Thank you!

I meant to add a huge LOVE YOU ALL to my family! Without your support, I would be home taking care of you all! You are my darlings, and the best part of my life! You inspire me every day to be my best. You make me so proud! See you in less than 48 hours! I can't wait to share the new me with you!

Arms, hands and fingers oh my...

Todya's focus was on the upper extremities. I cannot even describe to you how heavy my upper body feels after 2 intensive workouts and upper body movement all day long. But I must also admit that it was a phenomenal day!! It is amazing how much goes into the teaching of a Nia class. I will be very busy for a while learning routines. It is so exciting and also so very scary at the same time!

I am going to keep this brief because I am so tired...

We had a guest teacher for the class at the end of today. Bill lives in South Carolina and is visiting schools for his daughter. When he first walked in the room, I couldn't believe that this man was going to teach us Nia. Of course my Energy Allies is to not assume anything and not judge and I did just that! This class was the best Nia class I have taken in 7 years! He was full of energy, hilarious, and fun! We were all sweating, laughing, moving and grooving to the best music. I was a big ball of sweat at the end of his routine! What a blast! Just the kind of teacher I want to be...

2 more days until I get to see my family! It has been such a fantastic journey for me, but I miss them terribly! I left Elizabeth with a fever and cough. Wills and Jack became sick too and they were all home on Monday. Willie had them all at the doctor on Monday and Elizabeth needed to have a chest x-ray (no pneumonia, thank goodness). Wills turned 14 on Monday and I wasn't there for it! Lots of guilt was happening for me until Wills said, "Mom, this is so good for you. You need this!" Wow! I admit I cried over that one!

Day 4 continued...

You are probably asking at this point "What exactly is Nia?" I have tried to explain it, but think I have been a little unclear when I describe it. I have said that it is dancing, but that is only one part of what makes up Nia. I pulled this definition up so that you may have a better understanding: "Nia is a sensory-based movement practice that leads to health, wellness, and fitness. It empowers people of all shapes and sizes by connecting the body mind, emotions and spirit. Step into your own joyful journey with Nia and positively shape the way you feel, look, think and live."As you can see, Nia is so much more than dance. Dance is certainly part of Nia, but there is so much more.

Today we worked on The Core of The Body. We learned how to tap into the energy that our core has to propel our movements to having more control and therefore more power. We learned about the muscles and bones in our core and so much more. Fascinating stuff really!

We also worked more on the music component too. At some point in my Nia practice, I may want to choreograph routines. Maria, our guest, helped us learn how to listen to music correctly for that purpose. I felt so secure with the music segment in Sunday, but now I am really puzzled. There is just so uch tot the understanding and listening of songs for the purpose of choreography. Maria kept reminding us that we are new to this and it will come with a lot if practice. Oh boy!!!!

We ended the day at 5:30 after more work of the Freedance portion of Nia. We talked about movement tendencies in our Freedance. We finished by exploring the 3 layers of change: sensation, movement tendency, and personality. It is so much fun to Freedance! Getting rid of those inhibitions and letting go and just dancing like you could care less who sees you is so freeing!! Try it sometime, I guarantee you'll love it too.

Day 4: A Short Day

When I wrote yesterday, perhaps because I was so mentally and physically tired, I neglected some of the details of this full of informaation day. I was particularly interested in one exercise that we repeated several times. It involved Principal number 5: Awareness (paying attention to body sensations. We were asked during this exercise to leave the room and return and say what we noticed. I took this to mean what did we notice had changed in the studio environment. I totally missed the idea and was so glad that I hadn't said that I noticed she moved her notebook. We were asked to leave again for 5 minutes and to return with what we noticed. I cannot describe to you well enough how cool this is to notice your body sensations. I noticed a movement under my feet when a huge truck went rumbling by. I noticed how loudly the birds were singing. I noticed how loud the church bell chimed at noon. I noticed the warmth of the sun on my face. I easpcially noticed the brilliant colors that were everywhere. When I returned to class, I noticed the deep orange of the walls. I noticed them before, but they weren't as intensely orange before. It was so cool!

Day 3 Completed!

Day 3 started with a class bright and early at 7:30! For some I suppose that doesn't seem that early, but for me after 2 nights of little sleep, 7:30 comes around mighty early. The focus of the training today was on The Base of The Body. Therefore the class this morning was Nia 52 Moves Class. It is such a great class! I really love it because it breaks down the movements of Nia into the 52 parts or moves that make up the routines. It involves steps, kicks, blocks, and so much more and we practiced these all day. It was invigorating to do this at such an early hour!

The rest of the day was spent talking about body sensation awareness, feelings and emotions in Nia Freedance, and the base of the body (the feet, the hands that touch the earth). Freedance is a wonderful part of Nia. It is the anything goes movement wise dance. Where else In exercise can you do whatever you like, what feels good and not worry about what you look like and who is watching? It really is refreshing and a large part of why I love Nia so much! I can be free to express myself in any manner I care to! Awesome!!!

We ended the day with another hour long class. I didn't think I could possibly move another muscle, but somehow managed to dance my Nia dancing again before we all went to our respective beds to fall down. It actually felt good!

Today was a particularly long 12 hour day of dancing on and off all day and I am pooped and ready for a good night sleep! Good night all!

Oops! I still haven't got the hang of this iPAd thingy that my wonderful hubby gave me for Christmas! Hopefully by weeks end I'll have figured out all of the nuances. But I digress again.

In my post yesterday, I said that I lost ME! Please understand that I chose this life. I wanted to be a mom more than anything! I adore my children and my Willie more than everything and I am taking this journey as much for them as for me! Without me being whole, how can I show them what they are supposed to be? When I talked to my kids about doing this and being gone for a week, Jack was the first to pipe up, look me directly in the eye and say "Go Mom, you need this!" Elizabeth was not so happy about me going and declared "A whole week, I say NO!" And so I honor myself and my family by taking this journey for them too!

Now on to the good stuff! We began the training yesterday afternoon in a tango studio in Cambridge, MA. I could immediately feel the energy form this space resonating out of the floor and walls. So cool! And I must mention that I left home with Elizabeth being sick and a fever myself. No guilt at all:-)

Yesterday was a getting to know you session. There are 6 of us taking the class. All lovely women at different stages in their lives. I think was stuck with me most about yesterday was how to create a optimal learning environment. These are called Energy Allies and I truly want them to be ome a part of my everyday life. They are: speak with impeccability, don't take anything personally, always so your best, don't assume anything. Wouldn't it be so great to have this as a part of your life always? The journey that I am on I hope will lead me to be this kind of person! I LOVE these allies!

Day 2 began bright and early at 7 and went until 6 tonight. We learned so much that I don't even know where to begin. We learned about expressive movement. We learned about the 13 joints and 20 digits. We learned about the 9 movement forms that make up Nia. They are: the healing arts (yoga, the Alexander technique, and the work of Moshe feldenkraise), the martial arts (tai chi, aikido, tar Kwpn do) and the dance arts (jazz, Duncan dance, modern). I think that my favorite part thus far was princal 3 of the 13 principals. Principal 3 is all about music and the appreciation of it and awareness of it. I have always loved music and singing, but had never really learned how to listen to it. I connected so much to this part of today. It was really amazing and eye opening! I appreciate music music even more now.

This whole week will be learning both by movement and classroom work, but even during the class time we are still moving. More tomorrow...good night all...

As a side note, I didn't sleep at all last night because of coughing and being in a room right by the ice machine! A question for you...who needs ice at 4:45 in the morning? The people o. My floor do and they needed it all night long! Crazy!!!

Check That One Off

Today we completed day 2 of Nia White Belt Intensive Training! There are 5 more days to go! I am physically and mentally exhausted! It is so intense and powerful. I will tell you all about my experiences, but first I must digress.