Now I Am...Embrace, Celebrate, Shine...2013 Focus!

Happy New Year Friends!

Wishing you a JOYous 2013 and may all your dreams and desires prosper this year!  2012 was NiaSA's year of Purpose, Potential, Possibilities...becoming a Sacred Athlete.  2013 is the year of "Now I Am...Embrace, Celebrate, Shine.  Now I Am Embracing who I am, Celebrating my journey and Shining my Purpose."  I hope you will join all of NiaSA in this overarching focus for 2013!!!  

I am very excited as I step into the new year, filled with great expectations!  It is also for me a promise of change.  Change is a Gift and is the one constant in all our lives   Change opens us to new ideas and to a new way of being.  Change can be small or large; there are no boundaries.  It can be as simple as putting your shoes on your left foot first instead of your right foot!  Change creates new neuro-pathways in our brain and keeps us alive and young!  We have a practice in Principle 4 of the Nia White Belt, FreeDance, where we are invited to change our movement every 2 bars.  It is called Authentic Movement and the intent of this practice is to stimulate new movements, break habits and invite creativity in our body.  To become authentic with who we are and to expand our movement vocabulary.  Change is a Gift!  What do you want to change?  Are you willing to go through change?  As we begin our 2013, let us open to the gift of change.  Bring your gift to the dance floor and greet it with great expectations.  One of the most powerful ways to manifest change is through movement...through your body.  From there who knows where it will transcend!!!  Find out...see you in class!!!  

My classes this week:
Thursday Nia at 5:30 pm
Friday JourneyDance at 6:45 pm and

Saturday Nia at 9:30 am
all at  http://www.thesynergystudio.com/. 

Change is a Gift!....learn more and go deeper into the connection with you body and your life by taking a Nia White Belt Intensive.    Sign up at http://www.nianow.com/joanie.  

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 Guide, 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!

Dancing Through Life X-Raying and Sensing Our Alignment!!

Hello My Dancing Friends!

Today Adelle and I had the honor of graduating 4 new Nia White Belts, Cassendra Keys and Maria Palma from San Antonio, Bianca Rodriguez from Laredo, and Ronda Bartley from Oklahoma.  YEAH!!!  They are now starting their Nia journey and stepping into this world to share their gifts.  I love the work of Nia, and each Nia White Belt intensive is a amazing learning and growing experience for me.  I have so much to be grateful for, including the wonderful community of dancers and healers we have here in San Antonio.  Thank you for your dance, for your smile, for your light.  

2012 has been the Year of Becoming a Sacred Athlete...a year of Purpose, Potential and Possibility.  A Sacred Athlete is a teacher and healer to all people.  Becoming a Sacred Athlete is a choice and is a journey of discovering your purpose, exploring your limitless potential and opening up to the endless possibilities available to you when you choose pleasure and love as your path for transformation and to self mastery.  We are all teachers.  We teach others with our actions, our thoughts and words.  We teach others through our choices.  Choosing to keep your body healthy through movement and dance shows others how you have chosen to love your body.  As we prepare to close 2012 and open up to the unlimited possibilities of 2013, I invite you to say with me "I am a Sacred Athlete!".  

Our Nia focus this week is Principle #10 of the White Belt, X-Ray Anatomy - Dynamic Postural Alignment.  X-Ray Anatomy is a practice of observing and sensing our alignment via our bones, ligaments and muscles.  It is a wonderful way for you to create a relationship with your body, and through sensation, imagination, intuition and your internal eyes, "seeing inside" and lovingly making changes to bring your body into hemostasis.  In X-Ray Anatomy we also play with the concept of 200/700, which refers to the 200+ bones and 700+ muscles in your body. Exploring your body with the awareness of 200/700 reveals an endless world of movement possibilities!!!

So let's open up to all possibilities our body and our life has for us as we dance this week...it is ENDLESS; open to our potential...it is LIMITLESS!!!  See you on the dance floor.   

My classes this week:
Monday and Thursday Nia at 5:30 pm
Friday at 6:45 pm JourneyDance™ Class..see description below

Saturday Nia at 9:30 am
and Sunday Nia at 4:00 pmall 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.    Sign up at http://www.nianow.com/joanie.  There is currently a special from Nia HQ where you get $100 of any white belt in 2013.  This special runs through Dec. 31, 2012.  Use the registration code of wb123112 at checkout.

 

Join me for JourneyDance™on December 21, 2012 at 6:45 pm at The Synergy Studio.   This a special day in many ways.  It is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, and marks the beginning of the Sun's accent into the sky.  In Latin, solstice means "sun set still", and Winter Solstice is the great stillness.   December 21, 2012 is also the date recorded in stone by the Ancient Maya over 1300 years ago indicating the completion of a World Age Cycle.  It is a day we are invited to synchronize with all life in the Universe to begin a new World consciousness fired by love, compassion, gratitude and peace.  Awakening to our Self-Generation, we are called to unify with all hearts and minds for Universal healing.   Join me on this day in harmony with others across the planet, as we JourneyDance™ and open to new possibilities beyond all past precedents! What are you creating, what do you want to create, what needs healing or forgiveness?  What can you let go of now (physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually) to fulfill your desires, hopes and dreams?  It is time to embrace who YOU are, to celebrate where YOU have been and where we are going, and to shine Your light. 

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 Guide, 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!

Dancing Through Life with Your Fingers, Hands and Arms...Expressing the Real You!

Expressing ourselves with our upper extremities is a natural part of living in a human body—we do it all the time! Our arms, hands and fingers express joy, pain and pleasure; intimacy, protection and excitement. When we are hurt, our hands reach for our injuries. When we are deeply moved, our hands reach toward our hearts. When we are excited by our achievements, our arms burst up to the sky, toward unlimited possibility. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are always communicating our thoughts, feelings and emotions through the movement of our upper extremities. Tuning into your upper extremities—your arms, hands and fingers—allows you to tap into your full range movement and expression, naturally healing and conditioning your body by simply interacting with the world. This is the Body’s Way, and That is why 18 of Nia's 52 moves are dedicated to our these lovely body parts.  They add so much to our dance!!!  All of a sudden a bow stance is your dance in flight as you imagine your arms as beautiful white wings of light; a heal lead is an opportunity to paint the space around you with your fingers; and stepping onto the ball of your foot is a determined reach toward your dreams with your hands!  Right NOW give yourself a hug and receive the healing touch of your hands on your skin.  I then invite you to give that hug to someone and allow them to sense your healing touch.  It just might be the best gift they have ever received!!!

So this week as we prepare and step back into the Nia White Belt intensive we will focus on Principle #9 of the Nia White Belt - Creative Arm and Hand Expressions, in my Monday and Thursday clases.  As as you Dance Through Life pay attention pay attention to the movements and sensations
of your upper extremities throughout your day.
- Notice how you use your arms, hands to express your thoughts and feelings in every environment.
- As you walk, allow your arms to swing freely to relaxed shoulder joints.
- As you work at the computer, set reminders throughout the day to notice the sensations in your neck and shoulders. Then, consciously relax the muscles of your neck, shoulders and upper back as you type.  Use Creepy Crawlers to stimulate movement of your joints in your hands.
- When you finish working for the day, practice Palm Directions to release your shoulder joints and stretch the front of your chest.
- To release tension and stretch your hands, integrate Webbed Spaces into various activities in your day, such as when walking from your car to the store, as you wait in line, etc. 

I love this work...see you in class!
My classes this week:
Monday at 5:30 pm
Thursday at 8:00 am
Friday at 5:30 pm team teaching with Adelle, focus on Principle 10, X-Ray Anatomy
Saturday at 9:30 am team teaching with Adelle focus on the 52 Moves...energize the moves to the routine Passion!!!
Sunday at 4:00 pm team teaching with Adelle focus on Celebration while you dance what you senseall 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.    Sign up at http://www.nianow.com/joanie.  There is currently a special from Nia HQ where you get $100 of any white belt in 2013.  This special runs through Dec. 31, 2012.  Use the registration code of wb123112 at checkout.

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

Grateful For Our Voice!!!

Happy Thanksgiving week my dear Friends!

"Spirit is not a mystic concept. The spirit of a person is manifest in her  aliveness, brightness of his eyes,in the resonance of her/his voice and in the ease and gracefulness of her/his movements. These qualities are related to and stem from a high level of energy in the body... Sensing the harmony between the internal pulsation of our body and that in the universe, we feel identified with the universal, with God. We are like tuning forks vibrating at the same pitch (Alexander Lowen,1995, 314-315. )

Have you ever wondered why we sound in our Nia classes?  Sounding in class is Nia's way to help you relax, become stronger and to condition not only your body, but your mind, emotions and spirit.  In a way sound is magic!!!  Sounding your voice strengthens your physical body, empties and clears your mental body, cleanses your emotional body and enlivens your spirit body.  The way Nia uses the voice is directed at enhancing your wellness and your health, and it can be as simple as sounding with your breath.  Right now take a nice full breath, as if you are smelling roses, and then as you exhale, sound a big "AHHHH!".  Using sound as I release my breath relaxes me and at the same time gives me a spark of energy!!

Every time you make a sound (in class or in life) you stimulate an immense number of sympathetic vibrations within your body.  When you move energy with words and sound, you connect to a very powerful source - your voice. Trusting your voice, getting to know you own tone and power comes from speaking out, from making sounds and tones.  There is so much power in speaking/sounding your voice!  Affirmations and prayers are more powerful for me when I say them out loud vs. just saying them in my mind.  Hearing my voice gives me the sensation that I am harmonized and connected to life and with the Universe.  Nia recognizes this.  From the circle at the beginning of class where we sound our name and affirm who we are, to the end of class where we sound with our breathe or say YEAH! as we step out into life, we engage our voice.  I love a class full with the beauty of students voices!!  I have had many students tell me their stories of how the simple sounding of YES and NO during class has helped them say YES and NO in their life outside of class. What is your story? 

Grateful for our voice, grateful for who we are, grateful for our life.  Sound with me right now:  "Thank you body, thank you life!  I am HERE!".  See you and HEAR you on the dance floor.  Bring your family and friends during this special Thanksgiving week!

My classes this week:

Monday at 5:30 pm

Thursday Nia Thanksgiving class with Adelle at 8:00 am (WOOT!!),

Saturday at 9:30 am

and Sunday at 4:00 pm

all at The Synergy Studio.  

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

There is currently a special from Nia HQ where you get $100 of any white belt.  This special runs through Dec. 31, 2012.  Use the registration code of wb123112 at checkout.

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!

Sensing and Dancing The Curves of Your Spine!!

Hello My Dancing Friends!

Our spine consist of 26 vertebrae and provides structural support for our entire body.  Did you know your spine has four distinct curves: cervical (neck), thoracic (upper back), lumbar (lower back), and sacral (pelvis level)?   The curves and their specific shapes are very important for supporting the body’s weight, and if one curve is misaligned, the rest of the curves (and body) will be affected.  At birth, our spine was C-shaped. As we developed, learning to creep, crawl, stand and then walk, our spine shaped and adapted, becoming flexible, mobile and strong.  When we were about 10 years old our lumbar curve fully assumed to its adult shape, which has natural curves that form an S-Shape.  Close your eyes and visualize this S along you back and sense the curves!  This magical structure gives you the ability to lean sideways, twist, vibrate, undulate, rotate, flex, stretch and move effortlessly through 3 planes of movement.  The curves of your spine also support the weight of your body, work like coiled springs to absorb shock, and helps you maintain balance.  It is amazing!    

 

So lets dance and sense our curves this week in class.  Your spine loves joyful movement and when your spine is healthy and happy, your torso is healthy, flooding your arms and legs with rejuvenating energy!  I like to visualize my spine as an elegant string of pearls that curve through my body, giving me strength and resistance; and no matter what type of movement I do, what shape I create, it will magically go back to its inherent shape and be even stronger!!  See you in class as we dance to an older Carlos Nia routine called Girls Night Out!  This is such a fun and spirited routine that is charged with the jazzy sounds of Candy Dolpher.  Snap, crackle, pop, sassy and alive!! Bring your CURVES!!!

My classes this week:

Monday, and Thursday Nia at 5:30 pm

Friday JourneyDance class at 6:45 pm

and Saturday  Nia at 9:30 am

all at The Synergy Studio.  

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 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!

The Rhythm of Life...Do you Feel it?

Hello friends!

“To live is to be musical, starting with the blood dancing in your veins. Everything living has a rhythm. Do you feel your music?”
                                                                        Michael Jackson

Everything in life flows with its unique rhythm...the sun comes and goes down each day as part of the rhythm of the Universe (not our mechanical clocks), the seasons fflower and change, and the moon flows from full to new.  In your body, you can feel your unique rhythm though your heartbeat, your breath, the blinking of your eyes, the beat of your internal organs, the flow of you blood and water...everything flows.  Even your laughter has a unique rhythm.  Go ahead and laugh right NOW and notice how each HA (the beat of your laugh) is exactly spaced.  It's amazing!!   Rhythm is the driving force that holds our lives together!

In Nia we honor the rhythm of every Body through a principle called Natural Time.  Natural Time (NT) is fluid, non-linear, and centered in the NOW; and it reconnects us to the rhythms of nature and he rhythms of all life forms. NT invites us to move in our own time, at our own pace and discover our own unique way of moving so we can make choices intuitively as we sense our body.  NT is a way for us to be in touch with the Universe, and have a deep and rich relationship with our body.  NT invites us to dance to our unique beat.  Our bodies love to move, and when we move in NT, our body becomes fluid with the rhythm  of life. 

So even though today the mechanic time has changed, stay connected to your rhythm, your natural beat.  Honor and trust your flow..it is uniquely you and it is perfect!  Do you feel it...Rhythm!!  See you in class!! 
My classes this week:
Monday, and Thursday at 5:30 pm
Saturday at 9:30 am
and Sunday at 4:00 pm
all at The Synergy Studio. 

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!

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