Deepening into the year

Welcome back to September!

In terms of Nia this means new classes starting, new sessions beginning, and new music and moves.

I recently attended a 4 day training workshop for Body Mind Psychotherapy, a step on my journey to becoming a Movement Therapist, and I'm bringing that new knowledge to class with me as part of my continuing development as a Nia teacher.

The new routine is called Humanity, another great Carlos-created routine.  There are many chances to play with yin and yang, slow and fast, and sharp and soft. 

You can listen to the music online by clicking here and then clicking on "Preview Music."  There are a few additions, of course, to fill out the time we spend dancing together, and to keep each week's experience fresh. 

I look forward to the beginning of another session of teaching Nia, and dancing in community with you, and letting the heart play.

Back to Nia with Cadence

This week we finally get back to Nia with a new Carlos routine called Cadence.  The great playlist for this routine fits with my summer vibe of ease.  Sure we'll work up a sweat, but the overall intention is to move with ease and openness - the lightness of a summer breeze through green leaves.  Sounds good, right?

You can actually get a preview of the music by clicking here.  I'm ordering a bunch of CDs, so if you like the sounds as much as I do, you'll be able to pick up a CD at a class in the near future and dance along at home, in your car, in your garden....

I've also added a song that my friend introduced me to last week:

Another quick note:

Thursday classes ARE happening at the Lower Native Sons Hall in Courtenay starting this week.  1:15 to 2:30pm. 

NEW CLASS happening on Tuesdays at the d'esterre House in Comox.  This is the home base of the Comox Seniors' Association and it has recently been renovated.  Dancing in this space, on the gorgeous wooden floor, with the huge windows, is a real delight.  You can come drop in for classes, or register.  Tuesdays from 3 to 4:15 starting July 12th.  This class will be every Tuesday.

Royston Tuesday classes are back on starting July 12th, from 6 to 7:15.  Click here for a map to the hall.  Classes are $10 drop-in, or buy a 4 card punchcard for $32 ($8 per class). 

Off to Greece soon!

This is the last week of classes until the beginning of July. 

 Please note that there is no Tuesday class this week. 

I'm heading off to be inspired, a la Isadora Duncan, by the ancient Greeks, and to perhaps be taught some folk dancing by the modern Greeks in the local tavernas.

A small reminder that the classes at the Filberg and Lewis Centre require a minimum number to run - if you plan on dropping in, check to make sure that number

has been met to make sure the class is a go!

Many happy days of spring dancing - in your garden, at the beach, in your kitchen....

wherever your feet lead you!



What does Nia look like?

This video is a look at what I consider to be Nia's greatest health benefit - the joy and freedom that we feel and express with our bodies.  Notice the sweat, the smiles, the looks of bliss.

 

Sharing the focus

As part of my commitment to my own practice of Nia as a student, as well as my desire to continue to improve as a teacher, I decided this is the year I honour the Nia practice of setting the focus for the class.

My focus is the focus!

In the interest of sharing the wealth, I will post some of the foci here, and invite you to use them in your own practice, whether at home or in class. 
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From tonight's class at the Abbey in Cumberland


Tonight's focus is the celebration of strength!  That physical sensation of squeezing into the bones, hugging the bones, of consciously activating all four sides of a muscle.

But it's also time to celebrate the strength of the other 3 aspects of our beings - mind, spirit, and emotions.  Sometimes when we lose strength in one aspect we can call up the others to help us regain our balance and strength.  For example, when I am mentaly exhausted it helps for me to call on my emotional and spiritual strength to help me - to bring in those powerful voices that can help me remember what I need to do to take care of myself so that the mental aspect has a chance to heal and rest.  My physical body helps my mental strength by doing Nia, which releases a wave of endorphins which help restabilize my brain chemistry.

Sometimes we may feel emotionally weak or vulnerable, and we need the mental strength that can help us discern truth and set boundaries.  I remember receiving a letter once from someone who was very angry with me.  I was devastated emotionally to read those angry accusations, but my mental strength stood up for me and said "Wait, is this even true?  Don't take this in unless you know it to be true." That moment of mental clarity helped me release some of the emotional charge the letter had created.

In Nia we build mental strength by requiring our conscious attention to be able to learn new patterns of movement that in turn build the physical brain by supplying it with freshly oxygenated blood and by building new neuronal pathways.

We build emotional strength by choosing over and over again to find joy in our movements, in the music, and in the community of dancers we are with.

We build spiritual strength by consciously reconnecting all aspects of our being to that source of inspiration that is unique to each one of us.

Building physical strength requires a lot of energy and you may find yourself flagging halfway through the routine if you are really choosing a high intensity level.

Call on your ancestors - the ones who walked across continents and carried the fire - to fan your flames.  Call on your ancestors who could dance for hours and days as part of their communal life.  Let the earth fill you with energy from the feet up.  Go into the heart of the flame - your version! - and thank the heat for the purifying sweat.

Call to mind what those who love you say are your strengths as you dance, and let yourself consciously own those aspects of your being.  Dance your own strengths in body, mind, spirit, and emotions.

Running into the New Year

These are the first lines from a poem by Lucille Clifton:

i am running into a new year
and the old years blow back
like a wind
that i catch in my hair

I would also say that I am dancing into a new year, and time does fly back, like a wind that I catch in my hair, that I can sift through my fingers, and feel wrap around my arms and weave through my ribs.

I invite you all to come dancing into this new year with me, learning new ways of moving through the world, and hearing the music shake your bones alive.

This year of Nia will see a few more of the playshops, one to introduce each new routine, and one that will be a longer session that will focus on the 9 Movement Forms that comprise the Nia Technique.  These will be opportunities for you to deepen your practice, as well as times to invite in people who haven't tried Nia yet, but are curious.

I'll also be inviting you to come dance with me at community dance events and workshops hosted by other Nia teachers and dance teachers.  There are plans in the works for a Nia Jam here in the Comox Valley in the Spring.  A Nia Jam is a chance for Nia teachers from the island to get together and team teach an extended routine, giving everyone a taste of their style.  It's a fabulous way to experience Nia!

I am committed to continuing to deepen my own practice of Nia as a student and as a teacher, and welcome your feedback, comments, questions and concerns.

I once heard a dance teacher quote Martha Graham:  "The place where a dancer stands ready is holy ground."

I'll meet you there each week, and we'll dance on that ground together.

How about 5 fingers, 3 weeks?

Allright, so time has marched on without me, and we are one week before the Velvet playshop!  Although I meant to post once a week for 5 weeks, you could say my timing is off, and the music has played on.  So now I dive back into the rhythm and pick up the beat.  That's one of my favourite things about Nia - you move in your own Natural Time.

On to the fingers!

As in previous weeks, I invite you to actively participate, beginning by becoming aware of the placement of your fingers in space.  Are they in contact with a surface?  What temperature are they?  Sense the skin between your fingers, the knuckles of each hand, and the width of the palms of the hands.

Just breath easily for a few seconds and sustain your awareness of the hands.

Now hold your hands in front of you - they may be stretched out from straight or bent arms, you want to be comfortable so that you can hold your hands there for a moment or two.

Become aware of the length of your fingers, each in relation to the others.  The middle finger is called the power finger in Nia, and it can be used to provide a sense of balance whenever we go into a one-legged balance movement.  The middle finger is also a powerful symbol in our culture, used to direct anger.  But as my 3rd grade teacher, Sister Concepta, said "God made all your fingers, so none of them can be bad."

Now direct the energy of your middle finger down towards the ground.  This might mean you extend your arms out to your sides first.  You can either hold the hand level and just press down into the middle finger,

or you can emphasize the sense of energy moving down through the finger by lifting the other fingers and thumb.

Notice how this changes the angle of your arm, and start to become aware of the energy as beginning at your heart centre, and traveling down the length of your arm, out the tip of your middle finger, as though you are plugging yourself into the earth.  Have the sense of consciously directing your energy down.  This creates a rooted sense in the hands and arms which begins in the chest, or even at your centre of gravity or hara, and cycles right down into the earth. 

You can move away from your computer for a moment and try a few balance poses.  Try one first without using the middle finger to direct the energy, but using the hands to balance.  If you already know you are challenged in the balance department, be kind to yourself and connect one hand to a wall, while the other hand helps you play with balance.

Now take a balance stance, but consiously direct your energy out through the arms and down through the middle fingers, plugging yourself into the centre of the earth and welcoming the stability of gravity.

This is one of the opportunities that Nia provides to be aware of the body/mind connection, as you use the idea of plugging into the earth through your own centre to organize and shape the muscles in your body to find a sense of balance (even if it only lasts for a second or two).  So activate your mind's eye to "see" the energy traveling through your arms, down your fingers, and out towards the floor.

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When you've had enough time to play with those sensations, come back to a neutral position in which you are once again aware of all fingers evenly.  Do your hands feel any differently than when you first brought your attention to them at the beginning of this practice?  Notice any changes in the way they feel, and know that's the information your body is giving you as feedback.

Your ring fingers are your commitment fingers, symbolising the commitment you have to self and others.  Move them for a moment, noticing how doing so may pull on the skin of the other fingers, or cause them to move a bit as well.  Start a stroking action with the ring fingers, as though you are gently stroking the air.

Now turn the ring fingers in towards your body, perhaps even touching their tips to your heart centre. The ring fingers are subtle, rather than obviously powerful like the first three fingers, which do a lot of the work of the hands.  The ring fingers can bring in a sense of gentleness as you touch their tips together, or use them to touch the centre of your forehead, or your "third eye." 

Take a moment to slow down and soften into these sensations, being curious about the different strengths and energies of these beautiful fingers.  Touch your closed eyelids and breathe deeply, feeling a sense of commitment to true vision.  You may touch your lips, commiting to true words.

Discover.

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When you're ready to move on, bring your hands once again to a neutral position and notice the sensations along the skin, under the skin in the muscles, and imagining the bones.  Anything different from before?  Pay attention for a moment to the information being given to you by your body.

The pinky, little finger, baby finger...whatever you call it, in Nia it traces the outer edge of self, allowing you to sense your boundaries.  Lift your hands and move them from the little finger, the finger of boundary and edge.  It can be as though you are tracing the edges of your personal space, or the edges of the world, you create the image with your mind's eye.  This finger gives you feedback about where you are in the world in relation to what is around you, a useful tool!

Move away from the computer and sweep your arms through the air in your own body's way, sensing the outer edge of the little finger as it traces the edges of your range of motion.  Let the smallest finger guide the movement of your entire body for a moment, and follow its lead.

Engage the mind's eye to see the space that you are tracing, or perhaps carving through.  Sense the skin along the edge of the finger, noticing the feel of the air as you pass through it.  Take time to discover and play here, sustaining your awareness and giving attention to this little part of your body.

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Bring motion now to all ten fingers, reveling in the ability you have to move with precision, grace, and curiousity.  It might feel good now to shake the hands, or squeeze into and out of a fist a few times, or rub your hands together.  Find out what your hands would like right now. 

Then, to finish this practice and bring unity to all those gorgeous fingers and what they represent (nuturing, desire, power and balance, commitment to self and others, sense of edge and boundary) clasp your hands together, weaving together fingers and thumbs, pressing palms together and holding your own hands.

Take time to sense how the fingers wrap around eachother, touching the backs of the hands as well.  You can rest here a moment, staying connected to the sensations you've brought to the hands, or release the hands, stepping out between them, and into the rest of  your day.

You can give some extra love to your hands today, in a way that seems right for you.  My nails could use a trim and some lotion would be much appreciated by my dry skin. How about your hands?