Tag Archives: movement

Way Down Deep

Posted on by My Joyful Dance

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My latest accomplishment has been to receive my certification as a Chakradance™ Facilitator.  I cannot express fully enough in words how grateful I am to have had this movement practice for the soul come into my life.  It was quite synchronistic that I found it actually.  I had noticed it several times on my Facebook newsfeed.  I’ve been facilitating meditation classes for quite some time and on most occasions go through the chakras.  When I taught Yoga back along the way, chakras were very much a part of my teaching.  I’ve been teaching Nia for 15 years and movement of the 3 body weights in Nia (the pelvis, chest and head) activate and open the 7 chakras.

I’ve been wanting to expand the offerings at Sacred Space Studio so when I logged on to my email one morning back in April, there was a message from “Jenny” of Chakradance™ letting me know that this day was the last day to register for the Facilitator training at a reduced cost.  All sorts of thoughts when through my head about not having the time or not being sure if this was exactly what I was looking for, yadda yadda yadda.  You know the drill.  But my intuition was much more open and willing than my mind, so I went for it.  And W.O.W. am I ever delighted that I followed my intuition.

The feedback I’ve received from the several one hour and 15 minutes classes I’ve taught has been encouraging and enlightening.  I finished my first of seven Workshops this past Sunday — starting with the Base Chakra — and the feedback from this workshop confirmed even further that I had made the right choice.

Spontaneous dance, specific music, creative visualizations and imagery, along with the wonderful Mandala-creating exercise contained in the classes and the workshops invites the participants to go way down deep.  It’s transformational.  It’s healing.  It’s truly a movement practice for the soul.

It is my pleasure to be offering Nia classes, Reiki classes and therapy sessions, Chakradance™ classes and workshops, Tarot readings and meditation classes at Sacred Space Studio.  If you find yourself compelled toward any of these offerings, please feel free to contact me.  You can find my contact information on the “About” page.

Nia and Tarot

Posted on by My Joyful Dance

It is what it isSo you might ask what Tarot and Nia have to do with one another.  They are more similar than different actually.  They both move me deeply.  I am guided by spirit when reading Tarot or when dancing Nia. Both require listening to my intuition and sensing in all the realms — physical, emotional, mental and spirit.

My plan is to begin using one Tarot card to guide me in setting the focus and the intent  for each day and if there is a Nia class that day, that same focus will apply to the class.

I’m really excited about how this journey will unfold.  It is What It Is and I’m Going with the Flow.

 

Moving Energy

Posted on by My Joyful Dance

This Sunday I’m teaching my first Reiki I class since receiving my Reiki Master Teacher certification. What an honor. I believe I was born to do this; just as I was born to teach Nia. It’s in the stars. Really. Several years ago (more than 25 years!), I worked with an astrologist. My chart indicated that leading groups, energy work (Reiki) and creative arts (Nia) were very strong — this would be my direction in life.

At that time, I worked for a major corporation (from which I retired after 30 years in 1998). I felt I had no room in my life (at least that’s what I thought) for energy work or dance. Amazingly enough, I managed to fit in Reiki I (1986), Reiki II (1997), took Gabrielle Roth’s 7 Rhythms classes (1983 and 1993) and Eurythmy classes (1996) plus every aerobic fitness class available.

It wasn’t until I retired in 1998, moved to Indiana and subsequently to Wisconsin that the direction became apparent. I stepped in to the Nia White Belt Intensive in June of 2001, married my twin flame in July of 2001 and began a journey of consciously moving energy. My Nia practice (13+ years) has been my passion…I love to dance and Nia is conscious movement in the form of a dance exercise fitness fusion. My Nia and Reiki practices are (and have been) a part of the The Nutman Co. USA, Inc. business that my husband and I own.

My Reiki practice did not really take off until recently. I attended two Shamanic Journey workshops in March of 2014. From each of the journeys, I discovered that “Reiki Master” was the direction into which I should move. I found a Reiki Master Teacher close to home…one of my best friends and a Nia compadre! The Reiki Master and Reiki Master Teacher classes were exciting, filled with energy and except for my journey with Nia, was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.

So now I get to put into practice my Reiki Master Teacher training. This Sunday, I’m stepping in to moving energy the Reiki way. I am so blessed.

Are you a Reiki practitioner? Have you had a Reiki treatment? Do you teach Nia? Have you taken a Nia class?

If you want to have the movement of energy in your life, these are two premiere modalities for doing so, and natural healing occurs along the way. It might be a cliche’ but “try it, you’ll like it!”

Sacral Chakra

Posted on by My Joyful Dance

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The Sacral Chakra is the 2nd of 7 major chakras.  Chakras are energy centers, each having a unique language, color, tone, and essence.  An imbalance of any chakra can result in physical, emotional, mental or spiritual concerns.  Balancing the chakras through movement is the best way I’ve found to increase the beautiful vibration found in each of these energy centers.

Although the Sacral Chakra is known for it’s sexual energy, it is important to note that creative energy emanates from this chakra as well.  An imbalance in the sacral chakra can result in a creative block, sexual deviancy, abuse or frigidness.  

Have I mentioned recently that I teach the best cardio dance fitness fusion/lifestyle practice on the face of the planet? Check it out here:  http://www.nianow.com).  Nia has 52 Moves, 7 of which are related to the Pelvis, Chest and Head (in Nia we call these “the Core”).  The pelvis — home of the Sacral Chakra — has 2 moves:  Pelvic Circles and Hip Bumps.

I have found in my 12 years of teaching Nia, that most (not all) women have a disconnect with their pelvis and/or hips. Creative and sexual energy in the Sacral Chakra goes far beyond the desire and outworking involved in bringing forth a human life.  The exhilaration felt in moving the pelvis and hips the Nia way provides a doorway to loving our bodies and loving our lives.  Flexibility, mobility and stability are experienced in the pelvis and hips in a safe way when we do Pelvic Circles and Hip Bumps and we are once again connected to the source of creative energy.  Creative energy can be in the form of singing, dancing, painting, sculpting, writing, playing…creative energy is…well…creative energy!!  

I have no children…mine and my husband’s conscious choice…yet he and I have created and brought forth such beauty in our 2 and 1/2 acres of gardens and strolling paths, a vineyard, a pond and many sitting areas enjoyed by our friends, customers and neighbors.  We find ways of creating the environment or atmosphere for others to step into their creative greatness.  And we do it with a passion that emanates from the creative energy of the sacral chakra.  

Take a moment to rub your palms together briskly, creating some heat.  Next, lay the palms of your hands on your abdominal area (you can do this standing, sitting or lying down).  The abdominal area is just below your navel.  Allow the heat (which YOU created) in your palms to soak into your sacral chakra.  Offer gratitude for sensing the balance in the creative and sexual energy in your Sacral Chakra.

Want to learn more about Pelvic Circles and Hip Bumps?  Come to one of my classes!  I teach 4 classes a week at my studio. You can also find a studio near you by using the website URL above and clicking on “Find Nia” and then “Classes”.  

Dance like nobody’s watching…dance like everybody’s watching!!!  Just DANCE!!

 

Movement as Prayer

Posted on by My Joyful Dance

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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.

 

 

 

 

 

Letting Go, No Judgment

Posted on by My Joyful Dance

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I am constantly amazed at Nia’s ability to draw forth from me more of my creative in-the-moment capabilities.  

Last week I was attending the Blue Belt Nia Intensive with Caroline Kohles and Winalee Zeeb.  My first time through the Blue Belt Intensive was in September of 2003, so here I was 10 years later revisiting Communication, Relationship and Intimacy (the cornerstones of Blue Belt).  There is a great deal of information that is shared in Nia Intensives…academic as well as somatic.  

Being a Black Belt since 2008, I was under the mistaken impression that I would be “reviewing” the Blue Belt principles…HA HA HA.  Yes, certainly reviewing was part of the process, but WHOA Nellie…embodying the principles was never so evident.  Amazing, magical, wonderous, marvelous, ecstatic rippling waves of recognition occurred as I moved with and was moved by the physical realm, the mental realm, emotional realm and spirit realm (lovingly referred to in Nia as BMES).

Winalee and Caroline are two of Nia’s original Trainers.  Along with energizing the Intensive with their own spirits, what they offered to me or what I took in from them was the essence of letting go, letting go and letting go.  No judgment.  Such a seemingly simple thing to do…if I’m holding on to something and let it go, I no longer am holding on to it…right?  Ahhhh grasshopper, there is much to learn about letting go.  And I’m having the time of my life right now doing so!!!  

Another of the fantasmagorical life-changing moments from Blue Belt was the two phrases:  “what am I bringing to the relationship?” and “what can I bring instead?”  Life-changing…opens up a whole new world.  

Last, but not least, I’d like to say that I have had the opportunity to not only witness, but be in full experiential mode with this letting-go-no-judgement-what-am-I-bringing-to-the-relationship-and-what-can-I-bring-instead way of living as I taught my Saturday and Monday Nia classes after returning from the Blue Belt.  On Saturday, I took a routine I had been working with for a couple of weeks and decided to do totally in-the-moment choreography using Nia’s 52 Moves.  My plan worked beautifully.  I received lovely feedback from many of the students in class that day.  So, I decided to do it again on Monday.  Oh how the Universe loves to creatively play with me.  My iPod froze up.  What to do, what to do.  What am I bringing to the relationship?  Anxiety.  What can I bring instead?  Joy!!!  And of course the fact that my good friend and fellow Nia teacher, Kathy Rink, was in class that day, had her iPod with her and after a moment of “trying” to decide what Nia playlist to use, she offered that she had a “Chillout” playlist.  OMG.  Can I?  Should I?  Dare I teach in the moment without even knowing the music?  It took about 5 seconds for the Universe to kick me in the butt and utter the words, “Go for it, Kathy.  Put it on.”  

Perfection.  Magical.  Creative.  Holy cow.  No judgment.  I let go.  As a Black Belt, this should be second nature to me (ooops…is that a judgment?).  I’ve taught individual “songs” before in the moment.  And only one other time just prior to attending my Black Belt Intensive in 2008 did I teach an entire routine without knowing the music (ala Mary Carol Rick’s divine playlist).  Five years later, I do it again with an ENTIRELY different experience.  In 2008, I was so totally aware of all the mistakes, the tendencies, the this and the that.  In 2013, no judgment.  Totally present.  JOY lead the way.  The Nia 52 Moves provided the platform.  Life As Art. So cool.  I want more.  And guess what???  I can have it!!!  YAY ME!!!