The Power of Our Heart

Good Morning EveryBody!

Our hearts have the power to give and receive love for ourselves, others and the Universe.  Our hearts have the power to transform any situation into peace, harmony, and joy through the giving and receiving of love.  

"The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed."
—Jiddu Krishnamurti

Our heart loves to dance and be open, and through this openness...a heart wide open...we are present to give and receive love to ourselves, others and the Universe.  We can open our hearts by simply undulating our spine and moving our ribcage.  Or by allowing our sounds to vibrate and open our heart.  Take a nice deep breath and then on the exhale sound AAAAAAA!!!  Sense the vibration in your heart!!  This vibration is the voice of your heart! 

One of the ways we can sense the giving and receiving of love is through our hands.  Through touch our hands give and receive love and compassion through the simple act of a hug or a soft brush on a shoulder or cheek.  Take your hands and place them on your heart center and breath...close your eyes and smell the moment.  Receive and give love simultaneously, unconditionally.  Now open your eyes and sense the world around you...did it transform?   Our hands are an extension of our heart.  Did you know your left ring finger has a direct vessel to your heart?

I recently finished a 21 day mediation challenge with a focus on love...opening, giving and receiving.  At times the opening of my heart was overwhelming and I felt vulnerable.  When this occurred, I allowed myself to move through these emotions, and through this dance I reaffirmed there is no greater gift than the giving and receiving of love.  In order for me to receive and give, I need to open my heart!  So today and everyday I will do my best to give and receive love in its full power and glory; to connect to the power of my heart.

Join me this week in love and dance as we celebrate the power of our heart.  This afternoon at 4:00 pm, I join 5 other Nia teachers as we come together as a community to give and receive at our Nia Jam benefit, honoring the Lone Star Paralysis Foundation and the Colorado Red Cross.  I will continue this focus the rest of the week in my other classes.  Heart wide open..giving and receiving on the dance floor. 

My other classes this week:  A student request, I will be teaching the Nia routine Sanctuary in my Nia classes. (I love requests!):
Monday and Thursday Nia at 5:30 pm
Friday JourneyDance at 6:45 pm
Saturday Nia at 9:30 am
all at http://www.thesynergystudio.com.
On Monday I celebrate my stepping into Nia 18 years ago.   I stepped in with an open and curious heart, and I have received so many gifts from this practice.  The biggest gift is the receiving of your friendship and love, and to receive your dance.  I am blessed!!

Learn more and go deeper into the connection with you body and your life by taking a Nia White Belt Intensive.   Check out my trainings with Adelle Brewer at:  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!

Receiving!

"Everything in life is most fundamentally a gift.

And you receive it best and you live it best

by holding it with very open hands"...Leo O'Donovan

Hello Friends!!
Last weekend I had the privilege of attending the Nia 52 Moves training.  It was an amazing weekend of dancing, conditioning, learning and sharing with fellow Nia trainers, teachers and students from across the country, and Italy!!  There was so much I received from everyBody at the training; gifts that I allowed to come in and touch my heart.

Take a moment, close your eyes, smell the moment and receive.  Receive your breath, receive the sounds around you, and receive the temperature in the room on your skin.  Notice where your body is touching, and receive the sensation of touch on your skin.  Your skin is your body's largest organ and receives temperature, pressure and texture sensations.   Now go inside and receive from your joints and connective tissue.  Principle 5 of Nia invites us to receive the gifts of sensations from our body and be in Awareness..to pay attention to our body sensations.  Next touch your body and let your body receive the calming and meditative effects of stillness: Living Meditation. .  Once you have opened your eyes, look around and receive.  Receive from all around you and transform what you are receiving into something “inspiring” and extraordinary:  Life as Art.  Gifts you may not have been aware of!!

As you go through your day be open and receive:  from your body, from the people in your life, from nature, from the Universe.  Receive with an open heart.  When I remind myself everything in life is a gift, the tone of my day becomes one of abundance and magic happens! 

What do you want to receive, how good are you at receiving?  Let's step into Nia and JourneyDance this week and receive, and see what happens!  For me, coming together and receiving your dance, your smile, your light are gifts that touch my heart and YES, I am rich and my heart is full.  See you on the dance floor!!!

My classes this week:
Thursday Nia at 5:30 pm
Friday JourneyDance at 6:45 pm
Saturday Nia at 9:30 am all at http://www.thesynergystudio.com.

Please join us next Sunday, August 12 at 4:00 pm for a rocking Nia Jam with Nia teachers from all over...  benefiting the Colorado Red Cross and the Lone Star Paralysis Foundation. All proceeds from the class will be donated to these wonderful organizations who are helping others in our community. It will be at The Synergy Studio... we hope to dance with you then!

Learn more and go deeper into the connection with you body and your life by taking a Nia White Belt Intensive.   Check out my trainings with Adelle Brewer at:  http://www.nianow.com/joanie


Love & Light,
Joanie Brooks,  Nia Training Faculty, Nia White Belt Trainer, Nia 5 Stages of Healing Facilitator, JourneyDance 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!

Gravity - Dual sensations from Heaven and Earth!

Hello Friends!
Gravity - "What goes up must come down."  We can't see Gravity, touch or smell Gravity yet all of us can identify with its most common sensation...its pull of our body towards earth.  But what about the gravitational pull from above?  Do you ever connect to the sensation of an upward gravitational pull?  It is there - the heavenly pull of gravity from the moon, the sun and the stars - the Universe  Think about it.  If the upward pull was not present we would be pulled into the center of the Earth.  We also know it is there by observing nature.  A plant has roots and its stems rise up to heaven.  Gravity is a universal force that acts on everything - it pulls us toward the earth and pulls us toward the heavens. 

What I notice is  most people surrender into the downward pull of gravity.  I see it in meetings with people hunched over their laptops, with their spine and head collapsed; or slumped in chairs with shoulders drawn in.  People driving down the freeways of life hoovering over their steering wheels with chins leaning out and the back of their neck compressed.  And then there are the 100s of people walking through their day with their heads down!  No wonder we have a society in pain - we are allowing gravity to pull on our faces, necks, spine, shoulders, chest, back, organs, hips, legs and feet!!   Did you know you are actually taller in the morning than at night due to temporary, daily compression of your body?  And that most people shrink between a quarter of an inch and five inches every decade after 40 due to compression!! 

In Nia class this week we will connect and play with this dual gravitational pull from earth and heaven, with the intent to experience a sensation of balance, lightness and decompress our body.  If we let our body move upward, like a flame, we can actually release our joints and connective tissue, allow our organs to float, our spine to extend and create more space in our body.  I have been playing with this sensation over that last few days and it is amazing!  This dual sensation has the power to make me feel taller and release tension in my body.  Surrounded by chaos of the day, connection to the upward sensation of gravity also calms me and connects me back to the joy of life.  AHH!!. BLISS..  where I am connected and nurtured from heaven and earth.  Ascending and descending.  Flying and grounding.  Right now, take a moment and close your eyes and allow your feet to be on the earth.  Smell the moment and connect with the sensation of a flame inside. While feeling supported below, allow your body to connect with lightness and the heavenly pull from above.  Breathe...Relax.   When you are ready, open your eyes and walk around the room and sense your body.  What do you sense? 
 
This play of dual gravitational pull is weaved throughout Nia to help us live gracefully and fully in our body.  The Alexander Technique, movement from the top, invites us to direct  our torso up, out, and away from our hips. The Alexander Technique reminds us that heaven has a gravitational force, calling to us, supporting us, and encouraging us to lengthen and reach out and up while dancing and in life.  The 3 planes of movement, part of Principle 7, invites us to shift our weight instead of dropping our body into earth, and then connect to the energy above so we can effortlessly sink and rise, ebb and flow, while conditioning our body.  X-Ray anatomy, Principle 10, reminds us our posture is dynamic and through sensation and awareness of energy up, down, and all around us, we can rearrange our bones vertically, horizontally and rotationally to bring healing and pleasure into our body. 

So let's connect with Bliss this week, that sensation of support from Heaven and Earth.  You might just grow a few inches!!  See you on the dance floor!

My 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.   Check out my trainings with Adelle Brewer at:  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!

Joyful Manifestation!!!

Hello my Nia Friends!!!
Many of you have met and danced with my nephew Conrad in my Nia classes, and this month he turns 10!  In my family we love to celebrate birthdays all month long (sometimes longer..hee hee), and Conrad's birthday is no exception.  His birthday is July 24th and I have already started the celebration!!  In the Mayan cosmology, 10 is the number of Manifestation, the number that allows manifestation to occur.  In honor of my dear nephew, I am focusing on manifestation in class this week.   Conrad is a manifestation of healing.  My sister Liz's purpose for Conrad ever since his accident has been to help him reach his maximum potential.  She has manifested this with his therapy and healers that have come into his life; and most recently through her research and development of a Pilot Study to improve the understanding and treatment of anoxic brain injury.   Many of you have also contributed to Conrad's manifestation of healing through your prayers, actions and words, and I hope you will join me and my fellow Nia teachers on Thursday at 5:30 pm, for a special Nia class to dance and celebrate Conrad's self manifestation. 

I believe the key to manifestation is clear intention and purpose, with a grounding in love.   Liz and Conrad have demonstrated this.  Debbie and Carlos Rosas clearly proved this when they co-created Nia.  Nia was founded based on the premise that fitness could feel better, be fun and cater to the whole person.  And it is and does!!!  Nia is a Joyful Manifestation of body, mind, emotions and spirit that inspires unlimited possibilities for healing.  Nia is based on the foundation of self love, and teaches people the art of living in a body through movement that awakens us to the sensations of our body!   Nia has been the container for me to reach my potential and my manifestation of health, well being and transformation, and has given me the path to become a Sacred Athlete, a teacher and healer to all people.  My life purpose is to give love and healing light to everyBody, and I manifest this with every Nia class, workshop and training.  This is why I practice, teach and train the body of work called Nia!!!
What does your heart desire to manifest?  Join me this week in dance and manifestation.  As Isadora Duncan says: "The dancer's body is simply the luminous manifestation of the soul."  See you on the dance floor!

My classes this week:
Monday at 5:30 pm
Thursday at 5:30 pm:  Special birthday celebration class with Joanie, Jan, Adelle, Sandy and Angie.
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.   Check out my trainings with Adelle Brewer at:  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!

Form and Freedom...Express the Spirit of you Nia Dance!

Happy 4th of July Week my Nia Friends!

Blessings to everyBody as we step into the 4th of July celebration week.  This week I am bringing back my Nia routine, called El Momento!  The focus of the routine is Form and Freedom with the intent for you to uniquely & creatively express the spirit of your Nia dance (Freedom) in every movement (Form). This routine explores the forms of Nia (Movement forms, 52 moves, 7 cycles, music, choreography) as an inspiration into Freedom and expression of your spirit, your uniqueness, your creativity.  The simple patterns, steps, stances and kicks allow you to develop your skill of the movements, and by connecting to body sensations and the music, the free expression of your body will unfold bringing Freedom & creativity to your movements. 

Your Body’s Way in the Now, the Moment, El Momento.   Use form to find freedom and use freedom to transcend your form.  As a Sacred Athlete, the potential is limitless as your freedom comes alive with your creativity, beauty and expression.  Join me on the dance floor...let's celebrate and create fireworks!!!  Plus full moon on Tuesday...WOW!!

My classes this week:
Monday and Thursday at 5:30 pm, and
Saturday at 9:30 am
all at http://www.thesynergystudio.com.

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!

Paying Attention to the Sounds and Silence of Life!!!

Hello Friends!!
I am back home after a fantastic week immersed in the Nia work and in nature at the beautiful Mar de Jade resort. I knew from the pictures this was going to be a magical place; however, I did not anticipate all the natural beauty that would surround me in the form of people, food, and nature!!!  Music and magic everywhere!   Every morning Adelle and I taught a Nia class in our ocean view studio, dancing not only to Nia routine music, but also with the sounds and silence of the sea, the birds, and the wind. Natures music....natural and organic. 

Sounds and silence are around each us, and if we take a moment to listen, we can hear music every where....the laughter of children, the wind blowing through the trees, my 2 dogs playing with each other (I had to add this!!), the birds making their sounds, a neighbor calling out to her family, friends engaged in a loving conversation.   All music...all inviting us to be seduced and to be ALIVE in our Dance of Life.

In Nia we view the power of music (Silence and Sound) through the triad of Music, Movement and Magic...MMM. Music is the canvas on which our body moves and the magic is what is expressed inside and outside of you in a natural, organic and alive way.  Music inspires, heals, awakens emotions, and can transform any situation into magic when we allow the vibrations to touch our body and be in sensation.

Nia also invites us to create a relationship with music by providing a system to track Sound and Silence - the 8BC system.  This system provides a mental grid on which to visually record the geometric patterns of sound, and then transcribe the sound through our minds and our bodies.  I truly believe the practice of listening to music and using the 8BC system of Nia will keep my mind agile, strong, flexible and youthful.  Ask me more about this fountain of youth process!!! 

So meet me on the dance floor this week as we dance to the Sounds of Silence of the Nia routine Aya.  The music of Aya inspires you to connect to the freedom, romance and excitement of life, creating magic through your body.

"Music is the festive dress of silence" - Chamalu
“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” -Aldous Huxley

And one last thing.  Join me in celebrating Sandy Ananda Ramon as a new Nia White Belt!!!  Ananda was with Adelle and me in Mexico where she stepped into the Nia White Belt, graduating on June 22nd.  Ananda lives in Germany but started her Nia dance here in San Antonio (her home town), and dances with us every time she is here for a visit.  She is here with us through July so offer her congratulations the next time you dance with her!!!

My classes this week:
Monday and 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.   Check out my trainings with Adelle Brewer at:  http://www.nianow.com/joanie

And join us next year when we return to Mar de Jade for a Nia retreat...November 9-16, 2013... we are on the calendar!

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/

Our beautiful shoulder girdle...a halo of light!!

Easter morning I reached for the Nia routine Infinity.  This routine was created about 10 years ago, uses the eclectic and ambient music of Nahoo, and invites us to be with our shoulder girdle.  Our shoulder girdle is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. Visualize your shoulder girdle as a halo of light that supports the vertical alignment of your head, and is in harmony and balance with the halo at the crown of your head and the halo that illuminates your pelvis.  Your scapula or shoulder blades are shaped like wings at the back of your shoulder and helps to distribute the movement of your arms and diminish stress in the shoulder joint.  Your clavicle is an S shaped bone and is the only bone that lies horizontally in your body.  You have 2!  They allow horizontal flow and alignment that is necessary for efficient ease and power of your arms.  It receives its name from the Latin word clavicula ("little key") because the bone rotates along its axis like a key when your shoulder is drawn away from your body, and it is roughly the same shape as a key for a Roman door lock. Cool!!  I love my clavicles!  

And our Humerous bone…well it is the longest and largest bone of your upper extremity and at the top, it has rounded head that moves inside the shoulder joint.

Our shoulder girdle is meant to be free. When our shoulder girdle is free, our whole body is more relaxed and we can actually breath deeper.  One of the best ways to condition your shoulder girdle is to use Palm Directions (one of our 52 moves).  Take your right hand and place it on your left shoulder girdle.  Rotate your palms to heaven and earth several times.  Did you sense the natural rotation and mobility?  Now move your right hand to your clavicle, and touch your clavicle between your thumb and desire finger.  Move your left hand up with palm facing to heaven, and then back down, with Palm to earth.  Did you sense the subtle rotational yet stable movement of your clavicle allowing your arm to move effortlessly and freely?  Awesome!

So let’s dance this week and give thanks to our beautiful shoulder girdle.  And through out the week, take time to give yourself a big hug and sense your wings.  They are there giving you flight every day…see you in class!!

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


Have you decided yet???!!!  Join me in Mexico for a Nia retreat (or Nia intensive) June 16th.  It is going to be fun...fun...fun....Watch this video...!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FftBCuv7HqE
We want you there with us!
Considering taking the Nia White belt intensive?  Whether you want to teach Nia or take Nia for personal growth, it is an amazing experience!!!   Check out my trainings at: www.nianow.com/joanie and click on "My Trainings"