Trusting Your Intuition

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asia, body, body-mind-spirit, dancing, expressive dance, health, inner wisdom, intuition, kindness, listening, mind, nia, nia dance, nia hong kong, no, play with, sensing, spiritual dance, the power of no, the power of yes, trusting, trusting your intuition, waiting, well-being, which path do i choose, yes

“Remember life is about movement & just like the shifting sands or the ever moving tide, it’s about being flexible” ~ ♥ Vesna

Focus: The Power of YES and the Power of NO

Intent : Trusting Your Intuition

These two very simple words which we use every day can sometimes get us in a lot of trouble! Both have a tremendous amount of POWER. For me it is like two sides of a coin, YES on one side NO on the other. If I say ‘YES’ it will take me down one path and if I say ‘NO’ it will take me down another path. Which path do I choose moment to moment?

Either can take me into the unknown and that is where I have been ‘playing’ this week in my Nia classes. Firstly I have been playing with sensing the YES and the NO and what that feels like in my body as I move. YES to moving with pleasure, NO when I am not. Also, practicing saying both out loud as I move with certain moves and being bold & courageous as I speak……

YES it is possible…..YES I can…..YES I dare…..NO it’s enough…….NO it’s not right……NO not right now….YES it’s time to let go…..NO I desire more time….and so on

Sensing when I say ‘yes’ in a certain situation, am I on auto pilot? Oh yes I can do this or yes I can do that. Same for ‘no’. I have been focusing on the “waiting” before I make that decision and truly listening to my intuition…..is YES the right choice or would NO be better in this situation right now in this moment?

I know many times I find myself in situation’s in my life where I have made a choice and said YES (without thinking about it) and then later on found out that if I had truly listened to my intuition, it was telling me NO, NO, NO all the time!!

Making the right choices to give myself more energy, to support and nurture myself is where I wish to be heading rather than finding myself in situations that do not support or nourish me.

Listening to my inner wisdom, giving myself time to wait and trusting in that process has been a wonderful practice to hang out with this week. Saying NO can create a wide space for peace and freedom to flow in….opening my heart and allowing the possibility of the unknown to be present. I have discovered the unknown to be an exciting and fun place to spend time with.

I invite you this week to play with

1. Sensing when you say YES and when you say NO. Wait before you jump in with your answer, give yourself time and listen to your intuition…..what is that saying to you in that moment? Go with trusting your intuition and see where it leads you…
2. Play with saying YES when you would say NO and visa versa and see where this leads you….

   On a last note, of course not saying yes to any situation that could seriously get yourself hurt. Daring to be gentle,  compassionate with your ‘self’ at all times please!!! I look forward to hearing how you get on, have fun waiting and listening…

   Love & light Tracey xxx

   www.niahongkong.com

Freedom to explore

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asia, being in relationship, body, body-mind-spirit, choeography, classical ballet, dance, fe, feeling and emotions, fitness, free dance, Freedance, freedom, hong kong, joy, mind, movement, music, naturally respond, nia, nia classes in Hong Kong, organic movement, passion, paying attention, Relationship, structure

Image by David Fenner ~ http://www.fotofu.co.uk

“It’s your uniqueness of spirit that Freedance connect you to”

Focus: Being in relationship with Freedance

Intent: Begin to develop intimacy & notice details

So recently we have been exploring in our Nia class our movement tendencies whilst Freedancing. When I first started to dance Nia I felt very liberated by the element of “Freedance”. For over 30 years I had danced classical ballet, then I discovered Nia. My classical training was at times very rigid, where every individual eye lash had it’s correct place!! So having the permission to quieten my mind and allow my body to explore was incredible for me. I had danced improvisation before as a dancer but again I had never truly ‘let go’, I remember always thinking, thinking to come up with the next movement. In Nia we have form (the steps / the structure of the choreography) and Freedance (freedom). This really is the Yin and Yang of Nia movement, the art of balancing out the form (the steps) and the freedom. Too much of either sometimes can not be good.

I understand for many of my students (who have shared with me) entering in to Nia experience they either love or hate the Freedance element of Nia, in the UK we have this phrase it’s like “marmite” you either love or hate it!?? Some students feel sometimes awkward and self conscious when it comes to the Freedancing. So I chose this focus as a way for my students to understanding for themselves what they “BRING” to their relationship with Freedance.

In Nia we define ‘Relationship’ as the exchange of energy between two things and ‘Intimacy’ as paying attention to the details. So there is (1) ‘i’ and there is (2) ‘Freedance’…..(3) what do you bring to your relationship (with Freedance)?

(1) Self ~ represents unity, oneness when referring to spiritual and universal connections

(2) Other ~ represents polarity, two sides such a feminine and masculine.

(3) Relationship ~ represents rhythm of the force behind movement, flow and change. Spiritually the 3 represents the sacred trinity.

So the desire whilst Freedancing is to move without thinking. To discover rich and exciting ways to be creative and to go beyond the confines of old movement habits. Organic movement that naturally calls the body to express itself. Every musical piece offers the body a new way to move and express itself. Becoming seduced by the sounds and the silence, allowing the body to naturally respond without YOU getting in the way.

For me this is KEY, not allowing my head to control the Freedance, not interfering with what naturally happens. This for me encourages spontaneous gestures from my primal body and lets the Freedance evolve naturally, a new wonderful feeling and sensation in my body when I first started to Freedance in this way.

Freedance Stages for Nia White Belt:

1. Anything goes movement wise

2. Be seduced by the music

3. Feeling & Emotions

4. Creative Source

5. Authentic Movement

6. Witness/ Observe

7. Choreography

8. Nia class 1, 2,3.

So I invite you to notice (observe without judgement) what you bring to your relationship with Freedance. Put on your favourite piece of music and FREEDANCE like no one is watching, anything goes movement wise!! YES seize the moment, how about stopping what you are doing right now and go and Freedance. Notice what do you bring, is it maybe joy, hate, passion, frustration, fear, excitement, compassion, patience? I invite you to get out of your head and get into your body.

A little tip: Love is an open accepting energy, Fear is more contracted (inward)…..pleasure is KEY to the experience.

I BRING……….TO MY RELATIONSHIP WITH FREEDANCE

I look forward to hearing from you soon as to what you ‘bring’ to your relationship….Be kind, gentle and patience with your ‘self’. Happy Freedancing everyone…

Love & light Tracey

www.niahongkong.com

 

Be human together

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13:20, aikido, alexander technique, ankle, asia, awareness, balance, be human together, body, chakra system, community, dance, dancing, digits, duncan dance, elbow, emotions, equal, feldenkrais, find balance, fitness, focus, fotofu, grace, harmonious, harmony, heath, hip, hong kong, human, humanity, imagine, intent, john lennon, joints, knee, martial arts, mind, mind-body, modern dance, neck, nia, Nia class experience, nia technique, niahongkong, one, oneness, power, purpose, reality, shoulder, snow, snowflake, spine, spirit, spirit dance, strength, systemic movement, taekwondo, tai chi, the body's way, union, united, Unity, wellbeing, wholeness, wrist, yang. movement, yin, yoga

Image by David Fenner ~ http://www.fotofu.co.uk

Imagine ~ You may say that I am a dreamer but I am not the only ONE, I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as ONE ~ by John Lennon

Focus: Unity

Intent: To find harmony & balance

This week in class I taught for the very first time a Nia routine by Carlos Aya Rosas called “HUMANITY”, within this word lies the word UNITY. So inspired by this I wanted to focus on what does UNITY mean to me and sense that in my body as I move and then guide my students to sense what that means within their bodies?

Unity is defined as ~ the state of being one, oneness. A whole or totality as combining all it’s part into one. Oneness of mind and purpose. The quality of being united into one.

When starting my Nia class I like to form a circle, for me this symbolizes a sense of the group coming together, whole, as one as a community….again within this word there is UNITY.  A circle of healing, being amongst friends as a way to join our strengths, somewhere I can feel free and united to everybody and allow the Nia class experience to unfold….

A visual of “Unity” for me would be the beauty a single snow flake, when it it united and comes together with other snowflakes it forms this magic white carpet that alone can not be achieved…..truly magical. Remember when you saw the snow for the first time?

So when I first thought of focusing on the word Unity, and translating this into the work I do with Nia… “Systemic Movement” came straight away in to my mind….This was a new word to me when I first started Nia. Systemic Movement means moving as a whole unit. Being aware of all parts of the body, the code of 13:20. This code represents the 13 main joints in the body & the 20 digits (fingers & toes). Moving all parts together to create balance.

So to map the 13 joints I would start from the left side of my body to the right side:

1 left ankle

2 left knee

3 left hip

4 left wrist

5 left elbow

6 left shoulder

7 the neck & spine (the central point and also a connection to our Chakra System ~ another system of wholeness!!)

8 right shoulder

9 right elbow

10 right wrist

11. right hip

12 right knee

13 right ankle

So as I was dancing I sensed my relationship with my 13 joints and paid attention to balancing out my movements on the right, left sides of my body, front & back and up & down. Consciously aware of my movement tendencies and if I used some of my joints more than others, if I was one sided! So sensing that the 13 joints really are the bodies gateway to give movement and the 20 digits help me to give measure. Connecting with the space around me and being in relationship with finding the right amount of movement for my body. I noticed how big, how small, how wide my movements were and adjusted according to my body’s way, what my body needed from moment to moment.

For me another wonderful symbol that represents “Unity” is of course YIN and YANG. These two opposites merging together to become united & to find balance. Again if I visualize the yin/yang symbol then the two parts form a whole circle perfectly. The masculine & the feminine energies, the power & the grace, the outward & inward…..

So in closing I would like to share the following:

We are all equal in the fact that we are different, we are all the same in the fact that we will never be the same. We are all united by the reality that all colours and all cultures are distinct and individual. We are all harmonious in the reality that we are all held to this earth by the same gravity, we share the same air that keeps us alive ~ by C. Joybell. C

Unity is power, in union there is strength.

I look forward to hearing your comments on what ‘UNITY” means for you and I invite you this week to “BE HUMAN TOGETHER” (by Archbishop Desmond Tutu – Nobel Peace Prize Winner)

Love & light Tracey x

http://www.niahongkong.com