Bodyfulness — Seattle Nia with Dina

Hey gang, Rachel Whalley here. 
I talked to Dina on her trip and she asked me to blog about our class today. What a ride it was!

Brief setup: Dina’s out on a short trip (back on Wednesday next week) and a sub was scheduled. I was in the studio setting up, dancers are arriving, and it’s 9am….and no sub!

What did we do?!

Well, we could have just bagged class, given up and gone home. But because we are ALL AWESOME, we pulled together to get class going anyway!

The wonderful Rachael Millikan graciously allowed me to stick a mic on her, as Susannah Malarkey and I agreed to help her “lead” class as best we could, none of us being Nia teachers.

And the amazing group of 18 women who were there were so totally game for this. So supportive and willing to roll with whatever happened, as long as they got to dance!

I am so grateful to be part of such a willing, generous, and collaborative community. I’ve never seen anything like that, seriously, and it’s only after the fact that I’m realizing how special it really is.

‘Cause I never doubted, for a second, that you guys would do anything else but go for it!

Thank you all for being there and helping out.

Special thanks to Rachael Millikan for taking a hit for us and getting us started. And special thanks to lovely Nia Blue Belt Frannie Kao for showing up and taking over class so we could all fully relax into her capable hands!

Lastly, thank you to Dina. You are the one who built this city and made it all possible. We are a lean, mean, dancing team because of YOU.

Peace out,
Rachel

*photo taken by Andreas Fetz

Miracles appear every day. Life takes us back to exactly where we need to be. Steven holds on in his hospital bed, unable to dance, play, jump. But inside, he’s FREE. Absolutely and totally. Just like our Nia dancer Ariel in this picture, the Joy inside can never be taken away.

It is hard to imagine a Nia-Underground without Shelley & Micah! Today is their last day in Seattle, then on to Portland for a month (or so) and then onto Micah’s 2-year Post-Doc in Tennessee. May the dance floor rise to meet them…

Why are you into Nia?

I love the way my body feels after Nia. I feel loose and calm and flexible. I didn’t anticipate the effect of the community. I made a deal with myself when I started Nia that I wouldn’t look at anybody and I wouldn’t look in the mirror when I was dancing, and I wasn’t going to get to know anybody so no one could ruin this exercise for me. I was afraid if I met somebody and it was weird and we didn’t get along, I wouldn’t come anymore. But that didn’t last for very long, cause I’m very outgoing.

What would people be surprised to hear about you?

People don’t often believe me when I say I don’t like to dance…unstructured dance, anyway. So freedance can be a very frightening moment for me. During freedance, I’m trying really hard. I have a seventh grade, junior-high moment with freedance. But I think it’s good for me and stretches me in a way I might not be comfortable with. I know it’s all inside my own head.

What do you do for a living?

I just quit my job placing nannies for 6 years. I was a nanny myself for 10 years. I have no idea what the next thing is that I’m going to be doing in my life. I have nothing pulling me any particular way.

What do you do in your free time?

I have a small addiction to Sudoku. I spend a lot of time playing it on my computer. And I play with my cat, Antigone Hecubus Prange.

Is there a story behind that name?

There is. I’m a huge Kids in the Hall fan, and I loved Hecubus the Evil Manservant. Our cat has this beautiful, black, sleek coat, and there’s this character from Greek mythology, Antigone, who was thrown up into the cosmos for pride about her beautiful hair. Our cat is a prideful, manxy cat.

So you’re married to a Doctor of Philosophy in Physics.

Yes, but I am not calling him Dr. Micah.

And you might be getting your white belt sometime soon…why is that?

One is that we might be moving to Tennessee soon and I can’t imagine a life without Nia now. So if I want to have Nia around me, I might have to teach it. Also, I dance Nia everyday and there’s some mysticism around the white belt that I want to learn more about. And lots of good things come out of Portland. I’m convinced this is something I need to do.

Where are you from originally?

Salmon, Idaho. Town of 3,000 and it’s not close to anything. Three hours south of Missoula, MT. Micah and I both are from there. I’ve known him since I was 17 and he was 16. We started dating when we were 20.

You do a lot for Nia Underground…what all have you done to support this program?

I’ve done check-in for Barb and I do sub check-in sometimes. I do the towels sometimes and I clean the bathrooms [as a Nia trade].

How long have you been doing Nia?

My first Nia class was Dina’s first Friday night Nia. It was a freedance class. I said to my friend who came with me, “I could do that again.”

It’s shocking to me that it’s been a year. I do all these things differently now. I ride my bike everywhere and I feel so much more present in my body. I can bend down and get things way under a chair where before I would have used my foot.

When did you start noticing the change in your body from Nia?

When my bras started feeling too big, which was the best day for me. It was probably about three months before I was sure it wasn’t just all in my head. I can put all my shirts in the dryer now without worrying they’ll shrink. At this point, I’ve lost about 40 lbs.

It was my new year’s resolution that I was going to make all these lifestyle changes, but you know how you never keep things like that. Now I eat a pretty low-fat diet and track more of my food types and quantities. We eat a lot more fresh foods and I discovered I like fresh vegetables.

And you got Micah into Nia, right?

Micah came because he dislocated his shoulder and I was dancing around saying, “I can’t believe how great I feel.” So he started coming and he bought an 8-punch card after his new student card ran out. Then he just got addicted like me. Our friends think we’ve joined a cult.

Well, we did it!

  Confronted with the shortest night of the year
  a city coated in white, stranded cars,
  and a blowing chill, brave women in all black
  descended 
  
  into the warm cave. Only candlelight licked the corners 
  of the wood floor. And we danced.

  We danced for the winter chill. We danced for the year’s end.
  We danced for the embrace of friends and we danced for the ones
  at home. We danced for all we’ve done and we danced for all we will become.

  You could feel us dancing. The music is in all your hearts.
  
 

  I hope to be in the air tomorrow, trailing my love for all of you
  as I venture home for the holidays.

And we will dance again very soon, bringing in the New Year with our feet and our souls and our voices.

Until then, stay safe, find warmth and be loved!

There is someone in class who you find inspiring to dance with. 

And then there’s this person you spoke to during towel time who made your day. 

Oh, and then there’s this person who you recently found out has a really cool job, and is, like, totally amazing.   

Well, why not nominate them as our Featured Student?!  With their permission, we’ll blog-post about this community member so everybody gets to learn more about this lovely person who inspires you.  What a wonderful way to appreciate somebody!     

So why not look around in your next class, and comment on this post or send me an email and let me know who you’d like to have featured.  I’m excited to share your discoveries. 

We celebrated Halloween early this year by bobbing for apples after class on Wednesday.

Here are my ladies each with a big mouthful!

I’m off to New York for a long weekend to take my nephews trick-or-treating.

Fellow Nia Underground-er Barb Duff will be guest teaching until my return on Wednesday, November 6th.

After a Friday Night Fun class at Studio Nia, we freshened up and got ready for a night on the town.

With gift in hand, Kat, Mollia, and Rachel pose for me before we sat down to dinner with Nia founder Carlos Rosas.

Over some of the best Thai food Portland has to offer, we had our curiosities satisfied about our beloved practice.

How often do you get to ask a master about his life’s work?!

The next morning, we attended Debbie’s butt busting class.

And then, we did some shopping and caused some jaw dropping!

Did you think we wouldn’t catch you?