Bodyfulness — Seattle Nia with Dina

Here I am, sitting in some shade at Seattle Center, getting my “feather up” on! LITERALLY.

Debbie Rosas, co-founder of Nia, coined the phrase “feather up” to direct people’s awareness to the head and neck.

To “feather up”:

Imagine a feather extending along the back of your neck and head, extending up into the clouds so high that you tickle the clouds. Use the energy of mobility to keep your feather “feathering up.” Feathering up creates movement in your neck to maintain space and to “lighten the load of your head”.

Debbie says, “feathering up with mobility improves your overall posture, breathing, elimination and digestion.”

I like me some feather! I’m doing it right now as I type…

Wow, record high temperatures in Seattle, over 100 degrees yesterday.

Last night, it was so hot, I couldn’t stay inside. I sought reprieve at the movie theater. When the movie let out, it was late- some time after midnight. I looked at the temperature- it was still in the upper 80s! CRAZY.

All I have to say is thank god we have air-conditioning at Dance Underground and that I teach in the mornings. It’s almost too hot to dance! ALMOST.

Look, it’s like a bouquet of Nia dancers!

Mollia, Sam, Everett, Dina & Kathryn pose at Red Balloon on 15th East after a sweaty Sunday class.

I love you, guys!!!

DJ Shawn V. was ON FIRE on Friday night…OMG!

We raised $321 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and cut a rug like nobody’s business!

Thanks again to Victoria Millikan for walking in the Race for the Cure and for asking me to help. It was an honor.

I hope DJ Shawn V. will spin for us again sometime soon. This guy has amazing musical taste and really knows how to inspire dance out of me.

I’m a witness – true abundance flows through our community to open hearts everywhere, all the time. It’s a regular and very real thing.

We are vital and skillful force for good. Bring it!

My Mom loves to sing a rendition of this song “…ain’t she sweet, see her coming down the street?! Now I ask you very confidentially, ain’t she sweet?!”

That’s me with my new reisenthel rolling bag for my Nia supplies…fashion meets function…gotta love it!

Many people around the globe will pause to behold and reflect deeply upon this cosmic event – the longest full solar eclipse of this century.

It is said by various wisdom traditions that at the time of an eclipse, the breath flows evenly though both of our nostrils, and the functions of both hemispheres of our brain are balanced.  Is it just an accident that the earth, the moon, and the sun, and even the functions of our own bodies come into such miraculously perfect alignment, or… do we behold an awesome display of integral patterns of a cosmic order vast and deep beyond our knowing?

It is also said in the Tibetan inner-science tradition that the magnitude of the karma that one generates on the day of an eclipse is multiplied by a factor of 10,000 times.  With these teaching in mind this is a good day for cultivating a virtuous qualities of being and refraining from generating negative karma.
–Leveys WisdomAtWork.com

DJ Shawn Vines returns to Nia-Underground!

This Friday night – doors open at 6:15pm for our DJ’ed charity event!

Shawn (pictured here) will be spinning, and I’ll be leading us in what’s sure to be an entertaining night.

All proceeds go to support the Susan G. Komen foundation.  $20 suggested donation at the door.

Let’s raise the roof and raise some money for the cure!

A big thanks to Victoria Millikan (a fellow Nia dancer) who initiated this event…she is the link between us and the foundation.  We are sponsoring her, who will be walking 60 miles as part of the Pink Feet team.  Go us!

Have you noticed the cameraman outside of the Starbucks next to DU?

He was interviewing people about the renovation, and I was there to comment.

Tune into King5 tonight at 5pm &/or 10pm to see if I get featured!

“Love tells me I am everything. Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Between these two, my life flows.”

–Nisargadatta

Fran Kao, Nia Instructor extraordinaire, lead us in a delicious Yoga-inspired Nia routine on Friday night.

This is our final week of focusing on the 9-movement Forms.

This coming Friday night, I will lead an “Integration” routine, a classic Nia class that ties in all 9 Movement Forms.

I’m looking forward to creating my first mix in my GarageBand software.  Wish me luck!