substituted by "energy," "aura," "qi," or any number of other pseudo-scientific terms. Still, I enjoyed its tips for self-acceptance and the value it places on treating yourself well in a wide variety of ways: exercising, eating healthily, and modestly pampering your body in order to improve your relationship with it.

[Marjanne]

I actually own a belly dance DVD with Veena and Neena, and thought this book might be fun. Unfortunately it is just the average female self-help style book with a mild belly dance spin on it. I was not very impressed. I don't feel like this book had anything new or different than what I have read in this genre before. I was actually hoping for more belly dance than 'the world is a stage', 'go girl', etc. Not a terrible book, but I probably would not recommend it to most people.

[Pam]

The TWINS are awesome_and their book teaching the Art of Traditional Beauty Care,etc spun from the
traditions of their MotherLand.The easy to learn techniques of BellyDancing can be learned via their DVD's.NOT only is it fun to do_BUT SEXY & SENSUAL...ck out www.bellytwins.com.

[Marilyn]

Cute read to skim through .I actually did Web search after skimming to find a belly dance class. None on the day I can go. Maybe I am great full for that. Maybe not!

[Alexis Johnson]

Some good information here, but a little too new-agey for me.