Thursday, January 22, 2015

Energy Food Groups for Your Body - Nia 5 Fitness Sensations!!

Good Morning Friend
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Just as we do our best to eat from the 5 major food groups to keep our body healthy, balanced and strong, in Nia we have 5 fitness sensation "energy food groups" that are responsible for maintaining functional fitness, that results in balance and harmony in our body, mind, spirit and emotions.  We call this in Nia FAMSS:  Flexibility, Agility, Mobility, Strength and Stability.  Each sensation is unique with qualities you can learn to recognize in your own body, and "TURN ON" and "TASTE" at any given moment. 

There are many benefits in developing body awareness of the 5 sensations of flexibility, agility, mobility, strength, and stability in your workout and in your life.  Each unique sensation is necessary for keeping your body physically fit and energetically balanced.  Integrating all 5 sensations in your dance keeps muscles relaxed, highly charged and ready for action over longer periods of time.  Your muscles can work with greater efficiency when they are allowed to move and rest as they go from one sensation to another.  When one sensation is overused, grace and power are always diminished, resulting in muscle and energy imbalance and unnecessary chronic tension that can lead to the inefficient muscle and poor alignment. 

Here is our Sensation menu:
FLEXIBILITY is sensed as energy moving out.  It is a feeling of releasing power. Flexibility feels like a warm lengthening along the bone that stretches the belly of the muscle. Flexibility relaxes and never tenses the body.  Sense this…Stretch your arms out and reach for the stars.   The sensation that you feel is the sensation of flexibility!

AGILITY is sensed as energy starting and stopping.  It is a feeling of pulling and pushing. Agility feels like a playful tug-of-war action, changing; stop-now GO.  Sense this...Act as if you are reaching out and catching a fire fly, then another and another.  The sensation you feel is the sensation of agility!

MOBILITY is sensed as energy in constant movement, a continuous energy flow in a wide range of motion – a constant and varying excitation of the nerves around the joints, engaging the muscles, bones and joints.
Sense this… Move all 10 fingers simultaneously and act as if you are tickling someone.  The sensation you feel is the sensation of mobility!

STRENGTH is sensed as energy moving inward, like squeezing or packing energy against the bone.  It feels like a warm power moving along and into the bones.  Sense this… Clench your fist softly and draw power into your body through your fists and arms.   The sensation you feel is the sensation of strength!

STABILITY is sensed as energy moving from the center out in all directions.  It is the feeling of harmony and peace, combined with readiness for action.  Sense this… Balance on one leg, and in slow motion, move your free leg and both arms. Stability is what keeps you from falling, even as you move.
Nia is about choices and sensation.  Choose 1, 2 or all from the Sensation menu, and sense YUMMYness in your body and life!!  See you on the dance floor!!

My Nia classes this week:
Thursday at 5:30 pm
Saturday at 9:30 am

​and Sunday at 4:00 pm​

all at http://www.thesynergystudio.com.

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
​February 20th.  Pre-register HERE and receive training gifts!!
Love & Light,
Joanie Brooks,
http://www.joaniebrooks.com
Nia Training Faculty, Nia White Belt Trainer, Nia 1st Degree Black Belt

MELT Certified Hand & Foot Instructor
Yoga Teacher (certified in the YogaFit Warrior Program)
Journey Dance Facilitator
Nia 5 Stages of Healing Facilitator
Mindful Change Coach
Laughter Yoga Leader




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!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Shreem - I am all possibilities!

“All the possibilities of your human destiny are asleep in your soul. You are here to realize and honor these possibilities. When love comes in to your life, unrecognized dimensions of your destiny awaken and blossom and grow. Possibility is the secret heart of time.”
― John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom


​Happy New Year Dear Friends!

As many of you know we are honoring 2015 as the Year of Possibilities.  I love this and it invites me to be in the mystery of life and open to all that comes my way...no matter what it is...to be open and allow newness to happen...to break habits. That is when transformation happens. Nia is all about possibilities. 

In Principle 1, Joy of Movement, we are invited through sensation to chose joy and allow new possibilities to view life and our dance through this energy.  In Principle 2, Natural Time and 9 Movement Forms, we move with different energy dynamics that allows us to explore all aspects of your body, mind, spirit and emotions. New ways to heal, new ways to move.  Principle 3, Music & 8BC System, invites us to be inspired by music and to bring magic into our dance.  Principle 4, FreeDance, we are invited to Move, Explore and Create, expanding movement choices.  Principle 5, Awareness, deepens our relationship with our body and discover infinite ways to self-heal.  Principle 6, Base, invites us to discover the dynamic and grounding power of our feet, ankles, legs and hips, and the many ways to dance and move on this earth.  Principle 7, 3 Planes and Intensity Levels, gives us new ways to condition our body and to make decisions in the moment based on our goals and aspirations.  Principle 8, Core, expands our concept of the core of our body and offers endless healing through movement of our pelvis, chest, head and spine.  Principle 9, Upper Extremities, invites us to open to the healing power of our hands, arms and shoulder girdle, and turn our dance into a dance of reaching, touching, communicating and expressing!   Principle 10, X-Ray Anatomy, invites us to play with 200/700 potential ways of moving our body.  Principle 11, Creating a Sacred Livelihood, awakens us to our purpose, to live in our greatness and be open to all possibilities.  Principle 12, Body and Life Education, reminds us to be a continuous student of life, and see every opportunity as a possibility to create change.   And finally Principle 13, Sharing What You Sense, offers a connection to NOW, to the moment and to acknowledge through voice our sensations.  This is a gift to self and others to feel and fully express and self heal in endless ways.  POSSIBILITIES!!!!
AHHH....so step in with me this week and we explore possibilities.  Say with me "Shreem - I am all Possibilities!!"

My classes this week:
Monday (today) and Thursday at 5:30 pm
Saturday at 9:30 am
and Sunday at 4:00 pm
at The Synergy Studio

Learn more about Nia and go deeper into the connection with you body and your life by taking a Nia White Belt Intensive.   Our next intensive is February 2015. Sign up and receive pre-training gifts!


Love & Light,
Joanie Brooks,
http://www.joaniebrooks.com
Nia Training Faculty, Nia White Belt Trainer, Nia 1st Degree Black Belt

MELT Certified Hand & Foot Instructor
Yoga Teacher (certified in the YogaFit Warrior Program)
Journey Dance Facilitator
Nia 5 Stages of Healing Facilitator
Mindful Change Coach
Laughter Yoga Leader



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."