Dancing Our Bones

The focus of tonight’s class is dancing our bones. We are approaching Halloween after all. Join us for dangling and dancing our bones in all sorts of fun and fluid ways. If you’d like to read one of my favorite articles about our bones, click here.

A special guest, Daren Wade, will join me for a couple of songs and will lead us through some Halloween favorites, Daren style! Daren is a friend, my boss (for my day job at UW), a colleague and a Nia student. He’s also one of the best dancers and entertainers I know! Together, we promise to deliver a howling fun-filled class. Join us tonight! Hooowwwwwlllllll.

Class is from 5:30pm-6:30pm at Open Flight Studio . Address is 4205 University Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98105 (walk upstairs - look for the door next to the Pho place).

Natural Time and 13/20

Tonight we will work with Natural Time and 13/20. There are 13 joints in the body and we have 20 digits. The 13 joints are the ankle, knee, hip, wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints on the right and left sides of the body, and the spine. The 20 digits are our fingers and toes. We will explore moving our 13 joints and 20 digits based on our own internal rhythms so that we each find a pace, depth and way of moving that is most pleasurable for us individually.

When we move in our own natural time we step into the fullness of our individuality. There is no need to mechanically copy and look like anyone else, and no need to fixate on repetitive movement. We explore the sensation of pleasure in every joint as we become familiar with every joint’s range of motion and we discover our unique style and expressive self, the choreography of our own dance.

Come discover the choreography of your own dance tonight!

Class is from 5:30pm-6:30pm at Open Flight Studio . Address is 4205 University Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98105 (walk upstairs - look for the door next to the Pho place).

The Dance of Precision

Tonight we will continue working our inner warriors and warrioress' focusing on the energy of Tae Kwon Do: The Dance of Precision. As we consciously and creatively combine dance with martial precision through blocks, kicks, punches, steps and stances, we affirm "I am strong, confident, self-assured. I am willing to fight for me and you."

Join me for class tonight: 5pm at NW Community Yoga, 701 NW 70th St Seattle, WA 98117.

The Warrior(ess) Dance

Tonight we will be working with the energy of Tae Kwon Do: The Dance of Precision.

The energy of this movement form is very warrior-like: precise, powerful, strong, confident, empowering, and in my opinion, thrilling.

Some of the movements we will explore tonight include blocks, punches, kicks, steps and stances, and sound. You are probably wondering why I listed sound as a movement. Sound is actually used in conjunction with movement for several reasons: to remind us to breathe, to express and release emotional energy, and to infuse power into your movements.

For more on Sounding in Nia: Sounding student download.

Come join the warrior(ess) dance tonight!

Class is from 5:30pm-6:30pm at Open Flight Studio . Address is 4205 University Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98105 (walk upstairs - look for the door next to the Pho place).

Your fingers, like wands, are magical tools

The focus of tonight’s class is our upper extremities. Every gesture with the upper extremities expresses a part of you. The intent tonight is to discover self-expression through the arms, hands and fingers. Nia co-founders call these “the messengers of your heart.” When I think of my upper extremities, the first thing I think of is hugs. Who doesn’t love hugs?

Our arms and hands are not only energy portals that move chi throughout the body, they also have proprioceptors that are highly sensitive to physical sensation and relay information about our internal body conditions. If we listen, they tell us how to move to increase pleasure or decrease pain and/or discomfort. They may say: move more slowly, or gently, use less or more pressure, or move with greater speed.

One of my favorite sentences from the Nia book is this one: “Your fingers, like wands, are magical tools.” The first time I read this I immediately got up and visualized my fingers as magical wands. I found my movements were more dynamic and that my arms tired less easily. I was intentionally directing energy via my fingers and it felt not only fun, but also powerful.

Tonight, we will express ourselves by keeping our upper extremities alive and engaged.

Join me for class tonight: 5pm at NW Community Yoga, 701 NW 70th St Seattle, WA 98117.

Birthday Nia Routine (songs)

You asked for them. Here they are!

1. Song For Olabi by Bliss from the routine Sexi
2. Mulatica Mia (Cuba Remix) by The Tao Of Groove from the routine Aya
3. Palais Mascotte by Patrick Duvoisin from the routine Aya
4. No Quiero Nada Mas by Sancti Spiritus from the routine Aya
5. Go Get It by Sepalot from the routine Halo (Dina Innominato)
6. The Way I Are by Timbaland from the routine Halo (Dina Innominato)
7. Rhythm Is? by Afro-Mystik from the routine Aya
8. Butterfly Heart by Chris Coco from the routine Butterfly
9. Free by Illumine from the routine Velvet
10. Groovin' On a Feeling by Happy Dreamer - movements from Sanjana, song suggested by Nia teacher community
11. Snakeroot by Lis Addison from the routine Alive
12. Chakra 4, 1 Minute by Shannon Day from Chakra Meditation

Celebrating my Birthday with the Joy of Movement

Tonight's class at Open Flight Studio is FREE. Yesterday, I celebrated my 35th birthday and as my gift to my community I have put together some of my favorite Nia songs and moves and will be sharing them in class tonight. The focus of tonight's class is the first of the Nia white belt principles, The Joy of Movement. I have discovered profound joy through movement and am thrilled to share this with you.

In Nia, we experience Joy not as an emotion but as a physical sensation. Experiencing joy as a sensation encourages us to embrace the body as it is and move in ways that produce joy and pleasure, tweaking any movements as necessary to increase or sustain pleasure. What a concept! Tonight we will celebrate our bodies by allowing joy take the lead in our dance!

Class is from 5:30pm-6:30pm at Open Flight Studio . Address is 4205 University Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98105 (walk upstairs - look for the door next to the Pho place).

Hip Joints Moving Freely

The focus of tonight’s class is the hip joint. The intent is to find ease and pleasure with our levels of mobility and stability with this joint.

The hip joint is a ball and socket joint. The head of the femur forms the “ball” and inserts into the socket of the pelvis. The ball shape allows for mobility in many directions, while the depth of the socket provides stability.

Tonight, we will sense and play with the flexibility, mobility, stability, stiffness, restriction and range of motion determined by this bone and joint relationship.

According to the founders of Nia: Healthy hip joints are vital to fluidity and power in your legs. When your hip joints move freely, your pelvis and thighbones can work together to support you in any range of motion.

Join me for class tonight: 5pm at NW Community Yoga, 701 NW 70th St Seattle, WA 98117.

First Class at Open Flight Studio

I am truly excited to teach my first class at Open Flight Studio in the U-district tonight at 5:30pm. Jeanna Wheeler , blue belt Nia teacher and I will be team teaching the latin-inspired routine, Aya. Jeanna and I will be sharing class cards at Open Flight Studio. Jeanna teaches at Open Flight on Saturday mornings at 10:15am. You can take either one of our classes with the class cards.

Check out the beautiful music from Aya .

The focus of tonight’s routine is Stability. The intent is to find peace and relaxation while dancing to the music. And a little energetic stability can’t hurt plant some roots in this new space for me.

Come boogie with us! 5:30pm-6:30pm, Open Flight Studio at 4205 University Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98105 (walk upstairs - look for the door next to the Pho place).

Check out some photos of the space: