There is something indescribably delicious about the body sensations I experience in a Nia class. Yesterday was no exception, as I was lucky enough to take a class with the founders, Debbie and Carlos, during their 25th Anniversary Nia tour.
Quite simply, Nia is my foundational movement practice. I've taken many forms of dance over the years -- African, Indian temple dancing, Middle Eastern, Afro-Cuban, various ecstatic and free forms... but for me, Nia stands out clearly as a way of educating the body which is simultaneously healing and also an entire philosophical approach to movement. It is my primary source of somatic education. All it's principles are universal, celebrate the divine feminine values of pleasure and ease, and can easily be translated to any other form of dance to take it to the next level...
I've been so busy with HoopGirl teacher trainings, DVDs, classes, and general business for the last couple years that I had sort of forgotten Nia. I went to a class now and then -- after which every one I would emerge refreshed and renewed... but then I went back to the "the world of hooping". It was in November of 2006 that I took my White Belt training in Nia -- over a week of intensive daily movement and training. It unfolded beautiful possibilities in dance as a movement practice -- a path to total presence. There were SO many synchronicities with all my own values and principles which I was teaching both students and teachers. It was uncanny. It was also incredibly validating to see how Debbie and Carlos were professionally promoting this holistic technique "within the mainstream" and it gave me many ideas about how to make hoopdance more accessible. But... the training also helped me see what a child I truly was in harnessing the energy of my own body temple, even after 5 years of hoopdance! I integrated as much as I could at the time and over the next few years... and now I am ripe and ready for more!
So anyways, yesterday I took this class with Debbie and Carlos and realized that I could be loving my body a lot more than I am now. My own personal movement practice (both hooping, Nia and freeform) has been neglected while I have focused on bringing the new instructional DVD's to fruition. The Nia class opened new frontiers of (forgotten) awareness within me of how profoundly I can actually move my body in connection with Spirit. How much more I can be using dance to celebrate and nurture my body! I also realized what a generous stream of continuing education is available to me through Nia~ an overflow of movement inspiration which I have overlooked during my own "busyness". Part of my new year's resolution is that "I have plenty of time!". Plenty of time for friendships, family, dance, hooping, better nutrition, vacations and fun! I'm so thrilled to be experiencing that reality right now.
Pearls from class:
~hooping to silence, listening to and respecting the silence as music-- a symphony!
~while hooping, dancing full out with only one limb at a time, through both movement and stillness. Feeling into the bones and musculature even in the still dancing to build presence
~while hooping, exploring extension and flow versus tension and curling constriction and tightness, alternating from one to the other in patterned movement
~remembering to encourage students to experience presence even in the "smallest" and most forgotten places of their bodies -- the heels versus the toes, all 20 digits, the spinal cord, vertebrae and fluid sacs cushioning the spine...
~taking freeform dance to the next level with hoopers by encouraging them to explore creative movement -- specifically seeking a download from Spirit through artistic exploration (This is actually what the upcoming Level Three HoopGirl Teacher Training and Advanced HoopGirl Workout Series is teaching!)
~the value of realizing that my body temple has a limited window of time to actualize it's full potential and taking full advantage of that!!
So it was a wonderful, wonderful night. I am celebrating my commitment of moving to the next level in my own body! I have signed up for the Blue Belt -- over a week of intensive training with Debbie and Carlos in May, exploring relationship through movement. I am SO grateful! Life is so good. There is a beautiful overflow of beauty, pleasure, joy and inspiration which I feel so lucky to experience. I love hooping! I love Nia! Thank you!