Joanie Brooks...Step Into Your Greatness!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Awareness of our fingers and hands - open to the dance of Receiving and Giving!!

God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with..Billy Graham

Happy Fall My Fellow Dancers!

What a wonderful, cool day we are having here in San Antonio! I love this weather and it makes me feel alive and vibrant! Take a moment with me, close your eyes and reach out with your hands, spread your fingers and Receive the energy of the space around you with your hands. Through TOUCH, our hands provide an enormous amount of information through highly sensitive Proprioceptors. AHHH! Now bring your hands in and Give yourself a big hug. Our hands and fingers play an essential role in our lives. They build, create, connect, nurture and heal. They provide warmth and tenderness, as well as protection, and have the power to silently say “stop,” or “stay away", "come towards me" or "go this way". We can also use our hands to direct energy to an area of our body that needs healing, for ourselves and others...Receiving and Giving. How wonderful does it feel when a friend or loved one places their hand on your shoulder when you need reassurance; or a soft touch on your cheek that communicates you are loved? Our hands and fingers have this special form of communication that does not require words.
In Nia we use our fingers and hands to creatively express and emote our dance. We have 15 of the 52 moves of Nia dedicated to our hands and fingers, that condition all the muscles and joints, can increase the intensity of our dance, and provide us information to keep us safe as we dance through life. Join me this week as we bring awareness to our fingers and hands, and open to the dance of Receiving and Giving...endless possibilities to move, explore, create and communicate!

My classes:
Monday & Wednesday at 9:00 am (NEW TIME) at
Total Harmony Yoga (please note...Jan Braun will start teaching a Friday 9:00 am class this Friday October 4th - Woot!!)

AND

Monday and Thursday at 5:30 pm
Saturday at 9:30 am

and Sunday (Oct. 6) at 4:00 pm - team teaching a surprise Nia class with Adelle!!!

at The Synergy Studio

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". Adelle and I have a split weekend December 5th here in San Antonio. Great opportunity to take the Nia white belt and only take a couple days off from work. It is also our last training for 2013 and a chance to give yourself a wonderful end of year gift - Join us!

Love & Light,
Joanie Brooks,
http://www.joaniebrooks.me/
Nia Training Faculty, Nia White Belt Trainer

Nia 5 Stages of Healing Facilitator, Journey Dance Guide, Mindful Change Coach and Laughter Yoga Leader

Go to my link & get 40% off of Nia clothing, music & much more!! Look for the 40% off purple button: http://nianow.com/joanie

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!

Monday, September 9, 2013

Sensing Our Emotions!

Hello Dancing Friends!

Feelings or emotions are the universal language and are to be honored. They are the authentic expression of who you are at your deepest place....Judith Wright

As I sit and write to you this evening I am sensing gratitude in my entire being for my family, friends and my wonderful dancing community! A special thank you is in order for my students who danced with me at Nia this evening at The Synergy Studio. I had full intention to end the week with my focus on Yoga; however, as I drove to the studio this afternoon something changed. You see most of my day was spent in an emotional whirlpool that was not serving me any good, and was leaving me feeling frozen, blocked and bound. Just as my body can become stuck in a habit (whether posture or movement tendencies) that can cause misalignment, pain and discomfort , emotions can do the same thing when I become stuck and do not use the sensation of this energy to access information to make positive choices and decisions. So today before class I realized I have been stuck in this emotional unawareness, and not just today, and it was time to move the energy before it became acute. This is where the special thanks for my students this afternoon comes into play! I changed the focus to "playing with emotions" and we had a bit of a wild ride! You know who you are, so thank you for being open and generous with your own exploration, and allowing me the space to heal!

We are emotional beings and it is our birthright to emote! Our emotions are fuel, life force energy and can help us become physically and mentally strong, flexible, agile, stable and mobile. Emotions make us feel alive!! In Nia we do not label emotions good or bad; it is really about whether we are expressing our emotions and learning to work and move with them from a place of love. The more we do this, the more freedom we gain to effectively use our emotions to bring healing into our world and the people around us.

We are going to play with emotions this week and sense how they feel in our body! I'm excited - I hope you are too! As you dance through life this week notice your emotional tendencies. Notice what emotions fueled your day...where you sense them in your body. Where there any emotions you avoided or ignored? And remember...anytime you are feeling your emotions are taking over, JUST LAUGH! Laughing can heal your world and bring things into perspective. See you in class!

My classes this week are below...there are a few changes. Oh yes, and change seemed to be a big theme in my day today! HA HA!

Monday & Wednesday at 8:45 am at
Total Harmony Yoga

Monday, Tuesday (subbing for Jan) & Thursday at 5:30 pm
Friday at 9:15 am (subbing for Jenn).

at The Synergy Studio

I will be in Ventura, California 9/14 - 9/21 with my dear friend Kate Nash. While I am gone my wonderful Nia teacher community will sub my classes at The Synergy Studio. There will not be any classes at Total Harmony Studio while I am gone (9/16 & 9/18).

Love & Light,
Joanie Brooks,
http://www.joaniebrooks.me/
Nia Training Faculty, Nia White Belt Trainer, Nia 5 Stages of Healing Facilitator, Journey Dance Guide, Mindful Change Coach and Laughter Yoga Leader

Go to my link & get 40% off of Nia clothing, music & much more!! Look for the 40% off purple button: http://nianow.com/joanie

Sunday, September 1, 2013

The Conscious Alignment of Bones + Muscles

"Yoga is almost like music in a way; there's no end to it."
Sting

Hello Dancing Friends!
September is here and I'm looking forward to the fall and cooler weather. I love the colors and the magical beauty that unfolds all around San Antonio and Texas!! September is also National Yoga month. Did you know Nia is based on 9 movement forms and 1 of the movement forms is Yoga? In Nia, we call Yoga The Conscious Alignment of Bones + Muscles, and we use the energy and chemistry of Yoga, as well as postures, breath work and meditation, to gain flexibility, strength, balance and relaxation. Yoga is a beautiful inner directed dance of awareness that connects us to our unique spirit and reminds us we can make every gesture and posture a mudra that is sacred and aligned with heaven and earth! Some of the pearls we use in Nia to connect to Yoga are: Bones, Breath, Alignment, Postures, Muscles, Ligaments, Extensions, Strengthening, Flexibility, Stretch, Agility, Gentle, Powerful, Focused, Conscious, Unity, Oneness, Surrender, Peace, Stillness, Ageless and Timeless.

Just as Nia expanded my world of music, Nia has expanded my world of different movement and healing modalities like Yoga. Whether I am dancing or playing on the floor, the energy of Yoga is available to me through my conscious awareness of the relationship of my bones, muscles, ligaments and connective tissue. I love Yoga and practice yoga daily, as well as take classes and workshops as often as I can. It has enhanced my Nia practice and teaching, and has brought healing to my body. This art and movement form has taught me to integrate my breath in my movements and my dance, and to clear and calm my mind.

In honor of Yoga Month, our focus in Nia this week is being with and in the chemistry and energy personality of Yoga in our Nia movements and dance. I also encourage you to take yoga classes this month. I teach at 2 incredible studios and the yoga instructors are amazing! See you in class. Namaste.

My classes this week (there WILL be classes on Labor Day)

Monday & Wednesday at 8:45 am at
Total Harmony Yoga

Monday & Thursday at 5:30 pm
Saturday at 9:30 am and

Sunday at 4:00 pm

at The Synergy Studio

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Sensing Spirals in our Body and Our Life!

"The whole universe is based on rhythms.
Everything happens in circles, in spirals." John Hartford

"Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, reassessing and regrouping." Julia Margaret Cameron

There is something about the image of spirals that brings a sense of well being and peace to my body and mind. Spirals remind me of the infinite possibilities there are in life and the potential for my dance of life. Perhaps that is why I draw spirals when I am daydreaming!! Spirals give me this "permission" to explore, to go out and come back, and go out again, knowing that life and nature are spirals. Imagine if everything was a straight line, linear, one way. The world around us would look different and life would not be as creative. Seeing life this way is not always easy for me with my corporate experience and life of processes, algorithms, and timelines. It is easier and more predictable to follow the straight line, to know the road ahead; however, the outcome is not as bright or interesting. When I release from this form of "safety", I open to the many ways to reach a desired outcome, and that this is where my growth happens.

Spirals are everywhere including our body. We have over 700 muscles in our body that spiral around our bones giving us infinite ways to move and heal our body. As you are reading this email, undulate your spine and sense the spiraling quality of this move. Feels YUMMY! Our bones spiral as well. We have 2 unique bones in our body called the ulna and the radius (our forearm bones), that are the only 2 bones in our body that spiral and roll over each other. These bones are designed to rotate your palm and give you the ability to turn door knobs, to pick up an apple and take a juicy bite, and to unlock your door. Your forearm bones do this magic in ways that protect your shoulder joint. Place your left elbow on your desk or table, then place your left hand on your right forearm bones and rotate your 2 forearm bones. Notice how the shoulder remains free, and how you are conditioning the muscles in your forearm bones. These bones are designed to protect your hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints with mobility and stability. They do this by dancing and playing with each other with spirals. I love this image!
Let's play in class this week with spirals in our muscles and our bones. As you are dancing through life, notice the sensations of spirals in your body. Notice spirals in life around you and sense the ease that spirals can bring to life. Notice what spirals to you and what you spiral out into the world. It is all a dance! See you in class.

My classes this week:

Monday & Wednesday at 8:45 am at
Total Harmony Yoga (first class is free!)

Monday & Thursday at 5:30 pm
Saturday at 9:30 am and

Sunday at 4:00 pm

at The Synergy Studio

Monday, August 19, 2013

Awareness of Your Shoulder Joint...Sensing Freedom!

"I am the voice of the shoulder joint, the main joint of your shoulder. By design I am complex and the most flexible joint in the body. Predominantly a muscle guided joint, I am elegantly designed to provide you with expressive mobility and highly flexible and agile stability. My design allows degrees of free movement of the hands and arms in several directions through space. I make it possible for you to extend and reach for things high on a shelf, to swing a golf club or baseball bat, throw a ball, hug your child, and lift and lower objects. You know I’m healthy when you can move your arms in all directions, reaching front, back, up and down while sustaining relaxed shoulders and space around your neck and ears, when you can lift and lower objects with ease, and when you can easily support a push-up and pull-up!....” From the voices of the shoulder joint by Debbie Rosas

Hello Dancing Friends!
Don't you just love these beautiful words written about your should joint! Our shoulder joint is a shallow joint and actually has more mobility (about 50 times more) than your hip joint. Unlike you hip joint, it is fragile and can easily be injured or overused if we are not aware of our shoulder joint while dancing and in everyday life. In Nia we keep the shoulder joint conditioned and healthy by rotating our upper arm bone (the humerus HA HA HA!) in all directions, moving our hands and arms to the front and back, up and down, and around the space with palm directions. We do this in small and large ranges of motion as we sense for pleasure and for pain. The sensation of pain is good! It gives us information we can use to make adjustments to our moves so we can avoid any injury and keep our dance of life alive!!!

Join me in class this week as we explore and sense freedom in our shoulder joint. Outside of class sense your shoulder joint as you wipe the kitchen counter, swipe your credit card, reach for a glass off the top shelve and as you lay down to rest at night on your side. Nia invites us to always be in sensation..every move feels like I'm dancing; every move an opportunity to heal!!
My classes this week:

Monday & Wednesday at 8:45 am at
Total Harmony Yoga (first class is free!)

Monday & Thursday at 5:30 pm
and Saturday at 9:30 am

at The Synergy Studio

--
Love & Light,
Joanie Brooks,
http://www.joaniebrooks.me/
Nia Training Faculty, Nia White Belt Trainer

Nia 5 Stages of Healing Facilitator, Journey Dance Guide, Mindful Change Coach and Yoga Laughter Leader
Go to my link & get 40% off of Nia clothing, music & much more!! Look for the 40% off purple button: http://nianow.com/joanie

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Embracing Joy In Your Life Today!

“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”

― Henri J.M. Nouwen

This week our focus is embracing JOY...NOW...Today! I have a daily practice when I wake up (that I do my best to always do

), in times when I am searching for something outside of me to make me happy, or when I am feeling down about life, to remind myself to embark on an inner journey to joy. Joy is always there for me, and I don't need permission to experience joy. Sometimes I think I need permission or I get caught up in how I think life should be for me. When this happens, life becomes a struggle for me, and I can feel myself tumble! You know what? It is my birthright and your birthright to be in joy, and I do not need permission...I just need to chose. When I consciously make the choice to be in Joy, I have the sensation of flowing with the Universe. When I carry this with me every moment of the day, no matter the outcome of what I am doing or thinking, all is good in my world. It is a choice. Energy follows attention and when I choose to be in joy, I am WITH life!

Nia's first and primary principle is call the Joy of Movement. I love this principle and it is the thread that runs through all our movement. The Joy of Movement teaches us to connect to Joy by choosing sensation through all movement. As you sense your body, you invite Joy in. No matter what your circumstances are, you have the capacity to live and move in Joy, which is more than an emotion; it is a way of being in the world. This principles invites us to use Joy and Your Body's Way to fall in love with your body and your life. It is also a tool you can use to shift your dance, your attitude and your life. It's the first step of becoming a Sacred Athlete. Right now you can consciously choose this energy. What a gift!!! Joy is the seed, and it grows and flows through everything!

"If you remember anything about Nia, remember this: the soul of Nia is the Joy of Movement." Debbie Rosas and Carlos AyaRosas, co-founders of Nia.

Join me in Embracing Joy...Today...Now. See you on the dance floor!

My classes this week:

Monday & Wednesday at 8:45 am at
Total Harmony Yoga (first class is free!)
Monday & Thursday at 5:30 pm
and Saturday at 9:30 am

at The Synergy Studio

Please note I will also be teaching a JourneyDance™special class on this Saturday, August 17, at 4:00 - 5:30 pm at The Synergy Studio.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Awakening Your Psoas!!

I have just returned from an awesome week of learning. Last week I attended a training on healing physical and emotional trauma, which included a training that was specific for our military and how they are uniquely affected by trauma. I love learning and experiencing new things that feed my desire & purpose to awaken the healing human potential, and to discover more about my own personal journey of life. This training was very unique in that it addressed how trauma and stress can be healed through "somatic therapy" (body movement) in order to bring our bodies back to homeostasis - peace. I am excited with all I learned and cannot wait to share. So on to our focus...Awakening the Psoas!

The psoas is a large muscle, with a length of up to 16 inches, that attaches at the bottom of the thoracic spine at T12 and and along the lumbar spine through L4, then runs through the pelvic bowl, down over the front of the hip joint, and attaches at the top of the femur. It is the only muscle connecting the spine to the leg. Looking at pictures of the psoas, I like to visualize as a beautiful long blue scarf that flows and drapes from behind my heart, over my pelvis, and then wrapping inside my thighbone! Our psoas muscle is magical in the way it supports us standing, walking and running, and when healthy and relaxed, allows the diaphragm to function with ease and grace....meaning we are breathing to our full potential. The psoas provides you with mobility and core stability, and it affects the ability of your legs and spine to move freely. Your psoas muscle could be said to be the most important muscle of your body and the muscle for most people, that needs awakening and lengthening. Take a look around you in life and at work, and notice people's posture. Much of the contraction in our psoas occurs due to our use of technology, hovering over our laptops, driving hunched over the steering wheel, walking with our head looking down....the list goes on and on.
In addition our psoas muscle is a powerful reflex muscle and is affected by fear. Fear is a primordial emotion we feel and one which our body responds to automatically. For example, imagine crossing the street and a car almost hits you. How does your body respond? Our sympathetic nervous system responds with flight or fight, causing our body to go inward for safety. Typically once we know we are safe, our body relaxes. However, when we are in constant stress, fear or trauma our psoas muscle stays in this state of contraction, and the whole body pays the price!
In Nia we move the body organically that supports the conditioning and lengthening of our psoas muscle. When we move through the planes of our body (high, middle and low) we are opening and closing the front of our groin, contracting and expanding our psoas muscle. When we roll on the floor "embryonic like" we are spiraling our psoas muscle. When me engage our chest with chest isolation's, we are mobilizing and vibrating our psoas (remember it attaches to our thoracic and lumbar spine). When we use toes in, out and parallel, express with our arms and hands, we are conditioning our psoas muscle. Nia awakens our psoas, and can potentially release stress in your body!!! In fact, Nia heals and conditions every part of you body...join me in class!
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.

Please note I am starting new classes at Total Harmony Yoga on August 12th. Monday and Wednesday at 8:45. Please join me!!! Also contact me on free classes there...you first one for sure!!!