Dancing Our Belly!

Usually this time of year there is a lot of focus in magazines and online newsletters on our abdominal muscles, our belly, and how to get a firm and sexy belly.  Most of what I read and see asks me to do some sort of "crunching".  I do not like crunches!!!  Let me dance my belly any day!  In Nia, we move and dance our whole body (called systemic movement), and by doing this we auto-Magically condition our abdominal muscles.  We expand and contract, fold and unfold our body, inhale and exhale, and use our sound...all bringing to life our abdominal muscles.   We also dance our pelvis, chest and head to condition our whole abdominal area, the front, sides and back of our body, from the top of our waist all the way down to the bottom of our pelvis.  Do this with me:  Stand in a soft A-Stance, place your hands on your belly or your waist and circle your pelvis.  Do you feel the engagement of all the muscles?  Now place your hands on the top of your head and do hip bumps.  WHOA!  Did you feel your core muscles stimulated?  Last thing.  Place your hands back on your belly and smell the moment, and sense your belly swelling, expanding.  Now exhale with a powerful sound of NO!!!  WOW - That feels invigorating!!

When you belly dance you also help to increase lower back strength and flexibility, and tone the  muscles around the lumbar spine.  This in return not only conditions, but also helps improve posture and digestion.  I could go on and on how you can dance and condition your belly...I rather just have you come dance with me this week!!!

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".
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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 Sensing our Wings!!

Good morning my Dancing Friends!
 

What a magical week of dancing and focusing on New Beginnings.  I loved how this focus "followed me" all week as it opened pathways and created sparks for others to dance and awaken their spirit to adventure; to the unknown.  Thank you to many of you who shared your new beginnings with me, and I wish you joy as you move toward your passion and dreams.  Let's all take flight this week with our new beginnings as we focus on our shoulder blades, our scapulae, our "Wings"! 

Scapula, which means blade in Latin, are 2 flat triangular bones at the back of our body that lie over the posterior surface of our rib cage. I love the the sensation of my shoulder blades as they slide and glide, and wing out, as I my move my arms up and down and around. Do this with me. Place your arms to the side of your body, palms facing out, and raise your arms up towards the sky.  Did you sense how your shoulder blades "wing" out? Now rotate your palms down and bring your arms back down towards the side of your body.  Did you sense the closing of your wings?  It's amazing - feels like I'm flying!  In order for our wings to fly freely, the muscles that support our wings (our rhomboids, trapezius, and and levator scapulae) like to be in a relaxed and ready state we call dynamic tension.  In Nia, we condition these muscles through creative arm and hand expressions, changing the direction of our palms, changing the angle of our upper arm bones, and by reaching out and touching life!

Let's fly this week!  As you dance through life and step out into a new week and your new beginnings, visualize your shoulder blades as 2 hands that lie on your back supporting you, giving you strength and confidence throughout your day.   Listen for voice that whispers "I've got your back; go ahead and take flight!"  See you in class!

My classes this week:
Monday (today) and Thursday at 5:30 pm
and Saturday 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.    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."   

New Beginnings!!!

Hello My Dancing Friends!
 

 

New beginnings...Do you know the average adult when relaxed has about 12- 20 breaths a minute?  12 - 20 new beginnings every minute!  Everytime we breathe, we are bringing in new life force energy into our body and facilitating our body's regenration process...new beginnings.  You can google and find tons of information how our amazing body renews itself:  Our tastebuds renew every 10 days, our skin and hair regenerates every 30 days, our cells every 7 years, our bones 10 years; the list goes on and on.  New beginnings occuring in our body right NOW!

Every Nia class feels like a new beginning to me.  The dance is always new, rich, and deep, and guides me to break away from my habits and venture towards something new.  This dance awakens my mind and just as my body renews, so does my spirit.  My spirit, soaring to a new beginning.  This week is special to me and it calls for new beginnings. It is following me, and I am ready...I hope you are and will join me in dance. 
 
My Nia Classes this week:

Thursday at 5:30 pm, Saturday at 9:30 am and Sunday at 4:00 pm all at The Synergy Studio.

EnJOY this poem from John O'Donohue:

For a New Beginning
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

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. 


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!

The Wisdom of Our Body - Ligaments and Tendons!

"There is deep wisdom within our very flesh, if we can only come to our senses and feel it."

Elizabeth A. Behnke
"Through Movement We Find Health." 
Nia

Good Morning My Friends!
Through the healing power of dance and self awareness, you can activate the wisdom of your body and develop the craft of sensing body comfort and balance beneath your skin.  Through this practice you can adjust your moves, create better ways to function, and consciously make changes with intent, focus and directed energy.   This leads to  a healthy relationship between you and your body, leading to self-healing and fitness. 

I believe people in this world are becoming more conscious about their body and the healing potential of movement.  My life purpose it to awaken the human healing potential, and one of the ways I do this is through Nia.  Nia has taught me to trust my body wisdom, and to listen to her sensations.   When we acknowledge the wisdom of our body, we start to awaken our healing potential.  The wisdom of our body are primarily voices (sensations) of pleasure and pain. The sensation of pain is good!  It 's our body's way of giving us information so we can make choices, and hopefully our choices bring our body back into peace and harmony.    As a sensation scientist, we are invited to become more body literate and skilled at interpreting the sensation messages we receive form our body. By listening and seeking out what feels good and pleasurable to our body, and by avoiding things that do not feel good, we can make decisions to improve our heath and avoid injury.  I find my body and how she is designed fascinating, and I am continuously learning about her!!!  So let's get into our Body!   

This week we will explore our ligaments and tendons.  Our ligaments and tendons are made of dense, fibrous tissues and are designed to provide us with stability and a safe range of motion. Ligaments connect bones to bones, and tendons connect muscles to bones.  Ligaments and tendons tell us when our movement potential has been reached and also tells us when it’s time to stop certain movements.   Our ability to respond to these sensory messages can mean the difference between dancing into bliss or being sidelined by injury.

Right now, let your arms lay at the sides of your body and then gradually bring them behind as if you were getting ready to fly.   Keep reaching behind and sense when you body says "Enough".  Now go a little bit further until your body says "STOP", you have gone to far!  Our bodies are incredible and are always speaking to us via sensation...all we need to do is listen. 

So this week in class let's dance and play with the sensation of ENOUGH....that place where your body feels pleasure and satisfaction, and celebrate the wisdom of our body.  When dancing through life, let's choose every opportunity to move and sense our body.  See you in class!! 

My Nia Classes this week:

Monday and Thursday at 5:30 pm, and Saturday 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.    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!

Balance and Harmony!

                     If you can create harmony
                             In your own life,
                        This harmony will enter
                   Into the vast world.- Sri Chinmoy

Good Morning EveryBody!
Our body is truly amazing.  Have you thought about how our body is designed in perfect balance and symmetry?  We are balanced with 2 legs, 2 arms, 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 lungs, two kidneys, 2 brain hemispheres....just to name a few.  What can you think of?  We are also balanced in yin and yang energy in our body.  Yin, the soft female side of us that is nurturing, creative and receptive.  This energy is constantly being manifested by the body's smooth, circular, melodic movements.  Yang, the male side of us is more aggressive, decisive and outward.  This energy is reflective by more explosive, directed and rhythmic movements.   Our body needs both.  Our mind, spirit and emotions need both.  With yin and yang energy we find & create balance.  In Nia we nurture and balance the symmetry and the energies of our whole self through movement variety, through soft and hard movements, blocks, punches, circles and spirals.  Our body LOVES, NEEDS and THRIVES on this.  When we honor the design of our body we create a new relationship with our body that support us to make choices that bring pleasure into our body resulting in harmony.  See you in class!

My Nia 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.

Also, join me Friday at 6:45 pm for JourneyDance!!

Thinking of taking the Nia White Belt?  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. 

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!

Conditioning the Nia Way!

Hello my Nia Friends!!
What comes into your mind when you hear or say the word conditioning?  Muscles, athletes, weights, pain, pleasure?  In Nia, conditioning is a holistic life style and fitness practice that follows the voice of the body - sensation. Nia conditioning is guided by pleasure and is infused with the Joy of Movement, which creates the perfect environment in your cells for well being and motivation.  What is Nia's secret?  Nia incorporates 9 movement forms that add different energy and variety for you to explore your potential.  Nia has a practice called FreeDance that invites you to move your body, explore your body sensations and create new movement vocabulary.  Nia uses the Five Sensations of Fitness (FAMSS): flexibility, agility, mobility, strength, and stability, that each have their own unique sensation quality.  These sensations invite you to be your own Conscious Personal Trainer so you can achieve the fitness results you want. Nia uses music that seduces you to move and create magic with your body.  Nia is based on 52 moves that 'works out' every muscle and moves every bone in your body! 

Nia conditioning is for your body, mind, emotions and spirit, and is practiced in the classroom and in life.  Are you ready to dance?  Are you ready to condition?  This is just the beginning...there is more.  Join me in class this week.

My Nia Classes this week:

Sunday (today) at 4:00 pmMonday and Thursday at 5:30 pm all at The Synergy Studio.

Then get ready for a weekend of conditioning and fun with the new Nia routine Touch.  Join Adelle and me for Touch classes on Friday, March 1 at 5:30 and Saturday, March 2 at 9:30... then again Sunday, March 3 at 2:30 for a "Learn the Move" experience of Touch, followed by the 4:00 class.  Many Nia teachers will be teaching with us on Sunday! Sign up here for the Sunday playshop, including the CD.

Teachers and Licensed Belts of Nia... Join us for Touch classes Friday and Saturday, and stay on Saturday for the Touch Routine Immersion learning experience! Contact me about receiving the bars and pearls.

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!

Reach out and Touch Life - Let Life Touch You!

Hello My Friends!!

What a warm and sun filled weekend!! I love the sensation of the sun touching my skin!  Touching is a great way to transmit and receive pleasure all day long through sensation. Touching increases body awareness, can provide energy healing, and has the power to emotionally console, or kinesthetically guide the body. One of Nia's Hand Moves is called "Touching"; however, we can actually touch and be touched constantly via our skin.  Did you know your skin is your largest organ of your body?  The average human being has 21 square feet of skin and about 300 million skin cells. Your skin is constantly renewing itself from the bottom up and takes 52 – 77 days to shed its cells..  Our skin can detect hot and cold, pain and pleasure, and through your skin you receive receive love, compassion, consoling, and comfort just through the touch of your own hands. So be touched!  As you walk, let the earth touch the soles of your feet.  As you put on your clothes, let your clothes touch your skin.  When you take a drink of water, let the glass touch your lips and your hand.  As you listen to music, let the sounds and silence vibrate your skin.  YUMMM!!!  

Oh and once last fact about your skin...Goose bumps are actually little pimples that help retain a layer of warm air over your body.  I just got them thinking about dancing with you this week!  I'm Touched!  HA HA!  See you in class.  

And speaking of Touch...Adelle and I are hosting an Immersion weekend for the new Nia routine TOUCH for students and Nia Teachers, March 1-3rd.  Find out more at this link:  https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=2715

and sign up for the Sunday playshop that includes a TOUCH music CD.   

My Nia Classes this week:

Monday and Thursday at 5:30 pm

Saturday at 9:30 am

and Sunday at 4:00 pm.

I will also be teaching the 10:00 am JourneyDance class.  All at The Synergy Studio.

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!