Month: January 2015

Living in the shadow of Chaos or diving into the eye of the storm

My friend and fellow colleague of movement, Adam Barley, wrote this today and I wanted to pass it on. See below***

As the wise Gabriel Roth, founder of the 5Rhythms mused, we are in the time of Chaos. And from Chaos flows creativity. 
Shall we live in the shadow of chaos or dive into the storm?
My choice? To dive… 

*BTW, Adam lives in England, and is an amazing ambassador and 5Rhythms teacher. Look for him in your community

***Awakening 

Maybe it sounds a bit grand, calling this year’s on-going group “Awakening”. My English tendency towards understatement didn’t have anything to do with it. It’s not even my idea. Or Eckhart Tolle’s! Everybody’s saying it.

All over the world, from Tibet to the Amazon rainforest, indigenous wisdom keepers have been saying for a few decades now that the time has come for their most sacred teachings to be shared freely with anyone who will listen – human consciousness ‘technologies’ that have for 

countless generations only been passed down orally 
to carefully trained initiates.

But beyond even that, we all feel it, see it, know it in our guts: we’re not just on the brink, we’re off the edge and falling.

Well, that’s Chaos. Chaos falls. The wave needs to break.

After ten thousand years of gathering Staccato momentum, pushing out and forwards like all good waves do, it’s come to the point where that forward motion has become unsustainable, and the pull of mamma earth is taking over again. Such is the nature of Chaos, and this wave is so huge, we’re seeing the beginning of a break so mighty, we can barely begin to grasp it’s depth or power.

FAR OUT!!!

How are your surfing skills, people???

How are you with ‘down’ as a direction?
(You know that Flowing moves in, Staccato out, Lyrical up, Stillness centered, right? Got a problem with “Down we go!”?) ***

Having been through one of the most difficult passages of my life so far in the last few months I feel both stripped and stronger, ready for a big year ahead. Ready to explore this theme of Awakening, which no doubt will be present at all dance floors, all mediation cushions, and all kitchen stoves all over the world as we go farther in, farther out, farther down, farther up, farther through.

Because as far as I can see, there’s no escaping what’s going on. For any of us. We do get some degree of choice as to how, like whether you want to do pharmaceutically engineered, mass media driven, ego feeding nightmares on the one extreme, or whether you’re willing to turn around and look deep into the mirror, dancing with what you find there.

You going to live in the shadow of Chaos?

Or dive into the eye of the storm, and keep waking up?

The answer is probably a bit of both isn’t it? Because awakening is not a one time thing. It’s a moment to moment, day by day, step by step process. Never ending.

with love,
Adam

How old are you? How old would you be if… ???

How old would you be, if you didn’t know how old you were? 
I love to ponder this question. When I press myself for an answer, I have to speak the truth… I have no idea. 
As I enter my birthday week, looking at the ‘number’ 56 on Thursday, January 29, I smile. I’m so grateful for another day. Another year.
I am inspired daily by the amazing people of all ages who come to the studio, ‘young’ ‘old’ and everyone in between. No one talks about age, and if they do, it is with a giggle, a smile, an acknowledgement… followed by “I feel amazing.”
We explore this phenomenon called “Natural Time” in the Nia White Belt. It the measurement of space/time and the movement of energy that naturally occurs in our digits and joints. It is encoded in our cellular system. Not dictated by a clock, or a day, a month or a year, it is our body’s way of measuring and moving based on sensation.
How cool is that?
What do you sense in your body? What age are you if you have no idea old you are? Existential, out of the box thinking… yes… and wonderful. 
Pictured below are dear friends from all over the world, after a video shoot… ages 32-64… and they could give a flip how ‘old’ they are. The listen to the sensations of their body, measure and move in natural time, and they feel great. This picture inspires me, and encourages me to keep talking the talk, walking the walk, and opening doors for potential and possibilities.  
Come dance with me this week. We will explore “Natural Time” as we listen to the sensations of our body, and experience timeless energy. Your Body’s Way. Living as a Sacred Athlete.
Sending you love!
Adelle

​My classes this week:

Tuesday 6:45am, Wednesday 9:15am, Friday 5:30pm and Sunday 4:00pm​


Adelle Brownlee Brewer
Owner, The Synergy StudioNia 1st Degree Black Belt Somatic Educator + Trainer
Transformational Breath® Facilitator + Trainer 

Certified JourneyDance™ Facilitator
www.transformationalbreath.com
www.journeydance.com/adellebrewer

Considering taking the Nia White belt intensive?  
Whether you want to teach Nia or take Nia for personal growth, it is an amazing experience!
Check out my trainings: www.nianow.com/adelle

Awareness

 As the word ‘Awareness’ entered my teaching this week, I was once again reminded of the power of being aware of what my body is saying. The power of ‘Awareness’, the principle we teach that has the catch phrase, ‘Paying attention to body sensations.’

When I woke up and looked at my computer, Deepak Chopra spoke to me this morning about Awareness. Powerful sage of our times, his words resonated:

“If you want to change your body, a change in awareness must come first. Awareness is where meaning happens. What you are unaware of won’t change.

If distorted energy is the root of all problems, it can be brought back to its normal, healthy state by accessing our inner intelligence–pure consciousness.


As your awareness changes, your energy changes, and then your body changes. The chain of events moves from the invisible realm to the visible on this path: AWARENESS – ENERGY – BODY

Awareness that is limited by fear, doubt, anger, lack, addiction, insecurity, and judgment is conditioned. Conditioned awareness does not heal the body, it merely repeats the patterns from the past. In everyone there’s a level of awareness that isn’t conditioned or lacking. This is your real self, full awareness which automatically masters.

When You Are Fully Aware:

  • You can center yourself at will
  • You are familiar with a place of peace and silence inside
  • You aren’t divided against yourself by inner conflicts
  • You can transcend local disturbances and remain unaffected by them
  • You see the world from an expanded perspective
  • Your inner world is organized

  • Old conditioning keeps us from being free, because time and again we fall into old patterns that run too deep, while our new behavior, the one we wish we could have, has no groove to follow at all. This state of being trapped in old conditioning creates its own kind of awareness.


  • When Your Awareness Is Conditioned:
  • You can’t find your center, so impulses pull you this way and that
  • You aren’t familiar with a place of peace and silence, so there’s constant restlessness
  • Conflicting impulses fight against each other
  • Local disturbances disturb and distract you
  • You see the world from a contracted perspective
  • Your inner world is totally disorganized

  • There are three ways to break down old conditioning: reflection, contemplation, and meditation. Their power increases in that order. We all tend to use these words interchangeably, but they have separate implications.

  • Reflection — taking a second look at old habits, beliefs, and assumptions.
  • Contemplation — focusing on a thought until it expands as far as it can.
  • Meditation — finding the level of the mind that isn’t conditioned.

  • Consider the best use of these methods for yourself to maximize your access to full and unconditioned awareness.
    The chain of events that ends in the body begins in consciousness. By moving stuck energy, the free flow of consciousness is restored, and that is enough to bring the body back into a healthy state.” ~ Deepak Chopra

    Well…hmmm… today will be a contemplative, meditative day of reflection.

    Sending love your way~~~ Adelle

    Magical, Mysterious, Mystical Column!



    Nia: A lifestyle practice that can be experienced at any age. Nia keeps us flexible, agile, strong and healthy. Nia combines 9 movement forms, 52 moves, 7 cycles, and 5 sensations to create a practice that everyBODY can do forever

    Why do we hesitate? Why do we let days go by without moving, dancing, rolling on the floor?

    Bring your spirit to class this week, and fly with potential and possibilities, as we dance our magical, mysterious, mystical column. Dancing Nia will open the doors to a life of health for this amazing structure that holds our life-force energy.

    Read 9 fascinating facts below about the spine, and I’ll see you in class! 
    My classes this week: Tuesday 6:45am, Wednesday 9:15am, and Fun Friday 5:30 pm

    With deep love, Adelle
      
    1. Both giraffes and humans have seven vertebrae in their necks.
    2. As babies, we have 33 vertebrae but as adults we end up with 26. What happens to the 9 remaining bones? Four of them will fuse to make our tailbone and five fuse to make the back of the pelvis.
    3. The spinal column has 3 very important functions – it supports the body’s weight, provides flexibility for movement, protects nerve roots and fibers and forms a protective surrounding for the spinal cord– the main pathway of communication between the brain and the rest of the body.
    4. The first set of vertebrae (the cervical vertebrae found in the neck) are also called the Atlas. Atlas is a character from Greek mythology who, after losing a fight, was turned to stone and had to carry the weight of the Earth and the Heavens on his shoulders. The cervical vertebrae were also given this name as they carry the weight of the head.
    5. The biggest cause of disability in the working population is attributed to spinal disorders.
    6. The spine contains over 120 muscles, 220 ligaments and over 100 joints.
    7. One quarter of the spine’s length is made up from cartilage.
    8. Since cartilage discs expand in the absence of gravity, astronauts returning from space may be 1.5 to 2 inches taller than when they left. Gravity’s effect on cartilage is also the cause of humans shrinking between a quarter of an inch and five inches every decade after the age of 40. It also means we are generally taller in the morning than at night because of the daily effect of gravity on the body.
    9. The spine is so flexible it can bend far enough to form two thirds of a circle.
    WOW… Magical, Mysterious, Mystical Column… get ready to move it!

    Dream, Imagine, Manifest


    What does it mean to dream? What does it mean to imagine? What does it mean to dream into manifestation?


    When I was a little girl of 4, I dreamed and imagined a place where everyone in the world could come and dance, no matter how old they were. I dreamed that dream into manifestation 40 years later and The Synergy Studio was born. 

    I am one who manifests. One who dreams ideas into manifestation. I love to help others bring their dreams into reality, into being, with divine right action. 

    I have a lot of energy, and its constantly in motion, dreaming the next dream, imagining the next creation, and taking the first step to manifestation. 

    Today is a day of reflection, and today the next two quotes appeared in my in-box. They emboldened me to write. Words are powerful, and attention sets intentions into motion. 

    Energy flows where intention goes… Create your reality!

    With deep love, Adelle
    Yellow Planetary Warrior: 
    I Perfect in order to Question
    Producing Fearlessness
    I seal the output of Intelligence
    with the Planetary tone of Manifestation
    I am guided by the power of Flowering



    Emboldened by Spirit, I pursue my dreams… Daily Word

    Dreams are ideas in the Mind of God. They arise in my heart because I am a spiritual being, always in the process of becoming. As I listen to my heart, I take bold steps toward my vision. To manifest it, I put my thoughts, feeling, and words into action.
    As I pursue my dreams, I feel joy, peace, and freedom. If self-doubt arises, I rekindle my faith and get back on track. I boldly affirm my heart’s desire and proceed one step at a time. As I confidently walk towards my dreams, I am emboldened by Spirit.  

    Aligning Actions and Words… Madisyn Taylor

    Words carry a lot of weight in this world, from how we say them to what we say with them, but it is through our actions that we bring things into being. This is what we mean when we say to one another that actions speak louder than words. In many cases, what we say doesn’t necessarily line up with what we are doing, and it is here that it becomes clear that it’s easier to talk about doing something than it is to actually do something. At the same time, it’s easy to keep doing something that we don’t necessarily acknowledge ourselves doing verbally. It’s good for all of us to take a look every once and a while to make sure there is alignment between what we say and what we do. 

    For example, it’s easy to talk about our dreams, but it takes a lot more energy to take the many small steps that lead to bringing our dreams into reality. If all we ever do is talk about it, we begin to lose faith in ourselves because nothing changes on the external level. In this way, being all talk and no action is actually a form of self-sabotage. It’s also useful to examine our actions to see if, through them, we are following through on our words. For example, in expressing concern about the environment, we can look to make sure that we are taking the simple steps we can take to put that concern into action. 

    It’s always helpful to observe what we talk about and who we say we are, and then to observe what we actually do in the world. Sometimes we realize our actions haven’t caught up with what we are saying, and at other times we see that we might change our words in a way that it will more adequately reflect what we do in the world. Either way, the more we align our words and our deeds, the clearer we are in expressing our truth in the world, and the more powerful we are in bringing it into reality. 




    Activating the Core to Activate the Breath!

    Hello friends!
    We had an amazing weekend for the launch of Movement and Breath® at the studio. Friday evening, 10 people joined us for the evening breathing session, and Saturday and Sunday, we had 8 who traveled from Austin, Dripping Springs, Laredo, and Boulder, CO.! It was magical, and I am in deep gratitude for everyone’s support. 
    I will be offering the next Movement and Breath® at the studio on a weekend in late March or early April. I will let you know when the date is set, so you can join us! I will also be traveling and teaching this very fun breath weekend. 🙂
    I look forward to teaching all my classes this week, and can’t wait to see you in class. After a weekend of learning how the activation of the core helps to deepen the breath, I am inspired to focus on Nia Principle #8: Core. 
    The pelvis, chest and head make up the Core of our body, where we contain, exchange, and direct the flow of energy.  In Nia, we incorporate movement of the pelvis, chest and head with pelvic circles, hip bumps, chest isolations, undulations, spinal rolls, shimmies and head and eye movements.  By incorporating all these movements, we keep our spine strong and healthy, and energy flowing through all seven chakras that are located along our mystic column.

    As Nia reveals, one of the most beautiful things about living in a body is our ability to find healing and realignment through movement. By paying attention to the way we hold and use our three body weights, we can identify areas that need adjusting and make conscious “tweaks” to re-establish balance, alignment and power.
     
    Join me in class this week as we move, shake, circle, undulate and realign, focusing on Principle #8, The Core of the Body. Unlimited 
    opportunities to strengthen the spine, let energy flow, and find balance in the Year of Possibilities!

    Dancing into a glorious week, Adelle

    My classes: Tuesday 6:45 am, Wednesday 9:15 am, Fun Friday 5:30 pm, and Sunday 4:00pm at The Synergy Studio!

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