My favorite moment after class last night was when a woman who had never tried Nia before came up to me and exclaimed "I never knew I could move like that! I can dance!" She was beaming and her joy was infectious. I blurted out "Yes, girlfriend, you CAN!" And then we giggled.
This newly discovered dancing diva inspired tonight's class focus which is simply: to dance and have the time of your life doing it.
Here is a little cheesy musical inspiration:
Join me for tonight to discover or reconnect with your inner dancing diva. Class at 6:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.
I am working on my July newsletter and will be sending it next week. In the meantime I wanted to make sure you are up to date on this week’s schedule since it is a holiday weekend!
Regular class schedule this week including:
Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 5:30pm at Community Fitness 65th St. Studio ($12 drop-in)
Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 6:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford
Saturday, July 2, 2011 at 1:00pm at Community Fitness Roosevelt Studio ($12 drop-in)
Sunday, July 3, 2011 at 10:30am at Delilah’s Belly Dance Studio in Fremont
NO class on Monday evening July 4, 2011, 5:30pm at Open Flight Studio…instead I am teaching a special class in the afternoon. Details below.
Please join me for aSpecial IndepenDance Day class on Monday, July 4, 2011, 1pm in Greenwood:
Date: Monday, July 4, 2011
Time: 1:00pm - 2:20pm (80 min class)
Where: Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood - 124 N 103rd Street, Seattle, Washington 98133
In this special class we will begin with a movement exploration of the five floor-based movements that make up the Nia 5 Stages. Knee pads will be provided. We will then experience an hour-long Nia class. Both parts of class will be done to music with the focus of FreeDance. We will be dancing to specific choreography and you will have an opportunity to explore your movements through a guided FreeDance. The intent of this special extended class is to discover your unique self-expression, experience freedom of movement, and to delve more deeply into your dance by using the stages of FreeDance.
FreeDance was one of the most challenging aspects of Nia for me when I first started dancing back in 2003. It took time for me to let go and allow my body to move without fear of judgment or feeling awkward. I promise to guide you through the FreeDance songs with openness, love, and compassion. You will not experience any judgment in this class. Come play with me!
I am looking forward to dancing with you this week! Stay tuned for my July newsletter.
Tonight we are celebrating a milestone birthday for one of our community members. She celebrates her 60th birthday on Wednesday but I am not convinced that she is turning 60. She is a beautiful and youthful human being. She has requested the most requested Nia song in my history of teaching: Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Thievery Corporation. We'll be moving and grooving to this tune as we board the spaceship at tonight's class!
According to dictionary.com, a birthday is "a day marking or commemorating the origin, founding, or beginning of something."
In the spirit of birthday's, the focus of tonight's class is the celebration of beginnings. The intent is to be attentive to the beginning of each movement and follow it through in a joyful and celebratory style.
See you tonight - 5:30pm at Open Flight Studio in the University District.
The focus of this morning's class is the sensation of stability from the base of the body all the way up to the core and the head. The intent is to discover and sustain peace and relaxation while dancing to the music.
Every aspect of the choreography of this morning's routine is designed to stimulate the sensation of stability. Stability grows from the ground up and is sensed as calmness in the entire body. As you dance, you are invited to sense your muscles and joints moving in harmony. Make sure both of your feet move with ease, creating the stability needed for the rest of your body to dance with grace and peace. And stay attentive to your breath; always seek relaxed breathing, even when exerting your body.
Dance to show reverence for your body. Join me for Nia "church" at 10:30am at Delilah's Belly Dance Studio in Fremont!
In addition to my certification as a classic Nia instructor, I am also certified as a Nia 5 Stages of self-healing instructor. This body of work is deeply important to me and has been both body and life-transforming.
I learned the Nia 5 Stages practice at my white belt training in May 2010. The practice immediately resonated with me and I knew I wanted to delve into it both for self-growth and for teaching purposes. For the past 13 months I have spent 7-10 minutes every single day doing this practice and after each session I experience a new sensation of healing in my body. I feel stronger, taller (that's a big one for me!), more stable, aligned, balanced, limber, flexible, agile, mobile, graceful and more keenly aware of my body sensations. I call the 5 stages my "magic" practice and I hope to share it with as many people as possible.
What is the Nia 5 Stages?
The Nia 5 Stages of self-healing is an integrative practice based on the five stages of human development: embryonic, creeping, crawling, standing and walking. This practice is dedicated to self-healing and to the using these five movements as stimulation to feel better in your body.
The object of practicing the five simple movements that comprise the Nia 5 Stages is to prepare the body to become more functional, energetic, and comfortable while doing any movement such as: dancing, walking, running, yoga, martial arts, etc. This practice allows you to sense the natural ability your body has to realign itself and self-heal through movement.
When the body moves through the Nia 5 Stages, the body, mind, emotions, and spirit naturally realign, unify and integrate, leaving a greater sense of wholeness, health and well-being. Developed as a practice, these stages lead to changes that improve one's physical comfort, ability to move efficiently, and improvement in whole body functioning and posture.
I taught weekly Nia 5 Stages classes in Greenwood for 6 months but due to schedule changes am now seeking a new space to hold weekly classes. Stay tuned! In the meantime, below is a short video demonstrating the Nia 5 Stages.
I am excited to return to teaching tomorrow tonight at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.
The focus of tonight's class is dancing to the music. Music can be stimulating and healing. It can awaken our spirit and lift our energy or stir emotion.
Tonight, I invite you to allow yourself to be seduced by the music and to allow the various sounds of the music to speak to and move your body.
Below is a short video of the voice of Nia founder, Debbie Rosas, sharing the Voice of Music with us:
The focus of tonight’s class is discovering the balance that comes from the sensation and dance of stability.
Stability is the sensation of stillness and relaxation. We discover balance by relaxing the joints.
Stability is the sensation of energy moving from the center out in all directions simultaneously. It is grounded, solid, calm, rooted, and connected to the earth. It is sensed as readiness for action - a relaxed and dynamic tension of harmony. Stability is nurtured by resting into stillness while seeking balance. It relies on relaxation, postural integration, and optimal alignment of the body.
Losing Stability is sensed as weakness and a loss of balance and support. Without Stability, the body could not move safely and would become overly stimulated and unhealthy.
On another level, we are better able to cultivate balance in our lives when there is stability present. Think about how your dance tonight can nurture and deepen stability in your interior life.
In tonight’s class we will discover the balance and support that comes from sensing stability in the body: by equalizing muscular contraction and relaxation and sensing the calmness in the muscles combined with readiness for action.
Class at 5:30pm at Community Fitness 65th Street Studio.
While on vacation visiting family in NYC I had high hopes to dance and learn some new songs and moves. I was able to dance only twice with NY Nia colleagues Jason Alan Griffin and Rachel Duvall. Instead, I spent nearly every day eating, walking, eating some more (including large daily doses of dessert) and walking some more and chasing after my little nephews.
I would not have traded this experience for the world. I had a stimulating and restful (yes, both) vacation with my husband. My one word to summarize this vacation: Sweetness.
We came home late last night and are enjoying easing back into our life in Seattle.
I have been looking forward to teaching tonight for days! In the spirit of coming home, the focus of tonight’s class is dancing your fullness. I am at home. I am happy. I feel full of life, sweetness and joy.
Tonight I invite you to find whatever fills you up and dance from that place. We will pick up where we left off working from music and moves from the latin-inspired routine, Aya.
Bring your bare feet and playful spirit to class tonight from 5:30pm – 6:30pm at Open Flight Studio in the University District.
*A special thank you to my Nia Seattle colleagues Gretchen Musgrove, Jill Pagano and Jackie Thai for covering some of my classes while I was away. I only wish I had been there to dance with you!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - Gretchen Musgrove is covering my 5:30pm class at Community Fitness 65th Street Studio
No class on Thursday, June 9, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011 - Jill Pagano is covering my 1:00pm class at Community Fitness Roosevelt Studio
No class on Sunday June, 12, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011 - Gretchen Musgrove is covering my 5:30pm class at Open Flight Studio in the University District
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - Gretchen Musgrove is covering my 5:30pm class at Community Fitness 65th Street Studio
No class on Thursday, June 16, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011 - Jackie Thai is covering my 1:00pm class at Community Fitness Roosevelt Studio
No class on Sunday June, 19, 2011
My regular class schedule resume (with me teaching!) on Monday June 20, 2011 starting with my 5:30pm class at Open Flight Studio in the University District.
I don't plan on taking any other time off this Summer. Let's dance through this season of light and warmth together.
With my nephew - 2008
I am looking forward to seeing and spending quality time with my family but will definitely miss dancing with you.
I may provide updates from New York on my blog and/or Facebook. Please feel free to check both.
The focus of this morning's class the dance of Stability. The intent is to find peace and relaxation while dancing to the music.
Stability grows from the ground up and is sensed as calmness in the entire body. As you dance, sense your muscles and joints moving in harmony. Make sure both of your feet move with ease, creating the Stability needed for the rest of the body to dance with grace and peace. Pay attention to your breathing; always seek relaxed breathing, even when exerting your body.
A reminder that there is no class on Sunday June 12 and Sunday June 19. Class resumes on Sunday, June 26, 2011!
I am looking forward to dancing with you this morning! 10:30am at Delilah’s Belly Dance Studio in Fremont.
The focus of tonight’s class is composing bliss with your body. The intent is to connect with the sensation of pleasure throughout your dance so that you experience bliss through movement.
I was inspired to use this as tonight’s class focus by today’s posting at DailyOm.com. The post is titled “Composing Bliss: Poetry as Meditation” and it spoke to me.
Here is an excerpt: “Sculpting your thoughts into a poem can take you on a journey where your conscious mind is momentarily cast adrift.” Read the posthere.
I believe we can create poetry with our bodies through our dance. Nia can be a powerful catalyst for creativity in movement and opening to bliss!
We will continue working with the routine Aya but shift the sensation from the hips to body bliss.
Leave your mind behind and join me tonight to discover somatic bliss. Class at 6:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.
The focus of tonight’s class is movement with our hips. The intent is to find ease as we experience both the mobility and stability with the hip 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.
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.
To celebrate my upcoming trip back to my home city of the Bronx in NYC, I will be teaching songs from the latin-inspired routine, Aya. This is by far one of my favorite routines and it definitely reminds me of home and my latin roots. Get ready to move your hips tonight!
Here is a little taste of Aya from a Nia Dance Break I participated in last year in Portland:
Class at 5:30pm at Community Fitness 65th Street Studio. Drop-in for $12!
