NiaDivas

A few months ago, NiaDivas' students generously gave over $300 in just two hours attending two Nia classes to raise money for the earthquake survivors in China.  Today, I received a letter from Mercy Corps as well as a certificate of appreciation. I wanted to pass on the lovely lette Tracie from Mercy Corp wrote:

"On behalf of the people we serve in the earthquake devastated region of Sichuan China, we thank you for the wonderful gifts you helped raise totaling $345 for Mercy Corps' program there. Mercy Corp is honored that you chose us as the recipient of your charitable giving and that you have trusted us to implement your goal to help the survivors of this terrible natural disaster. We are very grateful for your participation in the Nia class fundraiser event. We also appreciate the increased awareness in your community which your event generated about the current needs in the aftermath of the quake and Mercy Corps program to help.

Mercy Corps mission is to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppresion and we depend heavily on the fundraising efforts of small groups of concerned individuals such as you. Thank you for being an important partner in our shared mission, and for carrying out Gandhi's inspiration charge to "Be the change you wish to see in the world". Please be assured that the contributions your raised will be wisely and promptly used to improve the lives of the earthquake survivors most in need. "

Sincerely,  Tracie Weitzman

Boy, that feels good! Both Lesley and I look forward to serving Mercy Corp and other charitable agency's in the future through NiaDivas! You can donate or read more at www.mercycorp.org.

I want to thank everyone who attended our NiaDivas' Dance and Donate For China's Earthquake Survivors. Our hour-long Nia classes on Saturday and Sunday raised lots of money for Mercy Corp. We took time to reflect on those suffering and surviving this natural disaster while dancing our spirit. For those of you that missed class, our focus (for Saturday's class) was on the Strength of the Human Spirit with the intention of honoring those who will be calling on their strength to cultivate new lives. 

I am always in awe of what comes up when I use a focus that taps into the energy of our emotional and spiritual bodies.  I noticed in myself the following 1) I talked less  2) I spent more time with myself and then projected energy to the group 3) the energy of the group and the music contributed greatly to the dynamics of the class 4) we smiled and were a community.

I stayed up late Friday night crafting the music for this particular focus. I wanted the music to lead us on a journey from tragedy through triumph. We started with beautifully powerful music from Kitaro's An Enchanted
Evening , weaved our way through some of Nia's Dream Walker and freedance through American Idol, David Cook's version of We are all Innocent.  We slowed down with a version of What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love and ended with  Peter Koser's beautiful song Transformation (from his Songs for Humanity CD). My favorite section...all of us in a tight cluster walking with outstretched arms on the chorus of "We are all Innocent".  Made me tingle!!

 Thank you for coming to the event, writing your checks and dancing your spirit with me.

Lots of love,

Jill

Throughout a Nia class, you'll hear Lesley and I refer to "every body sense your___(body part)___." We are inviting you into your body's sensation.  Out there in the "regular world of fitness", you won't hear the word Sensation much. You may hear the word "feeling" more. For example: "feel the burn...feel the muscle contract".  There's certainly nothing wrong with using the word "feeling".  In many ways, it's just semantics. We are all striving to connect to what we are noticing in our body in the moment.  Noticing, to me, is another way to say awareness.  In Nia, we encourage you to become aware of sensation which is just another way of saying "hey, notice what your feeling in your body". 

And this begs, the question...Why do I want to notice(become aware of) my body's feelings (sensations)? For me there is both a beauty in becoming aware of sensation and there is a benefit to it. Which is exactly why I'm writing a series of articles entitled: The Beauty and The Benefit of Nia.  Lesson One: Awakening to Sensation. We're going to have these articles on our site for you to download and read at your leisure. And I'd love to hear if the information and the experiential tip is of value to you. And if so, in what way?

I must admit. I'm in love again. It's not really surprising to me. It's part of my makeup that I fall in love like this frequently. It starts off as a casually interest and then as soon as I get my body involved....boing...I'm in love.

And now it's happened with this really amazing body...of work...called Feldenkrais.

That's right. I'm having a love affair with the magic of Feldenkrais, one of the healing art forms in Nia. I must admit, I don't even know the tip of the iceberg about Feldenkrais. I've taken about 2 hours of it. Yup, that's it. But isn't that how new love is? ...a tingley magic...an excitement that runs through your body that builds with anticipation longing for the next time you get to be together!

So what is it that's got me so "hot in the knickers" about Feldenkrais. It works. It's gentle and natural. I feel different and more comfortable in my body after just a few minutes. I don't feel like I'm "working out". I feel like I'm unraveling my body back into it's natural state...no let me rephrase that...my body is unraveling itself. I'm simply along for the relaxing ride. Staying out of the way and only being asked to be aware. I Love That. Mostly, I love how I feel when I'm doing it and how I feel afterward.

So yes, my list of lovers has now gotten longer....Nia, Yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, Bartineoff fundamentals, Kinesis, Rolfing, Cranial Sacral Therapy....and now Feldenkrais. Even though there are many modalities I love, I hope it doesn't dilute your perception of me! tee hee... I'm not a "run around" hopping from new thing to new thing. No, I find with body work, I DO love them all, just at different times, when my body has a specific calling. And I'm grateful they are all out there for the lovin'.