Sacred Body: Biology and Soul

Happy New Year!
. . . Whatever that means.
It might mean another holy every day opportunity to be here now and celebrate together the preciousness of what is happening.  ”Happy” and “happen” are from  Middle English hap, meaning “happen,” as well as “good luck.”  So “happiness” means “happen-ness” and “lucky.”  It’s the fortunate state of being present [...]

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Today we chose the focus from the basket of 2009 focus cards for almost the last time this year.
The focus of our Nia practice today was “moving forward.”
As we move forward toward 2010, we find ourselves in the seven day period between what we call Christmas and what we call the New Year.  This is [...]

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How do I adapt movements in Nia class to fit my body?  What if I have an injury or a condition that I’m healing?
White Belt Principle #7, The Three Planes and Three Intensity Levels, offers us an important way to personalize our movement choices.  The intensity levels give us a map of how we can [...]

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Going about the practice 
of dancing through life, 
living meditation and life 
as art, the body invites us 
into its deep reservoir of
sensation, perception and 
proprioception in all its 
75 trillion cells.  
The body itself is awareness.
Dancing through life invites
us to experience all of life to
be as pleasurable as when [...]

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In Nia we call the feet, “the hands that touch the Earth,” and the hands, “the feet that touch the space.”  Front paws, back paws, four paws radiating from the body center.
Check out these beautiful photos of feet and hands from the Olympics in Beijing:
Feet
Hands
Hands are feet, feet are hands
Look how the [...]

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In Nia the Five Sensations help us develop the art of sensing.  Sensing how your body feels at any given moment — during a Nia class, another movement practice, or in life — is a great way to become your own best teacher.  I teach myself with my senses.  My senses tell me how to [...]

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1.  The Joy of Movement
2.  Natural Time and the Movement Forms
3.  Music and the 8BC System
4.  FreeDance
5.  Awareness
6.  The Base
7.  Three Planes and Three Intensity Levels
8.  The Core of the Body
9.  Creative Arm and Hand Expressions
10.  X-Ray Anatomy
11.  Business and Marketing
12.  Continuing Education
13.  Teaching What You Sense

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When Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas gave birth to Nia in 1983, they had journeyed through dance arts (jazz, modern and Duncan), martial arts (Tai Chi, Tai Kwon Do, Aikido) and healing arts (Alexander, Feldenkrais, yoga) guided by their bodies’ natural desire for the joy of movement.  As they began training other Nia teachers, they [...]

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