Movement as Prayer

Posted on May 2, 2013 by niachick

I’m currently reading a book entitled, “Help, Thanks, Wow: Three Essential Prayers” by Anne Lamott. Ms Lamott, for this book alone, has risen to the top of my favorite authors list.

Three prayers: Help, Thanks, Wow. Lamott describes in real life situations how a simple prayer of “Help” or “Thanks” or “Wow” to the Universe brings about change. Ahhhh…change. No wonder so many prayers fall short of their mark…not many folks are willing to change or make changes. When I was little I thought if I prayed everything would be alright. But things weren’t alright, not always. Perhaps it was my bartering that made my prayers a little less substantial. ”If you will only do this one thing for me, God, I promise I’ll never….(fill in the blank).” Tsk. Tsk. It was my end of the bargain that always fell short. The Universe more often than not answered my prayer. What was I doing wrong? Could it be that I wasn’t taking responsibility…that I was assuming that all I needed to do was ask the Powers That Be to do something and I didn’t have to do anything in return? Well, gee. I was young. Come on. Give a girl a break. HA. How about 10,000 breaks?

I’ve grown up to some degree since those days of bartering…of long lengthy prayers about what I would do “if only”. These days there’s no bartering. I just need to move my body. My movement becomes my prayer. Simple. When I find that I’m desiring something…I move my body. Help — in the freedom and form of Nia. When I want to express gratitude …I move my body. Thanks — in the freedom and form of Nia. For those awe-inspiring magical moments (which happen more often than not)…I move my body. Wow — in the freedom and form of Nia.

“The body says what words cannot”. – Martha Graham

No words are necessary. Just the passion, the love for moving and dancing and wiggling and shaking, for making shapes and the love for expressing the unique spirit that inhabits and animates this human form; the love for using my mind to imagine and visualize, the love for using my emotions to feel. Movement as prayer.

Help. Thanks. Wow. Thank you Anne Lamott for simplifying prayer. Thank you Debbie Rosas Stewart and Carlos AyaRosas for allowing Nia to come through your bodies, minds, hearts and spirits into the world so that Life could set me on a path of discovering the Joy of Movement and that Movement As Prayer…IS ceaseless prayer. Now I Am …. Sacred.

Being At Home In Your Body

Posted on April 21, 2013 by niachick

Monday, April 22nd, is Earth Day. Have you ever considered that how we treat our physical bodies is symbolic of how we treat Mother Earth? The more one learns about one’s body, the greater connection one can have with The Mother.

For instance, in Traditional Chinese Medicine the Spleen (not just an organ in the body, but a set of functions which are expressed in various ways throughout the bodymind) belongs to the Element of Earth and is anatomically expressed through the fascia and connective tissue of the body. Connective tissue expresses the support of the Spleen. In Nia, our larger movements become smooth and easy and we have a greater range of motion when the connective tissue and fascia are relaxed and unconstricted. We feel muscle tone and we feel “at home” in our bodies. “Being at home in our bodies is an expression of strong Spleen energy.” (– Daverick Leggett, from “Helping Ourselves: A Guide to Traditional Chinese Food Energetics.”)

The Base (Toes, Feet, Legs) can allow us to bring attention the earth beneath our feet; we can become more aware of our groundedness and when we do we give support and strength to our Spleen.

The Spleen is also the organ of digestion. Mr. Leggett says, “Digestion is the process of converting food into usable substances within our bodies and sending them to where they are needed. The Spleen adapts food to nourish and support our system. This process is called ‘transformation and transportation.’ The stronger our Spleen function is, the better we are able to extract nourishment from any food to support our body’s needs. When we eat, the question is not so much whether a particular food is good for us but rather how strong and skilled our Spleen is at extracting the nourishment from it. The first step towards eating well may not involve changing our diet at all but rather strengthening and maintaining our Spleen.”

When we are in a Nia class, just the simple activity of moving our bodies with the 52 Moves of Nia puts us in direct contact with the Spleen. We connect physically with the Spleen when we move our bodies since we are moving the fascia and connective tissue.

We can support our Spleen from the emotional realm by transforming our need for “comfort food” into trusting that Life is moving us along a path of health and well being. Nia supports the emotional realm through an invitation to “let go” of perceived obstacles through emotionally expressive, creative movements. I have witnessed students who come to class weighed down by some perceived “negative” emotion in their lives, who suddenly get in to their bodies, moving muscles, bones, connective tissue, fascia, ultimately creating an opening for the release of the emotion. They sense and feel the release…I see it in the relaxation of their bodies and the expressions on their faces. The Spleen is happy.

Mentally the Spleen is supported by balancing mental work with physical exercise, being in nature and breathing fresh air. Too much sitting at the computer (as I raise my hand in acknowledgment) is detrimental to a happy Spleen.

The realm of Spirit — healthy expression of one’s UNIQUE character — one’s Life As Art — is conducive to a healthy Spleen.

“Trust Your Body — sometimes we crave our poison (food, what we watch on TV or read in the newspapers, our need for attention) but there is in each of us a deeper level of knowing. As we bring our awareness to…we can begin to feel what our true needs are, what truly nourishes us. At first we may need to be guided by more analytical judgments, but as we listen inside we can begin to make choices from our bodies, too. What makes us feel good at the deepest level is good for us. Over time we can cultivate this skill of separating our cravings and addictions from our deeper levels of guidance.”

Mr. Leggett speaks mostly to the framework of how food and one’s attachments, addictions and cravings for certain foods affects the Spleen. Food is certainly of great importance in the health of well-being of the Spleen and its functions.

Nia IS transformative movement. Becoming more aware of one’s attachments, addictions and cravings in the world (not just food) and using Nia as a lifestyle practice is paramount to “being at home” in our bodies.

GET IN YOUR BODY. DANCE FIRST.

Let Love Radiate with Awareness

Posted on April 16, 2013 by niachick

The Boston Marathon Bombings — another horrific tragedy that has elicited international attention. Tragic. Unbelieveable. My heart goes out to those injured, either physically and/or emotionally and to the families of the deceased.

There is no human intervention that can stop the ruthlessness, the cruelty and insanity of those who commit these violent acts of terror, be they domestic or international in scope. Humanity continues to prove to me its separation from Spirit, from Source.

Fear is the overlying emotion that we are left with in these situations. Fear that we can no longer go about our daily activities — I mean really — shooting innocent people in a movie theatre? Shooting innocent children while they’re in school? And now bombing an event whose focus was on bringing awareness to Patriot’s Day and also the Newtown victims? Insanity. The world is going to hell in a handbasket as they say. ”Going” to hell? I’d say these kinds of tragedies are beyond “going” anywhere. Hell is here. And it will continue to be hell on earth as long as we allow ourselves to be controlled by fear.

What is it that dispels fear? LOVE. Not the “Johnny Depp-is-so-sexy” kind of love. Not the “til-death-do-us-part” kind of love. Not even the “peace-on-earth” kind of love that is so easily bantered about these days. It is so easy for those words to come rolling out of our mouths. ”Peace on earth.” “Make love not war.” ”Love is all you need.”

Hmmm…if that is truly what is in the hearts of women and men on earth, if love is all we need, then why isn’t there peace on earth? Why aren’t we making love not war? Why are we continuing to pick up the pieces of a fractured country? Why are we having to deal with Supreme Court rulings on same sex marriages? Gun control? Sexual abuse? Child molestation? Oh, and the list goes on and on.

Really? Is love all we need? Not in my experience. There is the need for truth AND love…I call it the divine design. If we are not being truthful about the love that we offer into the world, then it all goes to hell in a handbasket. It is only lies that come out of our mouths. Until liberals and conservatives can stop bashing each other; until men and women can truly love one another without judgment, without bashing each other (literally or figuratively); until Christians and Catholics and Lutherans and Protestants and Jews and Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus and all religions and all their various sides, sects and divisions can love one another in TRUTH…well…we will continue to live in this hellish state of affairs.

Are we so surprised that there is this continued violence? There are gasps of horror that something so vile could still happen in America. Really? I see Facebook posts on a daily basis that continue to affirm the judgment and separation that exists in the minds and hearts of humans. Where is spiritual expression? Where is the grandeur of love in its finest and purest communication? I don’t see it coming from very many…and I’m not being self-righteous here either. I fall prey to the ways of the world frequently. I get pulled into the gossip and into conversations that in the end are devastatingly destructive. Ugly energy, destructive energy. Is that what I want? Is that my purpose on earth — to emit and scatter ugly energy? Of course not. And it is a rotten sensation when I catch myself in the middle of it. I have to shake it off and walk away. And I also have to let LOVE radiate without concern for what comes back.

These are just thoughts…some sensations and feelings and images that came to me this morning. Do I see impending gloom and doom? No. I see Trouble with a capital T, but within that Trouble, I also see Spirit in Action. I have many friends who I trust sense, feel and imagine many of these things of which I speak.

How does all of this apply to Nia? — afterall, it is my desire to keep this blog mostly about Nia. Nia invites change. Nia activates my physical, mental, emotional and spirit realms through conscious movement, creative expression. With Nia, I dance through life…I dance first, allowing the issues in my tissues to move and be free to leave instead of becoming repressed and stagnant. Nia is about possibilities. Through teaching and sharing Nia, I reach out through this incredibly rich and flavorful lifestyle and cardiovascular dance fitness practice — and I touch the hearts, minds and spirits of those with whom I am connected — and that energy and vibration allows LOVE to radiate into the universe beyond where parallels line meet…if in fact they ever do meet.

Let the TRUTH of LOVE radiate. Dance First. Get In Your Body and move. Let emotions and thoughts bubble up to the surface and express them through creative and conscious movement.

Let Love Radiate with Awareness. My love radiates to all of those affected by this senseless and violent tragedy in Boston. There are senseless and violent tragedies being experienced EVERYWHERE in the world. If it is to stop, it has to begin right here. With me. Make it so.

Patterns of Movement

Posted on April 14, 2013 by niachick

Interesting to me that 8 days have passed since my last blog post. Time is a-movin’ and there’s no time like the present moment…so here I am.

What is your reason for exercise? If it is guilt or shame, I’m offering an invitation to come out of that pattern of thought and/or feeling. If your reason for exercise does not contain the essence of joy, then I would suggest that it’s a deep and dark hole that has been dug (by no one other than yourself I might add quickly, lest blame be cast outside of one’s self).

I’ve experienced the ecstatic dance of Gabrielle Roth’s 5 Rhythms; I’ve attended the initial training of Eurythmy. Eurythmy is the movement form created by Rudolf Steiner, cultural philosopher who was way ahead of his time. Waldorf Schools and Biodynamic Farming are all aspects of Rudolf Steiner’s genius, as is Eurythmy.

I retired from the corporate world in 1998 and moved to a spiritual retreat center housed within 320 acres of an organic farm in Indiana. My dear friend and spiritual mentor lived there. Long story short, nine months after moving to Indiana (a birth cycle, eh?) I found myself moving to Wisconsin to marry my long time friend and newly discovered soul mate. My love of dance survived it all…I was of course, dancing through life! My soon-to-be husband knew of my love for dance. His sister, who lives in Texas, invited us to visit in the fall of 1999. She had been telling me about this exercise called “Nia”; she thought I would really love it. Understatement of my lifetime. She took us to the healthclub where we took off our shoes (really, an exercise done barefoot? Who knew?) and I found myself in a large room filled to capacity with excitement and anticipation. Fifty plus women (and my soul mate…perhaps another man or two as well) eagerly awaiting…the music started. Ahhhh, Kenny Loggins. Really? We’re going to exercise to the music of Kenny Loggins?

I tasted this thing called “Nia”. At that time Nia was an acronym for Neuromuscular Integrative Action (or as I remember someone telling me later in my Nia career, “No Inhibitions Allowed). Yes yes yes!!! This was for me. At the end of the class during the cool down we moved on the floor to Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love”. Wow. Powerful. I could sense the energy and passion from the dancers in the room. Or was it my energy and passion I sensed? Probably a bit of both. I was hooked. Oh, but I’m in Texas…is there anyone in Wisconsin teaching Nia?

Those of you who live in Wisconsin can have a major chuckle. Who knew that besides Texas, Wisconsin had the greatest number of Nia teachers? Well, maybe California, New York and Colorado were up there in numbers, too. But really, Wisconsin? HA. It took me another year and a half before my own Nia mentor kicked me in the butt one day by saying “You should really take the White Belt Intensive; Debbie and Carlos Rosas (the founders of Nia) are coming to Milwaukee.” Before I could muster up any resistance, I found myself saying “ok”. And, “the rest is history” as they say. I’ve now been teaching Nia for 12 years. I’m proud of my White, Blue, Brown and Black Belt experiences. I’ve never stuck with ANYTHING this long — including my marriage. Nia is “Now I Am.” I love that…those words contains spirit, confidence, bold and creative beingness.

If you haven’t sought out a Nia class yet, I would strong encourage you to do so. It may not be a household word (yet) like Zumba, but Nia has been around for 30 years now. There is a science, a craft and an art to Nia. There is a purpose and design to every move in Nia. Ahhhh, objectivity. And within the purpose and design, there is also the invitation to move “your body’s way”. Ahhhh, subjectivity!! I love it. Objective/Subjective. Yin/Yang. Sun/Moon. Day/Night. Batman/Catwoman.

You can check out http://www.nianow.com for classes near you. My classes are listed to the right of this blog post…an open invitation to experience body awareness, movement and dance as you’ve never before experienced it. There are 4 classes that I teach and 1 class taught by Kathy Rink, another fabulous Nia teacher and good friend. Five opportunities per week for you to get your groove on — your body’s way. It’s sublime. It’s creative. It’s expressive. Nia invites change. Nia creates the opening for you to fill your life with joy…not just for an hour in class, but in all aspects of your living. YES. Now I Am dancing through life. The essence of joy runs through everything I do. There is form and freedom. There is structure and improvisation. You choose. No guilt. No shame. Pure joy. Love your Body. Love Your Live. Right here. Right now. There is nothing like the present moment!

Vibe-rations

Posted on April 6, 2013 by niachick

I taught the Nia routine “Vibe” today. I love the music. My personal focus was to be in the moment with my movements. As with all Nia routines that are produced by Nia HQ, this one has specific choreography that goes with each song; choreography that was developed with a specific focus and intent by Debbie Rosas (co-founder of Nia) and the Nia Trainers.

The focus I set for my class was “Conditioning and Confidence in Possibilities”. Conditioning in this case was using different levels of intensity with the 52 Moves or choreography. Sometimes I used speed as a reference for conditioning and also the planes (high, middle, low) of Nia; and sometimes both. So many ways to utilize conditioning, too. The “possibilities” piece had to do with where each person was individually with their energy level, their body sensitivity, etc. and their choices along the way. I also added to my conversation “in the circle” (I always start my classes in a circle to set the focus) that choosing NOT to participate in the “speed or planes” of a move did NOT constitute a lack of self-confidence…more so it was an indication of listening to one’s body. The invitation is always there to explore if it’s the right thing to do.

As soon as the music started, I knew — I sensed — that I was not going to follow the original choreography. My spirit realm spoke quite clearly that it was time to really allow my personal focus of “being in the moment with my movements” to manifest in truly creative ways.

And truly creative it was! I found myself surprised by some of the interesting “pearls” that came forth from my Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spirit realms. I had such a great time, and I do believe my students did as well.

Have you ever found yourself compelled to create in the moment? Did you allow yourself the space to do so? What was your sensation at a physical level? Did your mind want to distract you or did it relax and go with the flow? Is it possible to use words to describe your emotions around creating in the moment? I found myself to be “giddy”, “delighted”, “radiant”, “sassy”. My mind allowed no distractions. My cueing was with the language of the 52 Moves. ”Grapevine, Lateral Travel, Slow Clock, Cross Front Cha Cha Cha. Double-time. A physical sensation of being grounded (which never left me) seduced me into being in the moment. It was pure passion…my sacred livelihood manifesting with each movement…each translation…each smile on my students’ faces.

Endless gratitude for Nia and all its wonderous possibilities and conditioning!

The Energy of Passion

Posted on April 4, 2013 by niachick

I had a new student in my Nia class last night. As usual, there was a little apprehension, a little nervousness. The first focus was “to self-induce an internal massage with the essential oil of pleasure.” The second focus was “momentum”.

We stepped in…we began our warm up to the music of “Wish U Were Here” from the Fly routine…the music is sensual and conducive to self-inducing an internal massage with the essential oil of pleasure!!! She got it. She was smiling. She was moving her body, undulating her spine, creepy crawler fingers…

As the hour progressed, she continued to let go. I could see and sense her ability to go with the momentum of the movements. She revealed in her a movements a passion for dancing…a passion for healing…

After class her eyes were wide with wonderment. Her exact words were “Thank you, this has been a very special night.” She’ll be back.

“Get In Your Body” — yep. She did. I did. The rest of the students did, too. And I do believe our focus became a reality…

Get in Your Body!

Posted on April 2, 2013 by niachick

The Nia invitation….Get In Your Body!!!

In the little town of Hubertus, Wisconsin, there are 5 opportunities to Get In Your Body!! Five (yes, count ‘em 5 – F.I.V.E.) Nia classes at Sacred Space Studio (located within The Nutman Co., Really Cool Gift Shop and Java Dancer Coffee Bar): Mondays at 9 a.m., Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m., Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m., Thursdays at 9:00 a.m., Saturdays at 9:00 a.m.

Sensations (body)…imagery (mind)…feelings and emotions (heart)…your own unique expression through movement (spirit). There is no other lifestyle/cardio practice around like Nia (www.nianow.com). Yes, I said LIFESTYLE practice. The 13 principles of Nia (each of the 4 Belts (White, Blue, Brown, Black) has 13 principles. These principles can be EASILY applied to one’s everyday life. I’ve been living the Nia principles now for 12 years; perhaps 14 if I count the 2 years prior to my becoming a Nia teacher (or practitioner as I like to call myself).

Joy of Movement
Natural Time and Movement Forms
Music and 8BC System
FreeDance
Awareness
Base
Three Planes of Movement and Intensity Levels
Core
Upper Extremeties
X-Ray Anatomy
Creating a Sacred Livelihood
Continuing Education
Sharing What You Sense

Whether a Nia student or a Nia Practitioner (any Belt), how do YOU embody these 13 basic principles in your daily living?

If you’ve never experienced Nia, come and dance at Sacred Space Studio in Hubertus, Wisconsin. Your journey to loving your body and loving your life starts here…

Moving Consciously

Living the Truth of Who I Am