Author: Adelle Brownlee Brewer Page 11 of 19

I left San Antonio early yesterday morning, a beautiful 75 degrees on its way to 82 by the afternoon. Two hours later, I landed in Denver, Colorado. It was 40 degrees and dropping. As we drove from the airport, I watched storms roll into the mountains, the sky darken and heavy sleet and rain begin to fall. The snowflakes started, and two hours later I was in Stoney’s  bar at the largest University of Oklahoma football watch party outside of Norman, Oklahoma. It was surreal as we sang the fight song, 300 people cheered on the team from 14 televisions, and snow blanketed the earth. And it was 22 degrees outside!

My classes this week:

Tuesday Nia at 6:45am

Wednesday Nia at 9:15am

Friday Nia at 5:30pm

Sunday JourneyDance at 10:00 am

and Sunday Nia at 4:00 pm

all at The Synergy Studio!

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

Learn more and go deeper into the connection with you body and your life by taking a Nia White Belt Intensive. Our next intensive is coming up in December…a split weekend. 

Read more about upcoming opportunities to take the White Belt: http://www.nianow.com/adelle

I looked in the mirror today, and saw somebody different. I was intrigued… I knew I hadn’t changed from the day before, yet who I observed was someone new.
Do you ever take the time to look at yourself and notice the beauty of your body, your emotional expressions, your inner spirit, your human-ness?
I was inspired by the words of Madisyn Taylor this morning when she talked about how many of us don’t take the time to notice and acknowledge how beautiful we are as humans. After reading her words, I stopped and reflected.

200 bones, 700 muscles, thousands of sensory receptors, countless possibilities for shape shifting, evolving, and appreciating every moment in union with our divine spirit, our deep emotions, our sacred vessel… our body.
Does each day bring change? Absolutely. Sometimes the change is not what we want, or desire, but it is the only constant of life. We all have a beautiful light that shines from within, no matter how much we change or how others see us. When we cut through preconcieved notions of how we should look, and simply appreciate our inner light and beauty, we free up so much energy.

Take the time today to look at yourself in the mirror and see your inner soul… see yourself in the pure light of love.
Divine love.

Come dance this week with your inner eyes turned on. We call it x-ray anatomy in Nia… seeing the potential of your beautiful self.
For you ARE beautiful.
Adelle
My classes this week: Tuesday 6:45am, Wednesday 9:15am, Fun Friday 5:30pm

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

Learn more and go deeper into the connection with you body and your life by taking a Nia White Belt Intensive. Check out my trainings with Joanie Brooks at: http://www.nianow.com/adelle

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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I’m sitting in the airport reflecting that it has been over 35 years since I taught my first dance class, and 14 years of those teaching Nia. I continue to be fascinated and awed when introducing Nia to a new community. The beginner’s eyes, mind, heart and spirit that are open to change, discovery, mystery and transformation. I am humbled at the healing power of this work, and how much our body has to teach us.
Our body is filled with ancient wisdom waiting to be revealed.

Returning to Oklahoma City, the city of my birth, introducing Nia to a new community with fellow trainers Joanie Brooks and Shannon Mairs, and getting to dance with my beautiful daughter Louisa, has been humbling and gratifying. We focused our weekend on the sensations in our body that keep us healthy and vital. It was fantastic fun… and we will focus on them this week in my classes…

FAMSS… an acronym we use in Nia to describe the five sensations of functional fitness and how they move energetically in the body.
Using your hands, open them as wide as they can go with web spaces… moving energy out…sensing Flexibility.
Now open and close them, catching flies, or dreams… energy that starts and stops..  Agility in action.

Tickling the space around you with creepy crawler fingers… constant energy flow… Mobility at work.

Draw your hands into a tight fist… energy moving in, packing to the bone…Strength.

Now open your hands into stillness and sense the energy supporting you all around… the sensation of Stability.

Our body is an amazing sacred vessel that houses so many things… mind, emotions, spirit. We keep our body healthy with awareness of the five sensations that bring balance, harmony and grace to our daily dance of life.

After 14 years of teaching Nia, I continue to wake up every day, loving my life and the people I meet daily… loving my body for being there as my best friend and companion… and deeply grateful for the gifts and talents that have blessed me.

A quick story before I part (and get on the plane from OKC bound for SA)… Kari Starkey, who is the only Nia teacher in the state of Oklahoma and a brand new White Belt, came to our classes this weekend. On Saturday, she talked to me with tears in her eyes, telling the story of watching me as a dancer at our small private high school. Her junior high eyes and heart were filled with possibility and desire to be one of the ‘big girl’ dancers.  

A memory flooded back to me when I was a senior, and my mentor and precious dance teacher died in a tragic car accident. I gave her eulogy for the school, and then took over the modern dance program for the last 4 months because we didn’t have a teacher. I was a young 18 year old at the time… determined to keep the dance alive.

The dance program went away after I left for college and didn’t return to my school for 10 years. Kari arrived for her freshmen year and her dream of being one of the ‘big girl’ dancers never happened… until she found Nia last year.

Life so often comes full circle, and everything happens for a reason. 

We are all beings of light, making a difference in someone’s life moment to moment… many times in ways that we don’t realize. Simple gestures like a smile, a hug, looking and seeing another as they speak… every gesture, word, and deed creates a ripple of energy that affects the world. 

Shine forth… know you are appreciated… rest in the presence of Joy… surrounded by the energy of love… YOU are an inspiration!

Join me in the dance of sensation and have a glorious week… Adelle

If you are still with me, enjoy the poignant words below from Madisyn Taylor and Henry Van Dyke

Spreading Your Light… How You Affect Others Daily 

We have the potential to affect others through all of our actions during our day whether we are aware of it or not.

As the pace and fullness of modern life serve to isolate us from one another, the contact we do share becomes vastly more significant. We unconsciously absorb each other’s energy, adopting the temperament of those with whom we share close quarters, and find ourselves changed after the briefest encounters. Everything we do or say has the potential to affect not only the individuals we live, work, and play with but also those we’ve just met. Though we may never know the impact we have had or the scope of our influence, accepting and understanding that our attitudes and choices will affect others can help us remember to conduct ourselves with grace at all times. When we seek always to be friendly, helpful, and responsive, we effortlessly create an atmosphere around ourselves that is both uplifting and inspiring.

Most people rarely give thought to the effect they have had or will have on others. When we take a few moments to contemplate how our individual modes of being affect the people we spend time with each day, we come one step closer to seeing ourselves through the eyes of others. By asking ourselves whether those we encounter walk away feeling appreciated, respected, and liked, we can heighten our awareness of the effect we ultimately have. Something as simple as a smile given freely can temporarily brighten a person’s entire world. Our value-driven conduct may inspire others to consider whether their own lives are reflective of their values. A word of advice can help others see life in an entirely new fashion. And small gestures of kindness can even prove to those embittered by the world that goodness still exists. By simply being ourselves, we influence other’s lives in both subtle and life-altering ways.

To ensure that the effect we have is positive, we must strive to stay true to ourselves while realizing that it is the demeanor we project and not the quality of our wondrous inner landscapes that people see. Thus, as we interact with others, how we behave can be as important as who we are. If we project our passion for life, our warmth, and our tolerance in our facial features, voice, and choice of words, every person who enters our circle of influence will leave our presence feeling at peace with themselves and with us. You never know whose life you are affecting, big or small. Try to remember this as you go out into the world each day… Madisyn Taylor

Use what talents you possess; The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best… Henry Van Dyke

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