I am practicing Nia this morning, aquainting myself with the Skywalker routine before I go off to teach today. My body is sore.  An achey, cranky, unlubricated sore. I must admit my first reaction is to not like it. Thank goodness for Nia. She has taught me to listen and reflect on this sensation. My mind energy reminds me this has been one "helluva month...actually more like 6-weeks". It started with chipping my tooth that lead to a crown. It also lead to excruiating mouth pain that was only relieved by Tylenol every three hours, requiring me to wake up like a new mom to pop more of this powerful pain reliever. Being in pain, every day left me feeling drained and lifeless. Thank goodness for Nia that helped me dance at my own pace and helped me to create joyful celebration. Then my heart and body got filled up with a wonderful trip to disneyland. Crazy to suggest, but I felt my nervous system feel ragged after so many rides and crowds. My dear friend Connie suggested I had a Disneyland hangover. That is what it felt like. Until I got the flu. Could have been swine flu. Who knows. Just a day later from Disneyland and I am curled in a ball on the couch not moving with a very high fever for 36 hours. Bless my family. Even the kids made their own lunch for school! I taught that following Thursday and Saturday. I wrote about knowing I could go at my healing pace. And the class was wonderful and I was on the path to healing. That Monday my best friend calls and shares with me her mother has died. I will always remember Joan being a mother figure for me during my orphan weekends at college...You know those special weekends "homecoming, parent's weekend" when my parents were absent and John and Joan would take me under their wing and include me with their daughter dot, my best friend. On Thursday I flew to Spokane for her funeral. I drank a bloody mary mid day at the Elks club. On the flight home that night...It hit me and I sensed in my body the effects the day has had. I'm not complaining. I'm accutely aware of how daily life, the ups and downs, effect my body. The affect. And through Nia I have learned to be gentle. To feel blessed for the sickness and the miracle of healing. For the energy of lifeforce that still runs through me...though it won't always. I share this as a blink of wisdom for all of us that don't feel perfect, don't feel on the top of our game, have had issues and ups and maybe mostly downs.. I share this so you two may see that moving our body, as it wishes, with the intention to just "be aware, conscious and nurturing" is a way of life. That Nia is a living movement form that lives with you, evolves with you. She has been holding my hand for many years now that sometimes I forget to look intor her eyes and thank her for being there. Not today. I am so sensitive to the blessing that the dance of Nia has brought me, especially over the trying times of late.

With love,

Jill