The Upper Arm Bone, Grace and Freedom

“A graceful body is a body that appears to walk and fly at the same time. As if having wings, a graceful body seems to turn everyday movements into a dance of life that reflects grace, beauty, power and dynamic function. “

Nianow.com handout

The focus of tonight’s class is the dance of the upper arm bone combined with the energy of Duncan Dance. The intent is to experience physical grace and free-spirited playful and honest movement that originates from the upper arm bone.

The Voice of your Upper Arm Bone:

I am the voice of your upper arm bone. My name is humerus. Look at my top and by design you’ll see I have a small rounded ball that together with your shoulder blade gives flight, grace and power to your hand, arm, and core gestures.

Look at my bottom and you’ll see your elbow joint. When I am not in use I love to hang at your sides to help keep your shoulders down and relaxed. Always there for you, notice that I act in response to what you feel. If you feel afraid, you will find me hugging inward to hold and keep you safe.

If you feel excited, you’ll notice me moving wildly about. Like ski poles, the two of me help to keep you balanced by slightly swinging across your body as you walk. I am the part of you that expresses emotional truth. Watch what I do, where and how I energetically move, and you’ll get to know your emotional self intimately.

Nianow.com

Over the past three days I have been working with the Nia routine Butterfly. I will continue to work with it for the next few days.

Butterfly is Classic Nia routine for all levels. This transformational experience folds and unfolds your arms to stimulate your awareness of systemic movement, developing Flexibility, Agility, Mobility, Strength and Stability in your spine and upper extremities. Rhythmic variations isolate and integrate your pelvis, chest, head and spine, while simple patterns connect your base (stepping motions), core (pulsating rhythms), and upper extremities (folding and unfolding).

Spread your own butterfly wings through music, movement and personal expression, opening the front and back of your body for whole body conditioning.

Come fly with Butterfly!

Join me for class tonight from 6:30pm – 7:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Dancing with Scarves

I've got dance scarves. Who wants to play tonight? 

6:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford. 

Let's make these babies fly!

Acting "As If"- Telling an Emotional Story through Movement

The focus of tonight’s class is exploring the third stage of FreeDance: Act “As If.” In this stage, we play with expression of our feelings and emotions through movement. In essence, we tell an emotional story through our dance.

We will be invited to listen, dance and tell yourself a story to stimulate and connect to your emotional body. Give yourself completely to playing “pretend” and safely find a place of comfort in all the sensations that arise when you allow emotions to be part of who you are.

The body is designed to feel a full spectrum of emotions. When you are conscious of your emotions, you become an interactive feeling partner with your body. This stage reminds you to integrate your full range of feelings into your movement and experience of Nia.

Our dance will be inspired by the Voice of FreeDance from the perspective of the emotional body:

“To your emotional body I offer the ability to be real, to be authentic in ways that help you express yourself organically. In my dance, all desires, feelings, and emotions, your light and dark sides, are welcome and encouraged. Dance my dance and discover how freeing it is to let your emotions run freely.”

Allow me to hold the space for you to play and explore. See you tonight at 6:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

FreeDance Stage 1: Anything Goes

For the month of July we will be exploring and playing with expanding our personal movement vocabulary through the 8 stages of FreeDance.

Each stage provides an opportunity to witness your movement, change or tweak habits, and release any limitations or fears. Allow yourself to go through the process of emptying your mind, connect with body sensation, be stimulated by the music, and move in new expressive ways.

The focus of tonight’s class is the first stage of FreeDance, which is “Anything Goes Movement Wise.”

Voices of FreeDance

To your physical body I am the freedom vessel that allows you to do exactly what is most spontaneous and organic to you. Use me to free up any constraints so that your movement includes all gestures – mime, emotional expression, dance, walking, sitting, singing, playing and exploring.

To your mental body I offer a way into the creative void of consciousness. The place where everything is possible, where unlimited potential resides. My unbound, open, and playful way of thinking gives you free reign to explore and create with absolute mindfulness.

To your emotional body I offer the ability to be real, to be authentic in ways that help you express yourself organically. In my dance, all desires, feelings, and emotions, your light and dark sides, are welcome and encouraged. Dance my dance and discover how freeing it is to let your emotions run freely.

To your spiritual body I offer the permission to sit back and be taken into the unknown as a way to explore new heights of freedom and expression. Play and exploration is my way. I love to take you to the playground of all playgrounds – the unexplored moment.

Adapted from Nia Technique online resources

Embrace this invitation tonight to be spontaneous, theatrical, and expand beyond your movement habits. Listen deeply to the your body. Allow your movements to evolve organically. Quiet your mind and move freely, following your own whims. FreeDance is the art of interacting with the music to express what you deeply sense. It’s truly about movement your way and your body’s way!

I will be using a shorter version of the special 80-minute indepenDance day routine. I wish we had 80 minutes to dance tonight but we’ll have to make the best of 55 minutes of bliss ☺

Join me tonight for a journey to a playground of unexplored moments! Allow me to be your movement co-pilot. Class at 6:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

You Can Dance

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.

Dancing to the Music

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 Voice of Music from Nia Technique on Vimeo.

Join me for class tonight 6:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Composing Bliss with the Body

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 post here.

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 Dance of Yin and Yang and the Upper Extremities

The focus of tonight’s class is dancing with the energies of yin and yang with our upper extremities.

Nia is based on The Body's Way, which is a method of using the body according to its inherent design and function.

The Body's Way is guided by five fundamental principles, one of which is that the Body is balanced in Yin and Yang.

Indispensable and equally important, the body is comprised of both yin and yang energies.

Yin is the soft, feminine, inward-directed energy, manifested in smooth, melodic movements.

Yang is the harder, masculine, outward-directed energy, reflected in explosive, rhythmic movements.

We will work with sensing and dancing with both energies tonight. Join me at 6:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Showing The World How You Feel

The focus of tonight's class is expressing the energies of jazz through the arms and wrists. The intent is to show the world how you feel through the unique dance of your arms. The energy of jazz is fun, showmanship and expression.

The Voice of Jazz

To the emotional part of you I give you the freedom to show the world what you feel. I splash an outward expression on your face and body. Expression is my language. I silently talk to you using language that can be felt by others a mile away. When I am present goose bumps ride on the surface of your skin. Passion exudes from your hands and heart. I am your way into the world of expression that unmasks truth.

Excerpt from Nia Technique book.

Get ready to use your whole body, even your face and voice, to create the theatrical expression of Jazz!

Class from 6:30pm - 7:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Dancing to Velvet

Last Thursday we explored using our hands as sensory messengers.

The focus of tonight’s class is to continue this exploration and to begin using the hands to direct energy. We'll do this through engaging in movement of:

• the fingers through finger extensions, finger flicks, creepy crawlers, and catching flies,
• the hands through palm directions, webbed spaces, chops and touch, and
• the arms through blocks and strikes.

The intent is to teach you to use your hands to connect your upper body with your lower body, conditioning your upper body, protecting your joints, engaging your core and increasing awareness of using your hands in choreography.

We'll use imagery, sound, and the sensation of touch to dance with our hands.

We will be exploring movement with the Nia routine Velvet. The music from this routine is melodic, rhythmic, stimulating, playful and sensuous.

Listen to the music of Velvet.

Join me in bringing movement to life through your hands.

Class is from 6:30pm – 7:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Hands as Sensory Messengers

The focus of tonight’s class is our hands. The intent is to consciously direct the flow of energy through our bodies and our dance.

We use our hands to sense, touch, feel, explore the space around us, to express emotion, and direct energy throughout our bodies.

By intentionally and energetically using our hands in Nia, we engage more of our arms and upper body thus gaining greater muscle definition, flexibility, and strength without the use of weights.

I love to dance with my hands. I enjoy the sensation of wiggling my fingers, playing with palms directions, rotating and flexing my wrists and fingers and making spirals with my arms using my hands. Most of all I adore the sensation of touch. I am grateful that my hands allow me to experience the delicious sensation of soft fabrics, a warm clean smooth floor, water, leaves, skin, a soft teddy bear, a piece of fruit, a cotton ball, etc. I could go on and on.

Below is an excerpt from the Nia student handout on the hands:
http://nianow.com/sites/nianow.com/files/downloads/NiaEH_Hands.pdf?download=1

“Like the feet, your hands are the only other body parts that are constantly and physically in touch with the world around you. As sensory messengers, your hands are a great resource for connecting and conditioning your whole body. The hands, which include ten fingers, palms, and inner and outer arches, together with the joints of your wrists, two forearms, elbow joints, and upper arm bones, are all a part of the upper extremities you use to creatively express yourself.

Unique to the hand is a thumb, which makes it possible for you to grab, hold, catch, grasp, throw, push, pull, tear, caress, wipe, juggle, toss, plant, build things, and make love. You keep the hands healthy by using them based on their design.

A fanlike structure, the palms of your hands are designed to fully open and close, moving with mobility and flexibility in strong, stable and agile ways. Tentaclelike, your fingers are designed to wiggle, bend and extend. When used individually, fingers can direct energy to increase flexibility, strength, and balance. Each finger connects you to a specific emotional energy. By integrating the hands into your movement, you greatly reduce the build up of stress that can occur in the neck and shoulders when the hands are allowed to dangle and be carried by the trunk.

Integrate your hands in everything you do to sense dynamic ease, moving from the core and balancing the top, bottom, left and right sides of your body.”

Join me tonight for an energetic exploration with our hands. Class from 6:30pm - 7:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Express Your Inner Fire

The focus of tonight’s class is dancing with passion! The intent is to connect with and express the fire within you.

One definition of passion is a "powerful or compelling emotion or feeling." I like to think of it as the expression of our fiery spirit.

I’ve assembled a mix of songs from different routines: Velvet, Opal. Passion, Aya and AO. Get ready to move your body and use your voice to express your most passionate dancing self.

Here is one song from tonight’s playlist to get you up and dancing:



Join me for a passion-filled class tonight from 6:30pm – 7:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Pelvis as the Birthplace of Your Life-Force Energy

The focus of tonight’s class is the pelvis. The intent is allow creative energy to flow.

Your pelvis is integral to your Nia Conditioning. According to Moshe Feldenkrais, “All correct action starts with the movement of the pelvic bone… so as to carry the spine and head.”

Your pelvis is a bony basin that holds the sacred parts of you that can create and bare life, and it holds many emotions. The pelvis is considered the birthplace of your life-force energy. It is your center of creativity. Conditioning your pelvis conditions all of your body, unlocks emotions, and allows creative energy to flow.

It is also the support structure for bearing and balancing your body weight. When you move your pelvis, you light up your cerebral spinal fluid, and enliven the flow of electromagnetic energy around you. Moving your pelvis is one of the best ways to keep your body energetically charged, your legs agile, your chest open, and your spine free.

For more about the pelvis, read this Nia educational handout.

Join me tonight for a sacred dance of your creative power center. Class from 6:30pm – 7:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

The 8-10 Pound Body Weight

The focus of tonight’s class is the head.

The intent of emphasizing and sensing movement from the head is to experience a release of tension in the upper back and neck, improve posture, to stimulate breathing and create the proper energy flow for more free and creative use of the upper body.

When we speak of head movement, we include the movement of the eyes, ears, mouth, nose, brain, teeth, as well as thinking and imagination. The most natural way to move your head and avoid tension is to use your eyes.

With 8 cranial bones, 14 facial bones and our brain, our heads weight anywhere between 8-10 pounds. That’s a lot of weight! We think hear, taste, smell, kiss and see from the head. It is a very busy place.

As infants, the world around and the knowledge that one gains from the world around, is guided by the senses - not guided by an intelligence of “I’m looking to see something.” It’s about curiosity and moving in natural time, which happens from the eyes looking around and the head moving. That's what we are going to recreate the sensation of tonight.

For more, check out this educational handout on the head from Nianow.com.

Join me tonight to experience the grace and power of initiating movement of our bodies from our head. Class is from 6:30pm – 7:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

*Excerpts from Nianow.com material.

Finding Your Center of Gravity

The focus of tonight’s class is finding your center of gravity. 

The intent is to sense and move with joy and ease from your center.

Our center of gravity is that point or concentrated area in the body where all parts balance each other. It may also be referred to as the core of the body, hara, belly, the one point, or solar plexus.

The body is designed to arrange itself around your center of gravity. When everything is aligned, your body and movements work well together. When they are not aligned, your body reflexes kick in to keep you from falling over. In fact, every time we move, our center of gravity shifts.

On an energetic level, our center of gravity can also be a power center. It may be where we feel strong, willful, powerful and perhaps unshakeable.

Join me tonight for a journey to your center. Class from 6:30pm – 7:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Whole-Body Movement

The focus of tonight’s class is whole-body dance movement with the intent to experience passion, play, creativity, ease and joy.

I love that, in Nia, we move not only our bones, muscles and joints, but that we also move our spine, head, eyes, fingers, toes and our internal energy! I love that I can feel the energy rise from within and that my heart, mind, and soul are moved. From my experience, whole-body movement with Nia is not just the movement of the physical body but also of the emotional, energetic, psychological and spirit-body.

I read recently on a Nia colleagues website (http://www.nia-joyinmotion.com) the following:

“Nia is a living, holistic system that works with the body’s natural wisdom and intelligence. The goal is to move from rigidity to liberation; creating from the inside out. This allows your own emotions, feelings, and how you may experience the depth of music, to connect with your body as well as your spirit. Nia offers you the freedom to embrace your unique creativity, responses, self-inquiry, and free expression.”

Join me tonight for whole-body joyful movement that will not only work all of your extrinsic and intrinsic muscles but will also enliven your body, heart, mind and spirit.

Class from 6:30pm - 7:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Opening the Chest

The focus of this morning’s class is opening the chest with the intent of feeling expansion in the body.

Join me for this last Saturday class at this studio.

Starting next week, Saturday, April 2nd I will be teaching at Open Flight Studio in the University District from 10:30am -11:30am.

Class from 11am – 12pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Sensation of Conditioning

The focus of tonight’s class is the sensation of conditioning. The intent is to experience fitness via joy in the body in a sustainable and pleasurable way.

One of my favorite Nia quotes is:

“It is through love and pleasure that you find the most sustainable fitness, growth, health and transformation.”

In Nia, we experience whole body conditioning not by the philosophy of “no pain, no gain” but rather from the sensation of pleasure. There is no need to feel sore and be dripping in sweat to feel the sensation of conditioning in the body. We invite our body to move in a way that feels harmonious and monitor our body sensations and tweak to increase pleasure and decrease pain or discomfort.

This wonderful short video by Nia co-founders Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas explains 7 ways you can learn how to track the sensation of conditioning in your body:



Join me for an exploration of the sensation of whole body conditioning tonight from 6:30pm – 7:30pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Full Moon Dancing

The focus of this morning’s class is celebrating the full moon and the last day of winter.

In astrology, the full moon is considered to be a time of completion. It’s time when, as if a gardener tending to a garden, you can step back and assess your efforts and honor the work you’ve done.

Astrologer Jan Spiller says that there is an opportunity for insight and progress inherent in the phase of the Full Moon. It can be a time to heighten your awareness of how you would like things to be in your life and experience the empowerment to make changes.

With gratitude for our accomplishments during the winter months and with a spirit of Full-ness, let us joyously dance into spring and to another season of moving closer to our dreams.

Class from 11am-12pm at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

Flying Angels

The focus of tonight’s class is connecting with the front and back of the body with the intent of strengthening the core of the body.

An example we will experience is the sensation of closing the front of the body when bending forward while sensing how this same movement actually opens the back of the body.

Prepare for beautiful fluid movement, chest openers, spinals rolls, kicks, figure eights and flying angels!

Class tonight at 6:30pm (previous class tends to run over so we'll likely begin at 6:35pm) at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.