Opening the Chest Celebrating the Heart

“The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around.... Throughout history, ‘tender loving care’ has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing.” - Larry Dossey

The focus of tonight’s Gentle Nia class is to access and dance with the energy center of our heart via opening the chest.

The heart chakra (energy center) is located in the center of the chest at the breastbone. It is considered the emotional center and gateway of love, compassion and joy. We will sense the beat of our heart and the love that originates and spirals out of this energy center to fill our entire body and our world.

The Institute of Heart Math, a nonprofit research center that has been studying the electromagnetic energy generated by emotions and the human heart for over a decade, recently found that:
“Compared to the electromagnetic field produced by the brain, the electrical component of the heart’s field is about 60 times greater in amplitude, and permeates every cell of the body. The magnetic component is approximately 5,000 times stronger than the brain’s magnetic field and can be detected several feet away from the body with sensitive magentometers.”

The Voice of the Chest

I am the voice of your chest – the birdcage of your heartbeat.

I include your ribs, thoracic cavity, sternum or your breastbone, cartilage and twelve thoracic vertebrae.

I govern the space where love and heart power grow.

By design, I am open to the light, yet, like a birdcage, I protect something sacred and precious, your heart and lungs, the internal organs that make you human.

I also support your shoulder girdle, giving freedom to your winged arms and hands.

You keep me healthy by breathing, moving your lungs inside me.

Through my openings, pulses the sound of life heard as a beat, the eternal rhythm of life.

I provide a path to your heart, a home for feelings of love, sadness, grief and joy, and an awakening of your most expressive self.

When Dancing Through Life sense life inside your chest.

Inhale and smell the moment, sensing movement from the inside, out.

On the hour, every hour, pause and sense the movement of breath expanding your lungs and gently encouraging movement of the birdcage of your chest.

Adapted from Nia Technique Book and Nia 5 Stages module on the Chest.

Come dance your heart energy tonight from 5:00pm – 6:00pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood.

This will be my last Sunday evening class at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood. I am still working on identifying a space and time to continue teaching the Nia 5 Stages-Gentle Nia class. Stay tuned!

Moving Your Shoulders as Elegant Wings

The focus of tonight’s Combined Nia 5 Stages and Gentle Nia class is movement with the shoulder blades. The intent is to provide more freedom, mobility and expression of the shoulders, chest and upper back.

The shoulder blades are two thin, flat bones on the back of the body. You can visualize the shoulder blades as hands on the back of your body or like elegant wings expanding out the side of your body. One of the essential functions of the shoulder blades is to provide freedom and to give life to your hand and arm expression.

The movement of our hands has a direct impact on our shoulder blades. The simple reciprocal action of moving the palms up and down stimulates the back of the body (sensing nerves) and the front of the body (motor nerves). Moving the palms up, leading with the pinky finger, allows you to sense support from behind and underneath while opening the shoulder joint and allowing your shoulder blades to swing down and out. Moving with palms down, leading with the thumb, moves energy down and allows your shoulder blades to return to resting.

The entire shoulder girdle is meant to be mobile. We will work with various movements tonight to free the shoulder joint and allow for mobility and full range of expression.

Here is a wonderful little one-page Nia student handout on the shoulder girdle.

Join me tonight for an exploration of your elegant wings from 5pm- 6pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood.

Sensation of Flexibility

The focus of tonight’s combined Gentle Nia and Nia 5 Stages class is the sensation of flexibility.

We played with this sensation in class on Friday evening in a classic Nia class but tonight we will add another layer by incorporating the five movements of the Nia 5 Stages: embryonic, creeping, crawling, standing and walking.

Flexibility is sensed as energy moving out along the bones. We will receive the sensation of flexibility through the architecture, shape, size, speed and the relationship we have to gravity. The movements will vary so they can be small to target the intrinsic muscles or larger to activate extrinsic muscles. Finally, we will explore how speed influences flexibility.

We will begin with a gentle Nia class and end with Nia 5 Stages. Join me for an exploration of flexibility tonight from 5pm – 6pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood.

March Announcements - Nia 5 Stages Playshop on Saturday and more

A few brief announcements:

There is still space available in my Nia 5 Stages Playshop coming up this Saturday, March 12th from 1:30pm – 3:30pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood. This is the first of three playshops I have scheduled over the next three months. Please note that I am still teaching my regular 11am Saturday morning class at Fresh Fitness and Dance in Wallingford.

For those of you that have not experienced it, 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 workshop is dedicated to self-healing and to the using these five movements as stimulation to feel better in your body.

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 have been practicing the Nia 5 Stages every single day since May 22, 2011 when I learned the practice at my white belt training. I have found no other movement practice that has helped me to move with more self-awareness, self-love, and grace and that has dramatically improved my flexibility, mobility, agility, strength, and stability. It brings me great joy to share this practice with you.

In each 120-minute playshop, you will be guided through the 5 Stages practice followed by an hour-long Nia class.

Details are below for this Saturday’s workshop and two other announcements:

March 12, 2011 – 1:30pm – 3:30pm: The Base of the Body 
Location: Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood: 124 N 103rd St (between N 1st Ave & N Greenwood Ave), Seattle, WA 98133
Workshop Fee: $17 or $45 for all 3 playshops (see my events page for more information)
The base of the body includes the feet, ankles, shinbones, knees, thighbones and hips. In this workshop, we will explore how the base of the body is supported and activated in each of the five stages through the sensations of flexibility, agility, mobility, strength and stability. We will then experience an hour-long Nia routine that focuses on the movements from the base of the body.

Sunday, March 13, 2011 – Double dose of Nia 9:30am and 5pm 
Location: Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood
I am subbing for the lovely Jena Hennessey on Sunday morning, March 13th from 9:30am – 10:30am at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood. It will be a Nia double dose Sunday for me – teaching at 9:30am and then again at 5pm. Come join me for one or both classes!

Sunday, March 20, 2011 – Dance into Spring
Location: Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood
The Spring equinox is on Sunday, March 20th. Please join me for my 5pm class that day in celebrating our entry into the season of rebirth, renewal, growth and new life.

Always grateful for your continued support and looking forward to dancing with you,
Jennifer

Sunday Night Nia! Superbowl Alternative.

Sunday Night Nia! A great Superbowl alternative.

The focus of tonight’s Gentle/Restorative Nia class is Stability with the intent to find peace and relaxation while dancing to the music.

Every aspect of the choreography of tonight’s routine, Aya, 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.

Join me for a new format to this class. We will dance for the first 45 minutes at a level 1 and then end the class on the floor using the Nia 5 Stages for our Floor Play practice.

Class tonight from 5pm - 6pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood.

I will be doing a special series on the Nia 5 Stages starting in March. Save the dates!
When: Saturdays - March 12th, April 16th and May 14th
Time: 2:15pm-3:45pm
Where: Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood
Cost: $17 per class or $45 for all 3

Shoulder Blades as Elegant Wings

The focus of tonight’s Combined Nia 5 Stages and Gentle Nia class is movement with the shoulder blades.

The shoulder blades are two thin, flat bones on the back of the body. You can visualize the shoulder blades as hands on the back of your body or like elegant wings expanding out the side of your body. One of the essential functions of the shoulder blades is to provide freedom and to give life to your hand and arm expression.

The movement of our hands has a direction impact on our shoulder blades. The simple reciprocal action of moving the palms up and down stimulates the back of the body (sensing nerves) and the front of the body (motor nerves). Moving the palms up, leading with the pinky finger, allows you to sense support from behind and underneath while opening the shoulder joint and allowing your shoulder blades to swing down and out. Moving with palms down, leading with the thumb, moves energy down and allows your shoulder blades to return to resting.

The entire shoulder girdle is meant to be mobile. We will work with various movements tonight to free the shoulder joint and allow for mobility and full range of expression.

Class tonight from 5pm- 6pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood.

Movement of the Head and Neck

The focus of tonight’s Combined Nia 5 Stages and Gentle Nia class is on movement of the head and neck.

Everything we do, such as looking, listening, eating, smelling and taking affects what happens in the head and neck. Even our sleep position affects our head and neck.

Tonight we are going to work with the movement of the head and neck to help release tension, stimulate breathing and strengthen the muscles along the core of the body: pelvis, chest and head.

As infant's, 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.

Movement the head and neck also affects the alignment of the rest of the spine. One of the ways we integrate movement of the head in Nia is to use our eyes. We can follow the movement of our hands with our eyes to keep the neck relaxed and encourage movement of the head in a way that is more efficient than commanding the head to move up and down. We can also focus on our sense of sight, looking at specific things or simply out into life, to encourage movement of the head.

Our intent is to feel more relaxed and aligned. If we move something above (our head), and we move something below (our tail), the stuff in the middle gets to relax and find a new kind of alignment. The head moving up and out of the torso will create some flexibility in the thoracic spine. That additional space below is going to create freedom above, versus having the head packed down and being pulled down by gravity. Often the discomfort one feels in the shoulder girdle and between the shoulder blades is the head being packed down without enough extension up and out. The lengthening up, the extension up, helps to create what the body wants, which is space between the shoulders and ears.

Join me tonight for a conscious movement journey of the head and neck. Class is from 5pm-6pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood.

First Class of 2011: Creating Self

Laurie Bass, Nia 5 Stages and Nia Black Belt 

Join me for a very special combined Nia 5 Stages and Gentle/Restorative Nia class tonight. In celebration of our entry into 2011, the focus of tonight’s class is on “Creating Self.”

The New Year is typically a time when most people set goals or resolutions in order to create change in their lives. Our class tonight will focus on the conscious process of creating change in our bodies and lives through movement.

The creative process, or to be creative, involves an exchange of energy, always using energy to create something. We’ll focus on the process of creating changes and shifts within our bodies through the conscious and intentional energizing of our movements to create a pleasurable and healing environment in our bodies.

The Nia 5 Stages provides an environment for creating change through movement—both in each stage and in the movement between stages—and to witness the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual changes that occur. These 5 Stages remind us that we create ourselves each day with our thoughts, choices, and movements. We are going to focus on using the Nia 5 Stages to create change. We will specifically focus on the sensation of “you creating yourself.”

Following our Nia 5 Stages practice, we will experience a Gentle/Restorative Nia routine with the same focus.

I read recently in Anatomy and Physiology for Psychotherapists “everything that leaves physical traces in our bodies, that alters or adds to our shape in however small detail, can be said to embody a memory.” My desire for myself in 2011 is to create body memories that are joyful, loving, healing, expansive, and pleasurable. What are your desires for 2011?

I was inspired by the following article by Dr. Christiane Northrup titled "Flourishing in the New Year: Imagine your future and change your cells." It is a worthy read.

Join me tonight from 5pm – 6pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood for my first class of 2011.

Movement Meditation

The focus of tonight’s combined Nia 5 Stages and Gentle Nia class is movement meditation through the Voice of the 5 Stages.

The Nia 5 Stages are based on the five stages of human development: Embryonic, Creeping, Crawling, Standing and Walking. Practiced with awareness, these stages have the power to facilitate optimal alignment, improved function and comfort in the body. Whether practiced at length or for as little as five minutes a day, this system provides a tool for reclaiming and sustaining mobility, flexibility, strength, agility and stability.

Tonight, for the first half of class, we will experience the gentle and nurturing movement meditation of embryonic, creeping, crawling, standing and walking. I will guide you through each of the movements with my voice. For the second half of class we will experience a gentle routine to music while maintaining the focus of movement meditation.

Class tonight is from 5pm – 6pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood.

**Class is canceled next Sunday, December 26, 2010.

For my complete schedule: http://everybodyloveyourbody.blogspot.com/p/class-schedule.html

Relaxing the Elbow

The focus of tonight’s combined Nia 5 Stages and Gentle Nia class is the elbow and forearm bones with the intent to reduce tension and produce relaxation in the elbow joint and forearms.

The elbow joint is formed by the upper arm bone and two forearm bones. The surfaces of these bones are smooth. The forearm bones are the only two bones in your body that spiral over each other. Your elbow constantly receives energy from this spiraling or corkscrew action of the forearms.

The elbow is like a mouth that opens and closes. Its function is to transfer energy from the hands and forearms to the upper arm bones, keeping them relaxed. When the elbow is locked, tension results in the joints below (wrists and hands) and above (shoulders, neck, and jaw), constricting the flow of energy and causing fatigue.

Join me for a relaxing class tonight 5pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood. It’s the perfect way to end a rainy weekend.

Voice of the Connective Tissue

The focus of tonight’s Gentle Nia and Nia 5 Stages combined class is on the connective tissue and transubstantiation. Transubstantiation is the conversion of one substance into another. In Nia, we identify it as the space and what occurs between things. When you substantiate two movements, there is seamlessness. The movement is continuous.

Connective tissue, the largest tissue of the body, shows us that everything in the body is meant to be connected, not isolated components. It provides not only support, but also the transportation of signals, nutrients, gases and wastes throughout the body. Connective tissue is the stuff in between that transmits information. The type of connective tissue we will primarily focus on tonight is the fascia – a web-like sweater that provides support by encasing bones, muscles, organs, ligaments, and tendons. We will play with seamlessly connecting one movement to the next.

Voice of the Connective Tissue*
My job is to connect and support in adaptive ways. I am a fibrous fabric sheet that assists you in moving elegantly. Elastic in nature, I control the multi-directional wave of energy flowing along your bones and through your muscles. I transmit movement through your whole body. I support your entire skeleton and make it possible for your bones to float and rest. I vary in design based on the number and density of my fibers. I can be hard, soft, elastic or rigid. In bone, I am hard.

On the surface of muscle, I am heavy. When I embrace and enfold muscle tissue, you know me as your myofascia. You can find me anywhere in the body. I’m even under your skin. Your structure could not function without me.

I lose my flexibility when you become sedentary or when your alignment causes one part of your body to continuously do more than it is designed to do. Keep me healthy by moving in dynamic, functional ways that improve whole body integration.

A reflection of my health can be seen in your body as your shape and contour changes. Constant tension in your body causes me to stiffen, limiting your ability to lengthen and move freely. If you don’t move me, I become thick and bind parts of your body. This limits your whole body’s interaction and mobility. Moving connective tissue with Dynamic Ease and Systemic Sensation keeps my support elastic. I change in response to movement.

Visualize me as an organized, but irregular spider web, the score upon which the musical notes of your movements are written to create a symphony of bone, muscle, and organ system sounds whose tones resonate fluidity, balance and harmony.

Class begins at 5:00pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood.  Come experience seamless systemic movement.

*From www.Nianow.com