Month: October 2012

Touching… one of the 52 moves of Nia.
I’m sitting in bed surrounded by my pups, touching the keyboard with my skin, my precious cottage home with my eyes, the cool air with my breath, and the sounds of the early morning with my ears as the world wakes up.
The power of touch to heal, soothe, sense… touching space, oneself, a loved one. Are you a ‘touchy, feely’ person? I am. I love to touch and be touched. So much connection, expression and love can be expressed through touch. There is a beautiful energy exchanged in a hug, a smile, a hand, a kiss, a voice.

I got home last night from an amazing week of connection, support and hard work. I buckled down with fellow Nia trainers from all over the world, as we produced and filmed four new Nia routines for teachers and students to grow in their practice. I dove deeper in relationship with my colleagues as we spent time together sweating, smiling, laughing, and crying. It was especially touching to spend quality time with Sabine and Philip, two trainers who reside in Auroville, India. They found each other through Nia  nine years ago, and their deep love and appreciation for each other was shared in their new routine Awake. The routine Fly was choreographed by four younger trainers, focusing on the FAMSS and is fantastic fun. Soul is to Native American music. Touch was crafted by two fellow trainers in Portland, a beautiful body of work that uses four touchstones as a focus… skin, eyes, breath and sound.
So many ways to touch and be touched.

We will focus on touch this week, using the four touchstones, with the intent to connect to living meditation… places where our body is in stillness.
I put a playlist together that includes two songs of the new routine Touch… come get a preview!
I am very happy to be home and can’t wait to see you!

The week has arrived… we will have Dave Stringer performing in the Laughter studio on Sunday evening, November 4 at 7:00! If you haven’t purchased a ticket, go online to get one… it will be an incredible evening of song and dance, as Dave and his full kirtan band touch us with his explosive talent. The Sunday Nia class is being moved to 3:00pm this week, to accommodate the band’s load in, set up, and sound check. Get ready for a memorable evening!

Touched deep in my soul, Adelle
My classes this week: Wednesday 9:15am, Friday 5:30pm, Sunday 10:00am for Journey Dance and note the class time change for this week… Sunday 3:00pm for Nia! 

When I arrived in Portland, I received a text that Gabrielle Roth, creator of 5Rhythms and beautiful raven spirit, had transitioned… dancing into her next life. That night, 60 of us moved with Gabrielle in our hearts, sensing her wings, her heart, her choices that came from love. 

“In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions. When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?” ~ Gabrielle Roth

Choice is the Gateway to Awareness … In January 2010 at a meeting discussing the future of Nia education,I asked Carlos AyaRosas, the co-creator of Nia, how we could teach other people to evoke the shamanistic element that he brought to Nia classes. What he told me changed my life and I hope that it will change yours!

 

He told me that at one point he simply realized that he could choose to become his own living legend in his natural time! He simply shifted his identity to becoming the storyteller of his life by choosing.

Carlos never chose to be a shaman or some kind of spiritual icon in his classes – his relationship with Nia was a path of awareness.  And yet, this very path led him to the watershed understanding of being his own living legend, which was the very quality that had potent transformational capital for his students. Indeed, the tools of the shaman are story, dance and ritual.

The definition of consciousness is embodied awareness. Embodied awareness is sensation. Awareness is a phenomenological gestalt of living with intent. In a living human being body sensation happens only in the present moment. Consciousness is a phenomenon of the present moment where the body is experienced in its sensory totality – a sacred union of mind, emotion and spirit.

Nia’s first principle, the Joy of Movement, teaches people to connect to the sensation of life force energy in the body simply by choosing to be aware. Life force is the inherent vitality that we invest in every moment through our choices (mind, emotion, spirit realms – the light body) and actions (physical realm – the material body).

The presence of our life force makes all movement possible. Choice is the gateway to awareness; it is the portal to consciousness.

Choice occurs only in the present. The present moment is the unifying force of the whole universe – it is trans-temporal, it includes the all that is past-present-future.
 

The legend of our lives is NOW. Choosing to tell our story, with each step, each gesture, each word and feeling is the ultimate act of awareness where we become both the unfolding delight of the kaleidoscope and the actor turning the kaleidoscope’s wheel!… Karri Winn

Choose the Joy of Movement… Choose Love – the moment is NOW to embrace movement, pleasure and being in your own skin – see you in class!!

Adelle Brownlee Brewer
Owner, The Synergy Studio
Black Belt Nia Teacher; White Belt Nia Trainer
Professional Fiber Artist
San Antonio, Texas
www.thesynergystudio.com
www.nianow.com/adelle
www.journeydance.com

I had many ‘ah-ha’ moments during my recent Transformational Breathwork training. I discovered why I am claustrophobic… and why my movements are big, expansive and open. When the Universe spoke to me on Monday, it was a ‘spot-on’ moment, giving me reflection and gratitude for my large wings.

Loving so much can be heavy… and it is also the energy that sustains me… sharing my life’s dream and purpose is the greatest gift I can give and receive.

Cool breezes, sunshine, dramatic thunderstorms, heavy downpours, open windows… isn’t it romantic?! I love weather and I’m a romantic, touchy, feel-y person, so when the weather changes, I get a tingly excitement on my skin, and in my bones. It reminds me of the presence of Joy… the Joy I feel when I dance… the Joy I feel when the earth is dancing her rhythms… the Joy of Being Alive!

I’m excited this week as Joanie and I prepare for a Nia White Belt that starts this Friday.  We have a wonderful group from our dancing community and from Mexico.  I love delivering this work!

The Nia White Belt focuses on the foundation of Nia through 13 principles that guide you to place your attention on yourself, on your body, and on physical sensation.  The intent of these principles are to assist and inspire you to celebrate your body and your human potential.  
The Nia White Belt is designed for people of all shapes and sizes, and it teaches you about sensory-based movement as a pleasurable way to achieve lasting health, wellness and fitness.  It is truly a gift that lasts a lifetime, and goes beyond the class into life!!
 If you have been contemplating this gift for yourself, there is still time and room to sign up!  Go to http://www.nianow.com/nia-training/24/nia-white-belt-training.   In addition, make sure you come to the Nia classes during the coming week, as we dance and focus on the 13 Principles of the White Belt!  

 “If you remember anything about Nia, remember this: the soul of Nia is  the Joy of Movement.”  Debbie Rosas and Carlos AyaRosas, co-founders of Nia.  

My Nia classes this week and next during the White Belt… a LOT of opportunities to dance! We will be doing a different routine everyday and changing the focus as we learn the principles, but The Joy of Movement is always present… The Joy of Being Alive! 🙂

• Tuesday 6:45 am
• Wednesday 9:15 am
• Friday 5:30 pm with Joanie (The White Belt Begins!)
• Saturday 9:30 am with Joanie (Focus: Principle 2, Natural Time and the 9 Movement Forms)
• Sunday 4:00 pm with Joanie (Focus: Principle 5, The Base of the Body)
• Monday 5:30 pm with Joanie (Focus: Principle 8, The Core of the Body)
• Tuesday 6:45 am with Carlos and Debbie on DVD! (Focus: Learn the Nia 52 Moves)
• Tuesday 5:30 pm with Joanie and Jan (Focus: Principle 9, Upper Extremities of the Body)
• Wednesday 9:15 am with Joanie (Focus: Energize the Nia 52 Moves)
• Wednesday 5:30 pm with Joanie and Jenn (Focus: Principle 10, X-ray Anatomy)
• Friday 5:30 pm
•  all at http://www.thesynergystudio.com.
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