My heart went boom

This Friday I shared the joy of Nia with a beautiful group of yoginis and yogis. From my body, mind, and spirit to their bodies, their minds, and their shining spirits. For me, there isn't anything like the feeling of community that gels a group of Nia dancers, and all that sweaty, healthy laughter. 

I loved having the opportunity of sharing one of the big passions in my life with a big group of people, sensing their uniqueness at the very same time. 
Truly this path is a gift, and making dolphin noises is pretty great, too.

Running a Level 1 self-diagnostic, Data style

I do like love a good Star Trek reference, what can I do?

Earlier on this week during my Tuesday class, my body came up with this completely new movement, and it felt so rich that I gave myself plenty of time to explore it and connect it with my feelings and emotions, and my creative source. Not just the body, you see? In the Nia Technique we honour our minds and spirits, what makes us unique and gives us our own fairy dust to sprinkle throughout life.

I identified this new movement as being connected to an hour long practice of FreeDance, which revealed plenty of details and little treasured in the music. Now, FreeDance is serious business. I haven't yet experienced anything so complete and full of new movement-pattern creation, self-healing, joy, deep conditioning, attention to detail, and a long etc. as this beloved Principle 4 of the Nia Technique's White Belt.

During this hour, some pain came from doing a certain movement, and instead of thinking 'oh I will not do this again, pain is something to run away from' I stayed curious and I used my Principle 10 (X-ray Anatomy) to find out where this pain came from. And of course I found out, using my X-ray eyes :). Now I know how to tweak the movement and use my feet better to avoid this pain.
Nia can't hurt me. If I hurt myself doing anything, then I have hurt myself, and if I am clever enough I will take the opportunity to explore and fix the source of discomfort.

Every day I love living in this body more and more; not because is perfect and pain free, but because thanks to discomfort and awkwardness it allows me to increase my sensory IQ, to know myself better, to feel more pleasure. This is my somatic pension for when I get joyfully older.
Who wouldn't want such a thing?

I'm telling you man, do the White Belt, it's awesome!

Sharing is caring :)

I'm back, and ready. And full of admiration for the teachers, the mentors, those who lead us on any journey which entails self-exploration and any kind of development. There is no holding of hands and singing songs together; what there is is a raising of the bar, a blowing off the roof, a strong push towards our own personal excellence and mastery.

Now that I came back wiser, more flexible, more compassionate, now is when I can deliver the holding of the hands and the singing of songs together with my students. The fun we have, the smiles, the seeing the potential in each one of them. The teacher has to show the way, it has to show the infinite possibilities for reaching up and down, it also has to show the way to laying down and listening to the breath.
The Green is a good 'un. Time to share its power now.

Green

I'm flying to the Åland Islands tomorrow, the islands of peace, looking for magic dust.

The green belt is, as I see it to be, all about mastering the craft of teaching. 
It is now the time to learn how to get all the juice out of my teaching, to be able to deliver the best classes I can possible teach, to bring as many people as I can reach back into their bodies (and many other beautiful side effects, unique to each person). Only they can do that, granted, but a good teacher should be able to show the way.

Luckily for me I had plenty of good teachers in my life, and my spirit and my body are calling me to be impeccable and compassionate with my teaching too. 
Green, let's go.

Whaaat?

You know when you read or hear something, and you know it to be true but can't explain how or why you know? 
The first time I read this paragraph I was sitting in the sun, waiting for my morning bus to take me to work. And I started laughing, a big belly, shoulder-shaking laughter. For three reasons; a) what I just read was beautiful b) I found it to be true c) it's so apparently annoyingly contradictory that it's funny. Big funny business, Zen is. Gong!

"The way is to climb, the way is to lie still..."

I climb up two short flights of stairs and I'm in the dojo.

My way these days is to lie still, to close my eyes inhaling the slightly musty scent off the tatami mats and to be RAW. 

Setting my music player on shuffle, I try and create a state of "no inner dialogue" by being in a Relaxed body, Alert mind, and Waiting spirit.

Now, the shuffle setting is a hoot because sometimes I listen to favourites like Nina Simone's Sinnerman, Fleet Foxes' Your Protector, or The Pixies' Levitate Me and other times tunes less conducive to RAW will come up such as Aphex Twin's 4 or Pink Floyd's Careful With That Axe, Eugene.

Still, if the suspension of judgement and inner dialogue were easy, there would be no point in the practice. So I practice, and I observe in mild and amused despair how much inner dialogue comes up, how many little stories about likes and dislikes I tell myself, and just how much daydreaming I get lost into.

Nia's practice of RAW is difficult for me, and it also does me good.

I recently read Bruce Lee's take on RAW:

'Do not be tense, just be ready, not thinking but not dreaming, not being set but being flexible. It is being "wholly" and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come'.

Sounds good to me.

Celebrating what it is

I am excited about things, and people, and tea.
This morning, after the shower, I looked at my body for more than 2 minutes. I have adventures coming up in June, and hopefully July. Maybe I wanted to check if my body would be up to it; I am going to be demanding strength, and stamina, and smoothness and attractiveness. So I looked.

And this is what I found. My hair is definitely showing silver, I found a few sparkling strands, very close to each other, where I had none only a few weeks ago. My skin is also changing and becoming drier and more sensitive. I can't get away with not moisturising everyday. And the stretch marks! They tell my story of gaining weight, and losing it, gaining weight away, and losing it again...
I am getting visibly older. 
As I stood there in front of the mirror I though 'it's good that is so' and then, 'well, even if it isn't good, it's still happening'. I saw my body as it was right then, in that moment, and there was no judgement, and it wasn't good or bad, it just was.

And then, as I brushed my teeth, I sensed the joy of moving my elbow up and down, and my wrist nice and loose. The precision instruments that are my fingers, holding the toothbrush. My mouth sensing the plastic fibres, and tasting the minty toothpaste, and the cleansing friction on my teeth and then it came. The gratefulness.
I'm older, and stronger, and younger, and more fragile, and aware, and alive. My body is good stuff, and it's mine. I'm alive, hot damn!