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. 
_____________________________________

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.

***********************

 

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.

************************

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.

****************************

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?

5 fingers, 5 weeks, Part 2

 We beckon with our index finger, calling what we desire to come closer to us.  I'm beckoning you, right now, to take 5 or 10 minutes to bring your focus to your hands and actively participate in this week's practice.

We use our index fingers and thumbs together to touch and hold what we desire, both with gentleness....

....and with a firm, strong grip.

Take a moment now to become aware of your hands, and especially your index fingers.  Feel the skin at the tips of the fingers and where they are situated in relation to the other fingers on your hands.  Close your eyes for a moment and sense the space around the fingers, or where your fingers might be in connection with another surface.

Sense your index fingers as long extensions of the heart cradled in your chest, safe behind your ribs and breastbone.  Imagine the flame of your heart, its heat and fire and brightness running down the length of your arms and extending right past the physical limit of your skin.  Maybe that warmth and fire drips off, maybe it shoots off like a stream of light...keep sensing the heart as the source of that warmth and let the index fingers lengthen and extend, without necessarily moving muscle, this can be an energetic sensation.  It's like the sensation of flexibility, the sense of energy moving out along the bones.

Take a moment to breathe while sensing the heart's warmth and the arms lengthening through the forefingers.

Now join your fingers and thumbs together to create a triangle, as the woman in black is doing below.

Sense the space created by your hands.  You could close your eyes and let your inner vision fill that space with an intention for your day, or imagine using that space to project loving kindness to another being.  Let the forefingers continue to be the physical extensions of the warmth of the heart.

You can also use this to direct your energy to create a boundary, creating a sense of your own personal space.

Whenever you are ready, let go of that shape and let your hands rest gently and comfortably, laying with palms up.  Sense how the hands naturally curl and cup.

Now bring the thumb and forefinger of each hand together gently and losely, so that you could be holding a silken thread in each hand, while they rest comfortably.  Feel the skin of your thumbs, while also sensing the skin of your fingers, equal attention to both sides of the connection.

Call to mind something that you are grateful for, and hold it there in the space between the thumb and forefinger of each hand. 

The inviation is there to recall this moment of gratitude at any time that you bring your thumb and forefinger into contact throughout this week.  Notice when your thumb and forefinger come into contact - maybe when your hand wraps around a coffee mug, or your steering wheel, the hand of someone you love, and take a moment to sense the circle created by that connection, and to remember what you want to express gratitude for.

Carry the sense that the forefingers are extensions of your true heart, and let them direct your attention to what you desire, inviting it closer.

carlos rosas - nia co-founder

5 fingers, 5 weeks, 5 sensations

Welcome to the first week of preparing for Velvet, the routine we'll be dancing to in the new year. 

Each week I will post an invitation to become aware of your hands and fingers, with a focus each week on a different finger.  That might sound weird, but in Nia the hands are understood as the way we connect our self with the space we live in, how we connect our self to others, and how we become more deeply aware of the connection between our own mind and body.

So, right now, without needing to move any part of you, become aware of the sensations in your hands. 

Where are your fingers?  How are they shaped?

Is there tension in your wrists, or in the palms of your hands?

Are your hands warm, cold, in-between?

Become aware of your fingertips.  What are they touching?  Keyboard, fabric, the table, air?

Notice where your thumb is in relation to the rest of your fingers, and in relation to your palm and wrist. 

In Nia the thumb is seen as the heart finger, "the one that gives you direct nourishment and pleasure like the baby who sucks her thumb.  Use it to nurture your movement, to tightly hold onto and grasp that which makes you feel safe and loved.  In Nia, we use the thumb like a rudder, to direct the rotation of the spiraling motion of the forearm bones and to navigate movement of the hand and arm."  from the book The Nia Technique.

Now bring your hands together in what is called prayer position, bringing the thumbs to touch your chest.  Think of the breastbone and the bones in your thumbs humming to eachother, nurturing your heart with breath and intention.



Now tuck your thumbs into your palms and make light fists around them.  Squeeze just a little, so there is the sensation that your hand is hugging your thumb, gently and with love.  Take time to breath deeply.

Now open your hands and spread the palms and fingers wide, seeing how your thumbs reach from your hand out into space.

Be aware of your thumbs over the next few days, and I invite you to notice how they feel, how you hold them, the ways they reach for and hold what nourishes you - the hand of a loved one, a warm mug of tea, bread fresh from the oven, the slippery soap in the shower, the cozy blanket on the bed.