Dancing Your Pelvis!!

Hello My Friends!
This week we will focus on sensing our pelvis in all our movements - Dancing Our Pelvis.  Movement of the pelvis strengthens the abdominal muscles, releases tension in your lower back and increases spinal flexibility.  When the pelvis is free, the spine is free.  As you step and dance through space, move your pelvis as though you had a long tail. When you involve your pelvis in every movement and move it freely in all directions, you will become strong, toned and healthy.   The word "pelvis" means basin and we like to call our pelvis the container.  Think about it...your pelvis CONTAINS your reproductive organs, digestive organs, and your bladder, so YES it is a container!  Every time you move your pelvis you are massaging these organs.  So swing, sway, circle and do hip bumps with your pelvis and sense how much better you will feel!!  As you dance through life, take opportunities to dance your pelvis...while you are cooking, circle your pelvis.  As you walk, act as if you are wearing a skirt (yes even if you are a man), and sense how relaxed your lower back feels.  Jump up from your desk and move your hips side to side to get the energy flowing in your spine!!!  

So let’s dance from the inside out and seek ways of moving that keep your pelvis loose and agile, strong and stable.  Our dancing this week will be powered with the music of Sacred Earth Drums.  We will move our bodies to the sounds of drums, flutes, guitars, birds, and water.  Grounding with earth and unleashing our creativity.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention your pelvis is the container of Chakras One and Two.   HEE HEE...Let the magic begin!  See you in class.
Start your dance with this treat to one of the Sacred Earth Drums songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzDvtqws49s&feature=relmfu

My classes this week:
Monday, Thursday and Friday (subbing for Adelle) at 5:30 pm
Saturday at 9:30 am,
and Sunday at 4:00 pm
all at The Synergy Studio. 

Read more about the sensation of your Pelvis in this month's Nia Headquarter's newsletter.  See what Debbie Rosas and 3 fellow Nia Trainers suggest to keep your pelvis healthy and bring more pleasure in your life!   http://www.nianow.com/story/2012/10/awareness-of-the-pelvis-sensing-grace-and-power!  You can also download a student handout here:  http://www.nianow.com/public/student-handout-awareness-of-pelvis-october-2012

 Learn more and go deeper into the connection with you body and your life by taking a Nia White Belt Intensive.   Our next intensive is coming up in December...a split weekend. Sign up and receive pre-training materials! http://www.nianow.com/joanie

Love & Light,
Joanie Brooks,  Nia Training Faculty, Nia White Belt Trainer,
Nia 5 Stages of Healing Facilitator, Journey Dance Facilitator, Mindful Change Coach
http://www.joaniebrooks.me/ 
Nia - Somatic Education for EveryBody.  Nia is an expressive movement form & lifestyle practice that uses The Body's Way to achieve physical, mental, emotional & spiritual fitness & well-being."   

75 trillion cells in your body…Play with them all with Nia!

Pelvis with the Distanceby Georgia O'Keeffe

Our Dancing Eyes..Awareness of Sight!

Hello My Friends! One of our most incredible gifts we have is the gift of sight. Of all of your body’s five senses, the sense of sight is considered to be the most complex. They are designed to receive and process light, rays and beams of light, and bounce off objects, giving you information about color, shape and texture. Have you ever stopped during your day and acknowledge the sights that are being taken in by your eyes?  From the moment we wake up to the time we go to bed, our eyes are busy taking pictures and sending them to our brain for analysis. Our brain is in business with our eyes!  Take a moment now and look around.  What do you see and what are you perceiving you see?  Nia asks us to be aware every moment, and as we look out into the world, to change our perception of what we see to make it pleasing - Life As Art.  Pleasure. 

Our eyes are about the size of a table-tennis ball and they work just like a camera.  The numerous muscles in our eyes work together to allow our eyes to move in all directions:  up, down, around... taking pictures of our world!  Did you know that out of all the muscles in your body, the muscles that control your eyes are the most active?  You blink about 12 times every minute, and every blink lasts about 1/10th of a second!  BUSY! 

In a Nia class we use the Head and Eye movement (one of Nia's 52 moves) to condition our eyes by looking around.  When we follow our hand with our eyes or act as if we are following a butterfly, we engage the whole body.  As I've said before, Nia is a WHOLE body workout, including our eyes!! 

I have listed below 7 things you can do throughout your day as you Dance Through Life, to keep your eyes healthy.  Happy SEEING...and SEE you in class this week.  Note there is a JourneyDance class on Friday...WOOT!

My classes this week:
Monday, Thursday and Friday (subbing for Adelle) at 5:30 pm
Friday at 6:45 a JourneyDance class,
Saturday at 9:30 am,
and Sunday at 4:00 pm
all at  http://www.thesynergystudio.com/. 

1.  Breathe deeply. Your eyes are situated far from your lungs and heart, and shallow breathing will deprive your eyes of the essential nutrients they need to stay healthy, fit and well. Every hour, consciously take 30 seconds to “smell the moment,” drawing a deep breath in and letting out a full sigh, lengthening the time of your exhale.
2. Relax. Stress reduces the flow of blood and oxygen, starving your eyes of the fuel and nutrients they need to stay healthy. Make a conscious effort to relax your body and face, softening your eyes and jaw.
3. Check your posture. Avoid thrusting your head forward by releasing your lower jaw, allowing your head to gently float up.
4. Take a time out. When you sense your sight becoming blurry, distorted or strained, stop and take a time out. Relax and release by vocally sounding sustained vowel sounds of, “A-E-I-O-U”.
5. Thank your eyes. Each day, in the morning, noon and night, thank your eyes by saying, “Thank you for sharing the world with me”.
6. Exercise your eye muscles. Look left and right, up and down, around to the left and around to the right, and diagonally, sensing the muscles of your eyes stretching.
7. Avoid staring and blink. For every five minutes you have to look in one direction or at one point for extended lengths of time, stop and look out into the distance and take in everything. Move away from your computer screen after 20 minutes and look around. 

Learn more and go deeper into the connection with you body and your life by taking a Nia White Belt Intensive.   Our next intensive is coming up in December...a split weekend. Sign up and receive pre-training materials! http://www.nianow.com/joanie


Love & Light,
Joanie Brooks,  Nia Training Faculty, Nia White Belt Trainer,
Nia 5 Stages of Healing Facilitator, Journey Dance Facilitator, Mindful Change Coach
http://www.joaniebrooks.me/

  
 Nia - Somatic Education for EveryBody.  Nia is an expressive movement form & lifestyle practice that uses The Body's Way to achieve physical, mental, emotional & spiritual fitness & well-being."   

75 trillion cells in your body…Play with them all with Nia!

Nia... A Gift That Lasts A Lifetime!!!

Good morning my Friends!

"If you remember anything about Nia, remember this: the soul of Nia is  the Joy of Movement."  Debbie Rosas and Carlos AyaRosas, co-founders of Nia.  

What a fantastic cool morning.  I've been outside appreciating the coolness of the morning against my skin and gazing at the beautiful moon.  Its Magical!  I'm excited this week as Adelle and I prepare for a Nia White Belt that starts this Friday.  We have a wonderful group from our dancing community and from Mexico.  I love delivering this work!  The Nia White Belt focuses on the foundation of Nia through 13 principles that guide you to place your attention on yourself, on your body, and on physical sensation.  The intent of these principles are to assist and inspire you to celebrate your body and your human potential.   The Nia White Belt is designed for people of all shapes and sizes, and teach you about sensory-based movement as a pleasurable way to achieve lasting health, wellness and fitness.  It is truly a gift that last a lifetime, and goes beyond the class into life!! If you have been contemplating this gift, there is still time and room to sign up!  Go to http://www.nianow.com/nia-training/24/nia-white-belt-training.  And make sure you come to the Nia classes during the white belt as we dance and focus on the principles of the white belt!  

As a "kick-off" to the upcoming White Belt I will be focusing on principle 1 of the Nia White Belt, The Joy of Movement.

The Joy of Movement teaches us to connect to Joy by choosing sensation through all movement.  As you sense your body, you invite Joy in.  No matter what your circumstances are, you have the capacity to live and move in Joy, which is more than an emotion; it is a way of being in the world.  This principles invites us to use Joy and Your Body's Way to fall in love with your body and your life.  It is also a tool you can use to shift your dance, your attitude and your life. It's the first step of becoming a Sacred Athlete.  Right now you can consciously choose this energy.  What a gift!!!  See you in class this week!

My Nia classes this week:

• Monday and Thursday at 5:30 pm
• Friday at 5:30 pm with Adelle 
• Saturday at 9:30 am with Adelle (shifting focus to Principle 2, Natural Time and the 9 Movement Forms of Nia)
• and Sunday at 4:00 pm with Adelle (shifting focus to Principle 5, The Base of the Body) all at http://www.thesynergystudio.com.

Go to my link & get 40% off of Nia clothing, music & much more!!  Look for the 40% off purple button:  http://nianow.com/joanie
Love & Light,
Joanie Brooks,  Nia Training Faculty, Nia White Belt Trainer, Nia 5 Stages of Healing Facilitator, Journey Dance Facilitator, Mindful Change Coachhttp://www.joaniebrooks.me/


 Nia - Somatic Education for EveryBody.  Nia is an expressive movement form & lifestyle practice that uses The Body's Way to achieve physical, mental, emotional & spiritual fitness & well-being."   

75 trillion cells in your body…Play with them all with Nia!