F.L.Y. - First Love Yourself (FLY)

I teach Nia -- a lifestyle practice and cardiovascular fitness fusion program. Through Nia I am able to experience and achieve life and body enhancing changes.  

As a Sensation Scientist, I am invited to use my body as a laboratory.  The science, craft and art of Nia, the 13 basic principles, and the use of the 5 sensations (flexibility, agility, mobility, strength and stability) -- to name just a few of the reasons I appreciate Nia -- as well as the Continuing Education modules and videos provided by Debbie Rosas, co-founder of Nia, make it THE premiere fitness fusion program in the world today.  

Nia has 52 Moves.  Beginning today, as part of the pre-training process for a 52 Moves Certification which I will be attending in July, my goal is to 1) embody one of the 52 Moves and share the fullness of my experience with the specific move and 2) create a daily meditation to expand beyond just my physical experience.  Nia accesses the realms of body, mind, emotions and spirit and allows for a creatively inspiring experience.

Day 1 of 52:  Closed Stance:  Toes touch, heels slightly apart, feet and knees relaxed; arms hang; lengthen up. Closed Stance trains the upper body to work efficiently with the lower body.  Imagine that you are a deeply rooted tree.

As a sensation scientist using my body as a laboratory, I sense Closed Stance has the physical sensation of Strength...as I ground through my feet, the energy lifts UP through my legs, into my pelvis and my ribcage expands.  The image of a deeply rooted tree is helpful.  Without that imagery, this stance becomes uncomfortable for me through my knees.  The neuromuscular connection comes alive when I "relax" and ground, imagining my legs as the trunk of a tree, my torso and arms as the limbs moving and undulating like a willow tree.  The sensations of Stability and Mobility (of the torso and arms) are then added into the mix.

Flexibility and Agility are not within my body's scope of sensation if I keep Closed Stance as a Stance (meaning that I do not "dance" or move my feet).

Meditation:  A willow tree bends and sways with the wind, it dances freely.  As I look out my window, I see our 50 foot willow tree, whose wispy foilage is turning a soft yellow with these warmer temperatures.  The trunk is solid, grounded through a Closed Stance. The limbs which radiate out from top to bottom, gently sway and glide with even the gentlest wind, yet withstand the gales of change.  I sense an abundance of love from this willow which has been on our property for 12 years. Having been shaded by other tall trees, she continues to grow tall looking to reach the light and the warmth of the sun.  Her service to the world is the ability to move easily and gracefully with any kind of winds that come her way.  She embodies all 5 of Nia's Sensations:  Flexibility, Agility, Mobility, Strength and Stability.  It is my desire to be like the willow.

And I make it so.