Author: Adelle Brownlee Brewer Page 13 of 19

A favorite quote of mine by Eleanor Roosevelt…
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.

What started as an great idea has bloomed into a great event that involves lots of wonderful people… YOU!

Please join Nia teachers from all over this weekend as we come together for two great causes!

Austin, Texas hosts a fundraiser this Saturday, August 11 for the Lone Star Paralysis Foundation. Galaxy Dance Studios from 2:30-4:00pm.

San Antonio, Texas and The Synergy Studio is hosting a fundraiser this Sunday, August 12 at 4:00pm.

Sister cities coming together!

In San Antonio, Nia teachers from San Antonio and Austin teach a fun JAM at 4:00 pm. This is the regular class time at the studio, so come one and all, bring a check as a donation (so you will have a receipt) and make your check out to The Colorado Red Cross and/or the Lone Star Paralysis Foundation. All proceeds from the class will be donated to these two great causes to help our friends in Colorado as well as fellow Nia trainer Holly Natasi’s son Daniel Curtis, who was paralysed last year in a diving accident.

Our focus for the Nia Jam… Giving and Receiving From the Heart…”It is your birthright to live a life abundant in love. Make the commitment today to open your heart and let your love flow.”—David Simon

Bring friends… it is a guaranteed fun time!
More info copied below:

Nia Benefit for the Colorado Red Cross and Lone Star Paralyis Foundation with Nia Teachers

Sun Date: 8/12/2012 From: 4:00 pm – 5:15 pm

A Benefit for the Lone Star Paralysis Foundation & The Colorado Red Cross

Many of our extended community have been impacted by the fires in Colorado.

The Colorado Red Cross is assisting families in need and we want to offer our help. The Lone Star Paralysis Foundation is a nonprofit organization that helps people with spinal chord injuries. Daniel Curtis, son of Nia Trainer Holly Curtis, is a recipient of this wonderful organization after suffering a spinal cord injury in May of 2011.

Join The Synergy Studio and Nia teachers as we dance to support the recovery of the families in Colorado as well as those with spinal cord injuries.

Bring friends and family as we move with the Joy of living!

All proceeds will be split between the 2 organizations

Sunday, August 12
4:00pm
By Donation… suggested donation $20, or more!

Adelle Smile

Flexible, Strong Doors That Open and Close

By Adelle Brownlee Brewer

On August 5, 2012

In Uncategorized

Bendable, pliable movers of energy… strong, flexible doors that open and close… connectors to above and below…
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Our Knees!
I was honored to write about the knee in this month’s NiaNow newsletter. I have shared with some of you my ‘knee story’ and now its public knowledge. There is a vulnerability in writing about pain, and my right knee has lived with a long-standing injury that reminds me daily of the fragility and strength of this complex and amazing joint.
I am immensely grateful for the power my knees give me to walk, stand, move, dance, leap, and land with grace.

Our knees are a fascinating grid of bone, muscle, ligaments and tendons. We will focus on our knees this week, starting this afternoon at 4:00. I hope you will join me in the dance of appreciation for these amazing joints… your knees are listening… take a moment to thank them right now.
Read more about your knees in this month’s newsletter, and sign up to receive the information for free every month… we are all sensation scientists, exploring, discovering, and appreciating our body… the sacred vessel that we steward… as our oldest friend and greatest companion.

We will be dancing with a mindfulness of center, grounding, and rooting this morning in Journey Dance at 10:00. Dance with your first chakra, and return for Nia at 4:00 to dance your beautiful knees!
With deep gratitude for you, Adelle

My classes this week: Sunday(today) Journey Dance 10:00am and Nia at 4:00pm, Tuesday 6:45am, Wednesday 9:15am, Fun Friday 5:30pm… and look for a special announcement of the fund raising events for the Colorado Red Cross and Lone Star Paralysis Foundation coming this next weekend! Dance to give, receive and make a difference!

Our amazing knees!

By Adelle Brownlee Brewer

On August 2, 2012

In Uncategorized

When I first wake up in the morning, I do a body scan, begin stretching and ask my knees how they are feeling.

At the young age of 18, I was dancing in a performance and leapt in the air, coming down at the wrong angle and throwing my patella (the kneecap) to one side. At that time in medical history, doctors performed knee surgery that left a huge, long scar, so I chose to forgo surgery. More than 30 years later, through my daily Nia practice, I continue to bring awareness to my healing, consciously activating sensations of strength, flexibility and stability to keep my knee healthy.

The anatomy of the knee involves a fascinating combination of bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons and connective tissue that all weave together to support the overall structure. The knee is made up of four bones. The femur, which is the large bone in the thigh, attaches via ligaments to the tibia. Just below and parallel to the tibia is the fibula. The patella rides on the knee joint as the knee bends. The knee muscles, which go across the knee joint, are the quadriceps and the hamstrings. The quadricep muscles are located on the front of the knee, and the hamstrings are found on the back of the knee.

There are four ligaments that are equally important in the knee, because they hold the joint together. Most often, injury occurs in the ligaments when they are pushed beyond their range of motion. Tendons and connective tissue also support the overall structure of this complex joint.

Our knees are amazing, pliable joints that transfer energy from one set of bones to another. They may look like simple joints, yet they are some of the most complex, and are more likely to be injured than any other joint in the body. We tend to ignore our knees until something happens to them, yet daily care can keep our knees strong and agile. By listening to our knees, honoring their design and keeping them healthy and strong, they will support us in our daily dance for a lifetime.

If you find yourself needing knee surgery or a knee replacement, know that many in our community of movers have experienced the same issues, and with the help of Nia, they have returned to class strong, agile and joyful!

Adelle’s tips:

Start your day with the Nia 5 Stages. Roll around on the floor in Embryonic, reaching out and in, using your arms and legs to activate your joints. Creep like a lizard, and sense the action of your knees. Gently push up to all fours and crawl like a bear, imagining your knees are feet. Walk your hands back to one side as your spine becomes vertical, and feel the stability of your knees as you shift your body weight from one foot to the other. Then push down into the earth to rise, and walk on the balls of your feet for a few steps as you reach high, sensing both the strength and flexibility of your beautiful knee joints. As your heels descend, let them lead you into walking and bring an awareness to your knees–magnificent hinge joints that carry you through your day!
Spend one minute per day getting up and down from the floor. This simple action activates all 13 main joints and will help keep your knees stay flexible, strong and stable.
Walk on the beach, sensing the warm movement of the sand under your feet and the gentle waves shifting the earth as your knees adjust to the movement.
As you dance in class, visualize your knees as sponges and imagine gently squeezing water out of them as you move.
Read about your knees in books and online. More self-knowledge will bring greater appreciation and awareness to their impressive and intricate design.
From this month’s NiaNow newsletter: Click here to read entire article

Six Degrees of Separation

By Adelle Brownlee Brewer

On July 21, 2012

In Uncategorized

How many degrees of separation are you from the rest of the world? Amazingly… very little.

I heard the flight was full. My boarding number was B18, so I knew I needed to find the ‘right’ seat quickly when I walked onto the flight. Five rows in, there was a mother and daughter sitting together with the aisle open. I placed my bag in the overhead bin, got ready with my computer, and slithered in, smiling at my neighbors.

“Are you going to Baltimore?” the mother asked me. “No, staying on the plane all the way to Albany.” After a few minutes I inquired, “Do you live in San Antonio?” “Yes! You?”

The conversation went from San Antonio, to The Pearl, to The Synergy Studio, to Nia. “Oh! There was someone from Synergy who came to my school to talk about eating disorders and Nia, and she was sooo much fun!” exclaimed the pretty young woman.

It was our own Jenn Martin, studio manager, Nia teacher, and precious colleague who went to speak at her school! One degree of separation… at most two… Jenn is like my younger sister.

In my numerous travels over the past few years, I am continually amazed and delighted at the conversations I have on the plane, waiting in line at Starbucks, talking to the waitress at the restaurant, or taking the light rail. I never hesitate to talk about Nia, movement, the studio, San Antonio, and it never fails that the degree of separation is almost non-existent.

In the Year of the Sacred Athlete at The Synergy Studio, we are reminded that we are all healers, touching lives everyday with our knowledge, grace and love. In the smallest of ways, a life can change in a nano-second… a smile can mean the world to the toothless man on the street corner, the older woman who can’t reach the top shelf in the grocery, the young man at the register who is very nervous on his first-ever day of work. Yes, we are all healers, angels to someone in every moment.

Spread your wings dear friends… toot your horn… recognize your beauty and grace… and share your light. Make every moment count in this blessed life. Live into your greatness. Follow your North Star. You are an angel with wide, bright wings, master of your destiny, and healer to all. The moment is now… no holding back… shine your light!

Have a wonderful week. Be sure to keep dancing! Dance with Jenn, Sarita, and Angie, who will be covering my classes while I’m at Kripalu with Toni Bergins, assisting her in a Journey Dance teacher training. We have 45 enrolled in the training… 45 eager souls ready to explore, create, and transform. I then travel to Denver with some of my fellow Nia trainers to assist Debbie and Kevin in a Nia 52 Moves training… 30 plus more sacred athletes ready to evolve in their practice.

And the young girl on the plane with her mother? She has my card in her purse, ready to learn about the Nia 5 Stages to help her scoliosis, and excited to bring her mother to a Nia class! Yes… virtually no separation exists between us all.

We are so lucky to be living in this time… 2012… the year of transforming energy, filled with love. Spread your wings and fly today!

With deep love, for it is all love… Adelle

Balance on the Blanco!

By Adelle Brownlee Brewer

On July 14, 2012

In Uncategorized

The beautiful Blanco River in the hill country of Texas! Its moving! Rain!

Gorgeous cypress trees… when I stand next to them, I feel like a Hobbit

Bella and Bear… two of my babies… brother and sister pie-bald dachshunds!

What does it mean to you when you hear the word ‘Balance?’

We have been exploring the practice of asking our body what it needs… in the physical, mental, emotional and spirit realms… and listening to the voices that are asking for healing. Healing can be as simple as rolling around on the floor in the morning, rearranging our bones after a long evening of stillness and rest. Healing can go deeper, exploring ways to bring more stimulation to our mind, or more depth and passion to our emotional body. Even deeper, the exploration can take us to the unknown, asking our spirit what he/she needs to heal and follow our purpose, our north star, as we navigate through life.
For me, healing means bringing Balance to my realms in every way… exploring the mystery daily while staying present and open to the possibilities.
Balance begins with the sacred vessel I call my human body. In my body are all the possibilities and transformations waiting to happen. Every cell in the body is renewed and replaced every 7 years! Amazing potential to find harmony and peace moment to moment, in body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Balance in play/work, movement/stillness, sound/silence, yin/yang, extrinsic/intrinsic, high/low, out/in, stimulation/relaxation, form/freedom.

As I write this morning, I’m balancing my body and spirit’s need to be in wide open spaces, out in the country by the water, smelling the richness of the moment, seeing the beauty of nature in her glory, hearing the sounds of silence, feeling the cool air on my skin, tasting the moist fog on my tongue, sensing my connection to all.

Keep those questions coming. Explore the mystery of life, as we evolve and heal moment to moment. Explore what Balance means to you in class with me this week… Explore on the dance floor!
Loving the mystery… Adelle

ps. We have a last minute fun trunk show coming on Wednesday to the studio! Blue Jeans Bar Mobile, a company that travels the US helping people find great looking jeans with the best fit for their body. They will also have bathing suits and some other items, so stop by and try on a pair with the blue jean experts! Wednesday, July 18th, from 10:00-6:00 at The Synergy Studio!
A jpg is attached to this email about the BJB!

My classes this week: Journey Dance on Sunday 10:00am… Nia on Tuesday 6:45am, Wednesday 9:15am; Friday 5:30pm

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

Connection

By Adelle Brownlee Brewer

On July 13, 2012

In Uncategorized

This is a piece written by Madisyn Taylor… beautifully written, expressing in words my thoughts and feelings…. we are all connected. A glorious web of sacred beings…

Earth is home to a web of living things that are connected to each other through a kaleidoscope of relationships.

Picking a leaf off the ground and contemplating it as an object in and of itself is very inspiring. Its shape and color, the way it feels in your hand, its delicate veins and the stem that once held it fast to the branch of a tree—all of these qualities reveal a leaf to be a miniature work of natural art. As we contemplate this small object more deeply and consider where it came from and what purpose it has served, we find that the leaf is one small but essential part of a system that harnesses the energy of the sun, plumbs the depths of the earth, and in the process brings into being the oxygen many living things rely on to live.

A leaf transforms the elements of its environment—sunlight, carbon dioxide, rain—into nourishment for its tree. This beautiful, nearly weightless, ephemeral piece of nature is a vital conduit to the branch that is a conduit to the trunk that is a conduit to the roots of the tree. The roots, in turn, draw nourishment from the earth to feed the trunk, the branches, and the leaves. The living beings that inhale the oxygen that comes from this process exhale the carbon dioxide that feeds the leaves through which the tree is fed. It is difficult to know where one cycle ends and another one begins.

One of the many gifts that nature offers us is a clear demonstration of the interdependence between all living things. The person who exhales the carbon dioxide, the clouds that produce the rain, the sun that gives light, the leaf that transforms all these things into sustenance for a tree—not one of these could survive without being part of this cycle.

Each living being is dependent upon other living things for its survival. When we look at the world, we see that this is not a place where different beings survive independently of one another. Earth is home to a web of living things that are connected to each other through a spinning kaleidoscope of relationships. We need each other to survive and thrive.

Healing the Soul

By Adelle Brownlee Brewer

On July 8, 2012

In Uncategorized

“Movement is good for the soul…”
Do you ever ask your soul, your spirit, what it needs? A lot of talk today centers around the ‘Mind, Body, and Spirit,’ and practices that engage in the healing of the ‘holistic’ self.
What does that mean to you?
For me, it means asking the different realms how they are doing, what do they need in this moment, and also recognizing what brings healing, happiness, joy and life to each one. Engaging in stimulating conversation, reading books, challenging and going beyond the known is fulfilling to my mind. Dancing, working out, rolling around on the earth brings my body into a place of equilibrium and calm. Spending time with nature, and in gratitude for my life is what brings my soul the peace it loves.
From Nia Principle #5, we play with the triad Awareness, Stimulation, Self-healing and also the triad Dancing Through Life, Living Meditation, Life as Art. We play with them in relationship to our body, yet our physical body has it all… our Mind… our Body… and our Spirit. Giving time, asking what is needed, and recognizing with gratitude the gift of life is healing to every part of us.
Bring your questions to the dance floor in Nia and Journey Dance this week… ask your mind what it needs… your body… your soul. Let’s dance it and rejoice in the unknown, the questions, the healing.
I spent two days in the hill country this past week with nature, healing my soul. Check out the pictures below and go pick peaches! Talk about lifting the spirit!

Blessings, Adelle

My classes this week… Sunday (today!) Journey Dance 10:00am, and Nia 4:00pm… Tuesday 6:45am… Wednesday 9:15am… Fun Friday 5:30pm. Tricia Messinger will be joining us on Wednesday after class to answer questions about Protandim. Many of you all have asked and she can speak eloquently about the science behind it… I know I love it, feel great, and believe in the reduction of oxidative stress.
AND… This was in my inbox today… I loved it and wanted to share…’The older the soul, Adelle, the softer the glance, the quicker the smile and the sooner to say “I love you.” They also skip and wink more than normal, and hold hands with those they walk beside.’

Picking Peaches! A Texas adventure…

By Adelle Brownlee Brewer

On July 5, 2012

In Uncategorized


		My 5-fingers are good for peach pickin’ too… love feeling the earth as I walked the rows


Harper, Texas, lined with American flags on the highway… a beautiful drive!

Rows and rows and rows in the early morning light

I LOVE peaches!

Hiding in the shadows of the trees

This way!

A beautiful sunny day in Fredricksburg, Texas!

My spoils for the day… homegrown tomatoes, cantalope, hand-picked peaches, and fresh honey… well, yum!

They sell a lot of veggies

Nothing more beautiful than a peach saying ‘pick me!’


From Hwy 87… follow the signs to Marburger

     When I was raising my four beautiful children, we took many road trips to Fredricksburg, Texas to pick peaches in the early morning hours. I would pile them in the car (many times with friends or cousins) and away we would go… they would sleep, and I would drive the hour to Marburger Orchard.
     After returning to San Antonio, they would set up a peach stand in our neighborhood and sell peaches and coca-cola, making their own spending money for our upcoming cross-country car vacations and summer adventures.
     Now with four wonderful adults, and two beautiful daughter-in-laws, life is different… and I still love my peach picking! After a glorious 4th of July evening that started in Comfort, Texas with lots of people, I drove to a friend’s ranch close to Harper and spent a restorative quiet evening in the Texas Hill Country… night sounds, full moon, cool breeze, crisp smells, thunderstorm! … you can take the city out of the girl, but not the country… I love to be outside. This morning found me heading through Harper to Fredricksburg, and Marburger’s… ahhhhh! Peaches!!!!
Treat yourself to a road trip… a de-light for the senses

Fascinating Fascia!

By Adelle Brownlee Brewer

On July 2, 2012

In Uncategorized

Dancing Friends!
I am fascinated by our fascia, our connective tissue in the body. Visualizing the body as a network of flowing connection and sensation has brought greater appreciation for this gift, and heightened awareness of the importance of the daily dance of movement. The daily dance keeps my body in a continued state of transformation. The Freedom that grows from the Form.

Fascia is pervasive. It is everywhere in our body. Fascia lines our organs. It lines and infuses with our muscles. It helps attach our muscles to our bones. It lines our bones too. It forms pathways for our delicate nerves, arteries, and veins to run through – tunnels to transport the fluids that sustain us. Fascia is a 3 dimensional web connecting every structure in our entire body – from head to toe – without interruption. It is a continuous unit, flowing from one form to the next, changing shape and tone depending on the structure it surrounds… on how we move!

Fascia is designed to protect us, to keep our internal structures properly positioned, to allow the different parts of our body to slide and glide around each other as we move, and allow our body to maintain it’s shape. If we took away everything except our fascia, we would still maintain our shape!

Our body and its fascia matrix is a metaphor for life and community… we are all connected… through the air we breathe, the thoughts we think, the love we feel… I decided to attend a meditation group this weekend, and I went by myself, not expecting to know anybody. After I sat down, a woman in front of me turned around and said, “I know you!” After a short discussion, we discovered that she came to the studio years ago… and as we spoke the person in front of her turned around and exclaimed, “Adelle! I’m your banker!” hahhaha… I had never met the person who gave me the loans for the studio. And THEN, someone got up from across the aisle, came over and grabbed my hand, looked me in the eyes and thanked me for the studio, and told me how instrumental it has been in the healing of her friend who has battled breast cancer. All of this happened in less than a minute… synchronic connections… life as fascia… connective tissue.

We keep our friendships, connections, and community strong with conversation, and dance. We keep our fascia healthy, strong, and fluid through movement. Sharing stories, adventures, tears and happiness keeps our spirit free and connection to others open and honest. Like friendships, when our fascia is sedentary, it becomes sticky, fuzzy, knitted together, like scar tissue, and our shape takes on a different form. A form with less freedom that desires to break loose and fly.

Nia is full, systemic, body movement, helping our fascia mold, shape, re-shape, change and be in a state of constant transformation.”Through Movement We Find Health”… Let’s celebrate the freedom of our fascia this week… Moving our Form into Freedom.
I will be teaching my Wednesday class on July 4th at 9:15, and I am going to begin all my classes this week rolling around on the earth, so get ready to don those knee pads! Its a week of dance, of moving our fascia, of celebrating our connection… Form into Freedom. See you on the dance floor!

Loving the transformation, Adelle

My classes this week… Nia~~~Tuesday 6:45am, Wednesday 9:15am, Fun Friday 5:30pm, Sunday 4:00pm
Journey Dance ~~~ Sunday 10:00am

Community comes in many forms

By Adelle Brownlee Brewer

On June 27, 2012

In Uncategorized

Hi all… I wanted to share two community thoughts… one extremely sad, and one humbling and awesome…
     Beginning with the sadness… I spoke and heard through texts from our extended dance community in Colorado, and they shared pictures….
     I wept in the early morning, after I saw the pictures. I could hear the wildlife crying, the trees moaning, feel the earth shaking and the hearts breaking. My heart is hurting.
We are all connected and our friends in Colorado need our positive thoughts, prayers and waves of love… a beautiful state being devastated by fire, one of Earth’s natural elements.
     I believe that each one of us can make a difference… we are not helpless. I believe in the power of positive thinking, in the power of prayer, in humanity’s innate divinity. Its all love. Spend a moment proactively sending love, thoughts, prayers, and hopes to Colorado, other Western states, the Earth, the rain clouds, and all the other beings who are affected… the energy will shift.
     And now for the humbling, appreciative, joyful emotion…
When I built The Synergy Studio in its present location 5 years ago, I believed that ‘they will come.’ I believed that community would grow… that together, we would make a difference…. And we are.
     The studio, our community, San Antonio, and Nia are being honored in this summer’s issue of Conscious Dancer magazine. I was interviewed and they featured us and others as leaders in the conscious dance movement… in making a difference one Body at a time. The studio and I could not have done it without you… without your presence, your support, your love.
     I am deeply grateful for you, for life, for the gift of movement and opening pathways for healing… Thank you!
Click here for the link to the article in Conscious Dancer magazine. I highly recommend subscribing to this great publication, and supporting what we love! It comes quarterly and is full of information about dance, movement, positive energy… a real feel-good magazine… and beautiful.
I am sharing three pictures that were sent to me today, not to be sensational, but rather to bring the reality of what our dear friends are facing… our community… our humanity. The third picture shows the Air Force Academy football stadium in the foreground, to give the picture perspective… our Air Force Academy is also threatened by the devastating fires.
     We are all connected and the world needs us now more than ever.

With deep love and devotion, Adelle

Author: Adelle Brownlee Brewer Page 13 of 19

From this month’s NiaNow newsletter: Click here to read entire article