PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

It is rare in today's culture to find an embracing of femininity. I find this particular aspect one of the most appealing of the bellydance community. In our society it is not uncommon for women to be afraid of or even despise their own femininity.

This mind set is causing a great many energy problems in the female body and in turn the feminine energy of the earth. Some examples of this are the so called "female problems" that are being made manifest. Diseases such as breast and ovarian cancers, menstrual cycle malfunctions and infertility are revealing themselves to us in hopes that we will take notice and shift our consciousness toward nurturing and healing.

Some women believe that the term "feminine" equates with weak and helpless. What seems to have been forgotten is that each of us has both Yin (feminine) and Yang (masculine) energy. We cannot have one without the other. We have forgotten how to honor our womanhood. To deny your true nature is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. It is natural for us to be softer and more emotional. It is critical for us to understand our place as the feminine, especially at a time when the masculine or warrior energy of the planet is wreaking havoc.

In the book Woman Who Run with the Wolves, author Clarissa Pinkola Estes says: "Within every woman there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful force filled with good instincts, passionate creativity and ageless knowing. Her name is wild woman but she is an endangered species. Though the gifts of wildish nature come to us at birth, society's attempt to civilize us into rigid roles has plundered this treasure and muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls. Without "wild woman" we become overly domesticated, fearful, uncreative, trapped." I know a lot of women like this.

In nature, the purpose of winter is to allow us to slow down and look within. There is wisdom in that. We are so busy trying to meet our obligations (real and perceived) to our families, jobs and communities that we have precious little time for introspection. If we are to find creative solutions for our lives we must re-integrate our masculine and feminine aspects to be whole. We must remember "wild woman". As dancers and as women we can be strong and soft, logical and emotional, driven and reflective. The time has come for us to accept ourselves and be who we truly are, to be at peace within and without.