I am a symbol of beauty, soft power, grace and love.

I see my upper extremities as an symbol of eagle wings, opening and closing as I heal and condition my rhomboids. Tighten and loosen. Soaring and moving me to my potential. I see my feet as many feet of my ancestors before me as I walk across this earth conditioning and self healing, paying attention to my body sensations and dancing through life. I see my ribcage as an golden accordion, expanding and contracting as I condition the core of my body. Through desire, imagination and expectation I create the vision of healing and conditioning for my body.

Through sensation and a desire to walk the path of a Sacred Athlete I am expanding my body literacy via sensation. Sensation are the voices of my body, and X-Ray anatomy is one of my tools for applying my anatomical knowledge, as I observe, witness, and guide my body to healing. Nia has taught me to trust what I feel and to have an ongoing conversation with my body so I can constantly make conscious choices to keep my body in the best condition I have ever been in. The sensations of FAMSS...where do I need flexibility, agility, mobility, strength and stability, is a song that is deep within my cells....a song that has transformed my body from within and energetically made me more feminine. When I first started my Nia practice, I was not attuned to my body underneath. Everything was external, masculine, power driven, including how I moved and transmitted my Nia dance. Sensation brought me inside, brought me close to the bones where I can sense my intrinsic muscles, molding and unfolding the real me. Now I am softer, now I own my feminine... Now I Am.

Nia has made me more aware of the form and structure of my body... my skeleton, my muscular system, connective tissues, digestive system, nervous system... through sensation, movement, exploration, reading and fascination, I am acquiring knowledge and understanding of my body inside me. When I broke my foot, my anatomical knowledge and desire for healing brought me to anatomy books, visualization and awareness, that directed my attention to the part of my foot that needed healing. The Nia foot techniques, steps and stances were my medicine to bring my foot back to healed state. Dancing Through Life...Living Mediation of my feet. Understanding of my digestive system and the role Love Fear and Peace played in my life brought me into a state of remission with my crohn's disease. The process of knowledge is continuous and as a Sacred Athlete I am committed to reach my potential through the discovery of my body...to become more body literate.

I am a Sensation Scientist. I am a symbol of beauty, soft power, grace and love.

55 and Feeling So Alive!!! 200/700 Potential!!!

YES May 27th is my birthday!!  55 and feeling so Alive!!!  I love this quote from one of my first yoga books I ever bought:  "You are as young as your spine is flexible..so how young are you?"  To me age is just a number - it does not define who I am or what my potential is!  I discovered Nia when I was 38 and the practice has made me feel ageless and timeless.  My body actually feels SO much better than it did when Nia entered my life.  We all have this potential...endless possibilities to feel good.  And it is through sensation and choosing pleasure and love as our path for transformation of our body and life.  So let's celebrate!!! 

As part of my process to become a Nia White Belt trainer, I have just completed the Nia white belt at a wonderful ranch called http://www.ranchonia.com/ outside of Houston, Texas.  I love the Nia White belt.  The White Belt is the foundation of Nia and is 7 fantastic days where I can place attention on myself, my body, and on physical sensation.   Returning to my roots so to speak (I've been teaching Nia for almost 17 years!!), has inspired me to focus this week on what we call in Nia 200/700.  We have 200+ bones in our body and 700+ muscles in our body that provide the potential for endless possibilities to move.  WOW!! So that is what we will do!!  Bring you bones and muscles to class and come celebrate with me this week!   My classes when I return are:
Saturday, May 28th at 9:30 am (Birthday celebration!!!)
Sunday, May 29th at 4:00 pm
Monday, May 30th at 5:30 pm
Thursday, June 2nd at 5:30 pm and
Saturday June 4th at 9:30 am
all at  http://www.thesynergystudio.com/. 

Manifesting the High Magic of Form and Freedom!!!

As part of the process to become a Nia White Belt Trainer, I have the opportunity to develop a Nia body of work by adapting a Nia routine to new music.  This has been a fascinating process, and this month I have been invited to reflect on what I learned and how the music has created my focus and conditioning benefits.  I have adapted the Nia routine Alive into a new routine called El Momento.  The focus of this routine is Form and Freedom, with the Intent to uniquely & creatively express the spirit of your Nia dance (Freedom) in every movement (Form).   I will be filming the routine in June at The Synergy Studio. and I'd love for you to be in the film with me!!
 
My journey with El Momento, my Nia routine adaptation, has been a joyful ride that has enriched my relationship to music, creativity, sensation and the uniqueness of my spirit. I learned the routine Alive in May of 2010, shortly after the routine was released. I loved the simplicity of the base movements and the space it created for me to fully express my Nia dance.

I had the honor of teaching the 2nd song of Alive at the Courting Your Destiny in August 2011, at Nia headquarters in Portland, and it was on my journey home where I received the mandate to chose Alive as my routine to adapt. I felt the sensation of excitement through my entire body and knew this was it! That sensation has stayed with me throughout the many months of creation of the new body of work and is with me now as I write this blog! With a stopwatch in my hand, I was on my quest for music and that proved to be a joyous and pleasurable experience. This quest unveiled a treasure chest of songs on my laptop that I forgot I had, an exploration of new songs in Itunes and gifts of music from friends. Through the practice of RAW and FreeDance I developed a deep relationship to the music and sensed the “Click” in my body that told me a song was the right fit. As I danced and allowed the choreography of Alive to take on a new shape within the resonance of the new music, the focus of Form and Freedom was birthed. The sounds and silence of the music were the container for Form and Freedom to enter into a sacred playground where form found my freedom, and freedom transcended my form.

The soothing female voice in “Relax”, allowed the freedom of my arms and core to rise up through the stability and form of my base stances.

The tribal and earth sounds in "Raindance" infused the form of the clock steps giving me freedom of play with child like enchantment.

The rhythm of the music of "Staying Alive (Radio Version)" and it’s play with fractions connected me intimately with my body and the endless possibilities (200/700) to uniquely reach my potential within the form of the music.

The “bubble” and “zipper‘ sounds within "The Player" were the inspiration for me to create freedom within the form of the lateral travel that excited my bones.

The tempo of the music of "Drippy" allowed the spirit of my dance to be powerful, yet graceful as I moved within smaller range of motions.

The sounds of the percussion, bass, french horn, trombone, violins and voices in the musical form of "When The Rain Comes", seduced my spirit to manifest the magic of my dance.

The electric guitar and the seductive female voice in" El Momento" brought me to the awareness of my body as Art and what I create in this world.

And, the peaceful vibrations of "Bliss" made me appreciate the expression of my freedom, my uniqueness, my spirit, and the spirit of my Nia dance!

My awareness of the conditioning benefits of El Momento continues to unfold each time I dance the routine. I have noticed the music holds the container to invite my dance to be more athletic and a motivation to play more freely with the planes and intensity levels than I did with Alive. With a focus on the form and precision of the base moves of the routine, I have experienced increased conditioning in my feet. The practice of this routine has been a source to self heal my foot from my break in November. The quality and richness of the music has conditioned my listening skills and nervous system. I have increased agility and mobility in my joints, particularly my cervical spine by allowing the music to move my spine in more agile and fun ways. Other conditioning & educational benefits I have experienced:

"Relax" conditions my nervous system to slow down, while stimulating external and internal awareness through the activation of touch.

"Raindance" energetically blends left and right, up and down, front and back, conditioning my brain.

"Staying Alive (Radio Version)", with the fractions and the form of the tap, creates explosive power bringing agility to my feet.

"The Player"  invites the contrast of intrinsic and extrinsic moves to bring strength and flexibility to the core of my body.

"Drippy" uses smaller movements with speed to help me create sustainability (ICU).

"When The Rain Comes" uses the room and community to increase the sensation of measurement of space, and create a relationship through eyes and space to others in the room.

"El Momento" conditions my Conscious Personal Trainer to calm and harmonize my entire body through the expression and dance of my legs.

"Bliss" deepens my relationship with the sensation of gravity to create pleasurable movements on the floor to condition my body.

And the benefits will continue to evolve and expand.  Adapting Alive into the body of work of El Momento has brought a deeper gratitude to the work and play of Nia. My long coat is more present, my awareness is expanded, and I have manifested the High Magic of Form and Freedom through this creative process. I am blessed!

El Momento Routine:

Song                                                          Artist                                    
Relax (Blank & Jones Vocal Remix)           Vargo                                  
Rain Dance                                                Maneesh DeMoor                        
Staying Alive (Radio Version)                     N-Trance feat. Ricardo Da Force              
The Player                                                  Chris Coco & Pete Gooding         
Drippy                                                        Banco De Gaia                                 
When The Rain Comes                              Bob Holroyd                                  
El Momento                                               Jens Gad                                       
Bliss                                                           Soulfood         

My Music…There Goes Joanie!!!

“The human voice conveys who you are through a unique combination of rhythm, melody, timbre and dynamics. It not only reveals who you are, but it also reveals from what sphere or plane you draw your greatest energy. Our voice is the personal vehicle for spiritual and creative expression…..Each voice represents a unique personality that defines an individual’s character….Our voice is our most creative and musical instrument. It has great power to touch our lives and the lives of others.” Excerpts from “Sacred Sounds: Magic & Healing Through Words & Music” by Ted Andrews.

I love the thought and the awareness of every time I speak I am creating my music. This awareness brings with it a responsibility of what I am saying, the tone I am using and the intent of my words. My music changes constantly and I use my tone to sing my love, to calm, to excite, to express my anger, to state my desires, to exude my enthusiasm….so many sounds, so many instruments. As a Sacred Athlete I use my music to teach and heal, guided by my awareness that every action in my life, including my sounds, are sacred. With love as my healing energy, I use the full potential of my music to manifest my greatness and the greatness of the world.

As a Sensation Scientist, I am devoted to continually explore my voice, my sound, my music. I have recently been exploring my voice in relationship with the 7 cycles of my Nia classes and the power my music (my sound and silence) has on my students and the class experience. Setting my Focus and Intent, my voice is sparked with confidence and enthusiasm as I to create the space for students to feel safe, excited about the possibilities and relaxed. When we Step In to the class and the Warm Up cycles, my tone is relaxed and reassuring, that invites students to connect to their body, their MUSIC, so they can be in the NOW. In the Get Moving cycle my music creates excitement and motivation to enhance their experience and provide the environment for everyBody to reach their potential. As we cool down and move into Floorplay, my music inspires playful exploration and self healing. And then as we Transition Out, my music creates the space for harmony and peace as we all prepare to Dance Through Life. All my music/sounds infused with love and joy. My exploration continues and will never stop. There is so much to discover.

 

I believe the most important skill to develop for receiving the healing benefits and the power of sound is 2 fold: The art of listening to sound along with the awareness that our whole body...organs, bones, muscles, cells, connective tissue...everything, is listening and responding. Listening is one thing; however if we have the awareness of the affect music has on our body, our mind, our emotions and spirit, and understand that music stays with us long after the sound is gone, we raise the consciousness of the healing aspects of music and sound. We can listen to a song from long ago, and if we had a past emotional experience in life with that song, the memories come flooding back as if we are back in time. With this our physical body may take on a different shape. Our mental realm is flooded with the images of that moment and our spirit becomes alive and transformed by the experience as if it is real and now. “Every cell within our body is a sound resonator. It has the capability of responding to any other sound outside of the body. Every organ, in which cells of like vibration have gathered to form that organ, will respond as a group to particular sound vibrations, as will various emotional, mental and spiritual states of consciousness. The human body is a bio-electrical system.....strengthened or balanced through the use of sacred sound."  Sacred Sounds, p. 9 by Ted Andrews.

Music has the power to inspire, to relax, to excite, to make you sad, happy, chaotic .......allows us to transcend our imaginations and our dance. Music heals the body and the soul. I have used Chinese gongs, Tibetan bowls, my sound and silence, and music that is healing to me in my recovery from surgery and from my broken foot. And music is my entry into each new day. Oh the bliss!! As a Nia teacher, soon to be trainer and a healer, I am conscious of the power of music and the ability it has to transform people’s lives. I am aware every time I choose my playlist for every class, every workshop. The power of music to create magic within everyBody’s dance!

I personally experience the vibration and resonance of music throughout my entire body! I am a receiver of sounds, vibrations, rhythm and melodies and it stays within the fabric of my body for years. I’m thinking it will for my entire lifetime. Nia gave me this gift, and through the practice of RAW, I have developed the skill of listening to music...the art of listening. Nia has opened me up to all types of music, sounds and silence, and it continues to inspire and excite me, and flood my body. This is particularly evident with the Nia routines I learn. Through my listening practice and awareness, I can recall the movements of a Nia routine from my body, even if I have not danced the routine in several years. The resonance is present. The sound is a part of me. I love this!!! This body memory has been proven, and as Daniel Levitin states in “This is Your Brain on Music”, research at Keele University in the UK found that a year after a child is born, they can recognize music they were exposed to when they were in the womb. It’s in all of us - all the sounds we experience in our lifetime, and when we connect physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually to the music/sounds, the sound waves become part of our being.

I’ve been contemplating/meditating on what Debbie Rosas said in her April NGT call about the 8 BC system and how we may need to first focus on the music and then the beat/count/bars in our Nia white belt. Listening to the music, understanding the music has given me a greater appreciation for the 8 BC system.  When I started my Nia practie, I first listened to the music..constantly... and I discovered the sensation of music permeating into my cells. This was in 1994 and I still get high with this sensation!!

 
I am unique, I have my own tone, my own syncopation, my own tempo, with the tools to change my song moment to moment. Music, Movement, Magic. I make music everyday. There goes Joanie!! (Thanks Debbie for this phrase !)

Duncan Dance, Free Spirited Honest Movement

I'm currently reading Done Into Dance, Isadora Duncan In America by Ann Daly, a gift to me by one of my best friends, Robbie Hudson, who introduced me to Nia.  I am having a great time reading this lovely story and learning more about Isadora, and the gift her dance form brought to the world.  Isadora Duncan lived from 1877 - 1927, a time of great change, and brought into the world a "New Dance" that liberated the body and gave expression to the soul.   Her theory of dance and her core beliefs changed forever the face of dance.  She believed dancing creates beauty (our body expressed as art), the source of our dance is from nature (her teachers were the trees and the plants), and movement should be harmonious with our body.  I just love this!!  In Nia, just like Duncan Dance, we believe everyBody should experience their body, and use dance as an opportunity to explore and discover who we are - to connect to our body, mind, spirit and emotions.  Sensation Scientists in all forms.

Duncan Dance is a wonderful compliment to Nia and is one of Nia's 9 movement forms, with the catch phrase of  "free spirited, honest movement".  Pearls that evoke the spirit and essence of Duncan Dance are:  freedom, play, rhythm, awakening, skipping, effortless, imagination, unbound, exploring, healing, soulful, creative, authentic, Universal Joy...... 

The spirit of Duncan Dance takes me back to my childhood where I find myself running, skipping and laughing with no worries, totally uninhibited!  Do you remember those times?  My sisters, brother and I would dance outside with abandonment to the music of thunder roaring on a hot Texas afternoon, wind blowing through our hair, with the anticipation of the cool rain on its way.  I love this sensation and I can still feel it in my body!

I invite you to step into a Nia class and connect to the essence of Duncan Dance energy ....dance your dance, your passion, your excitement, your beauty, your grace.  "Our Dancing Body, Our Natural Body, Our Expressive Body"...all brought to light through our dance.  I love Nia!!!  Dance with me this week at The Synergy Studio:  http://www.thesynergystudio.com/. 



My Playlist this week...fun, fun!
1.  Water and Fire by Pangea
2.  A Canterbury Tale by Dreadzone
3.  Journeyman by Bob Holroyd
4.  Dancing is Important by Moodswings
5.  Tantrika by Makyo
6.  Booma Lena by Baka Beyond
7.  Out of Heaven by Dreadzone
8.  Pure Essence by Maneesh DeMoor

Here is a link to the book I am reading:
http://anndalyconsulting.com/author/books/duncan/index.html

I am a Sensation Scientist - Exploring all my Connections Inside!!

Connective tissue largely defines the shape of my body. Everything in our body is connected through a continuous network of connective tissue from our head to our toes. I love the sensation of this and knowing that through all of my movement I am continually conditioning my connective tissue and shaping my body for what she needs in the NOW. My NOW body. It is not static, it is dynamic and is internally supported by a connective system that is fluid, allowing my body to mold and fold, sending messages to my brain in the form of pain and pleasure. I like to visualize my connective tissue as this beautiful piece of fabric that weaves within my body, surrounding my organs, bones, muscles and cells with a protective covering that makes me feel loved and safe. As Linda Hartley in Wisdom of the Body Moving so eloquently states: “When we move in the spaces between the organs, bones, muscles, blood vessels, or cells, we are moving through the connective tissue sheaths. This movement is sensual, internal, flowing, and elastic, like the luxurious stretching of a cat. It flows on and on, rebounds and flows again. It gives vital support to the integrity of the whole in both movement and stillness.”(page 289).

I was brought into a heightened state of awareness of my connective tissue and her role in my body’s shape a year into my healing from a cervical spine surgery that was brought on by an accident. Focused on my healing of my neck and head, I didn’t notice the imbalance on the left side of my body, that was also a result of the accident, until the tension manifested as pain in my left knee. I went for months where I was not able to bend my left knee with out pain. At an Inner Idea conference, I told Debbie my story and asked her if she would observe my movement and give me feedback. After the session, she came up to me and said “It is your connective tissue. Focus there and you will heal.” So that is what I did. This simple message lead me on a path of discovery and learning, reading and exploring, movement and magic. Through Nia’s 5 stages of healing, conscious movement and directed therapy I was able to restore fluidity to my connective tissue and “unglued” my iIliotibial (IT) band (a thick connective tissue that runs from the outside of your hip to the outside of your knee). The pain in my knee vanished and I regained 90% range of motion in my knee. The exploration and healing continues!

Everything is connected. The structure and function of all parts and the body as a whole are supported by connective tissue. I see my connective tissue as my guardian angel within that is dedicated to giving me form and freedom of movement as I Dance Through Life. It is a dance of loosening and tightening, sound and silence, mobility and agility, strength and flexibility, opening and surrendering, volume up/down, fast and slow, sinking and rising, hard and soft, masculine and feminine, Martial Arts, Dance Arts and Healing Arts; and it is through awareness that I discover where there is pain and pleasure so I can play with theses dynamics to bring my body to homeostasis. Stability and Peace. I move on this earth with dynamic ease knowing the potential I have for unlimited ways to shape/reshape my body through my awareness of the connections inside. ...”balance of movement and awareness, it becomes both a vehicle of dynamic expression and a support for all the other systems and movement qualities.” Wisdom of the Body Moving, Page 291.

So when I found myself recently with plantar fasciitis after my boot was removed from my metatarsal break, I knew I would be able to heal myself. Yes I was scared having to deal with this at the same time I was still healing my broken foot. Nia gave me tools of sensation, self love, patience, movement, and touch. I Am Now self healing....I am a Sensation Scientist and I am becoming body literate. These are the gifts.

As I explore the connections inside, I am awakened to the rhythm of the connective tissue of my thoughts, emotions and spirit. Each of these voices connect to my body as a sensation, and I am connecting in loving ways that bring healing, pleasure, and connection to my purpose in life.  Shaping Consciousness!