2019! Greetings to all friends, old and new. It’s still January - late, but not too late, to share the New Year’s playlist I created for your inspiration. In dancing to it, I though of how our eyes build paths and connections.
This leads to my personal focus of the year: To share more with you in this blog. You will see more links to videos and music, as well as a series of written explorations on the subject of movement, personal well-being and daily success.
Playlists. The link above is the first of many that I intend to share with you. Not everybody wants to jump on the Spotify bandwagon, which is where I create many of my playlists. So I will be attempting to recreate playlists on Youtube as well for more general access.
Videos. I hope to share glimpses into Nia classes and illustrating thoughts on the subject of movement through short videos. (The first is up on our Courses page.)
Topics in the Nia practice. I wish to communicate some important aspects surrounding the movement practice of Nia. That means that I’ll be blogging more than in the past! I’ll write to you on Nia’s “Energy Allies” based on the work of Don Miguel Ruiz; discussing basic subjects such as the movement forms, types of conditioning, and organization of the physical body; and talking about various benefits and considerations in the practice of Nia.
Movement as a tool in our everyday strivings. I have decided to utilize this blog for the exploration of subjects that interface with our everyday lives. This area is a particular passion of mine. The reason I teach Nia is not to produce top dancers. It is to introduce entry points to personal transformation. Do the elements of a Nia class have the potential to influence parts of our lives outside of fitness on the physical level? In which way? And how can I access an element of movement to make it useful to myself in my habits, thoughts or emotions?
To expand on this last point, I would like to take the metaphor of the lungs: In our breathing interaction with the world, we sometimes only use the tip of our lungs, with lots of old air taking space. How can we expand our lung capacity and find harmonious balance?
A Nia class is about building skills and awareness physically, emotionally, and mentally, within a varying musical and choreographic environment. Aside from the obvious benefit of developing strength, flexibility, mobility, agility and stability (and of having fun!), the questions that beg answer are those posed above: Do the elements of a Nia class have the potential to influence other parts of our lives? In which way? And, more precisely, how can I access an element of movement and make it useful to myself, for my emotional well-being, and for my success on my path as an individual in the intricate network of human life?
A Nia class is a flow of movement, energy and presence. It goes without saying that the studio is not the place philosophize on the questions above. That’s why I’ll be opening the forum on some of these topics in the written word, here in this blog. I look forward to sharing and discussing them with you.
All best wishes to you in 2019,
Andrea