Farewell Mental Chaos, Hello Grounded Truth.

This week I decided to step away from the video blog and return to the written word. I sense it is time for me to return to my body and the present moment, as I explore being in my mind, while also being grounded in my body. Last week my mental realm was in over drive with not the most productive thoughts, and it was making up stories left, right and centre. I wasn’t present, I felt a million miles away and my stories were starting to fill me with fear, anybody relating to this one?

So instead of staying there I am treating my amazing mind to a little bit of creative thinking and play, after all it clearly has something to say. I am giving myself permission to return to the written word, to a practice and activity that brings pleasure to my spirit and mobility to my fingers as they dance over the keypad. It is a practice, like Nia, that allows me to connect my body, mind and spirit.

As I type the words on the page I continue to check in with sensations in my whole body. I listen to the messages my spine is sending me, sometimes it says “oh I’m not comfortable anymore, please move me” and so consciously I choose to move my spine. Other times it says, “arhhh it feels so nice to rest in a state of non- doing”, in these moments I enjoy the ease and stillness of my body at rest.

Meanwhile my mental realm is getting the release it so desperately desires. It is sending messages of sensation from my physical body to my brain. It processes the signals of the present moment and turns them into information; information that I am able to choose to respond to or not. It also gets to enjoy multitasking (which it oh so loves), as it taps into the knowledge and creativity of writing. It knows how to spell words, it can string a sentence together, it tells my fingers which keys to tap and when. It also delights in the freedom of creating, it gets to create thoughts, link past ideas, and then choose which ones it decides to share with the page. All of this while my mind is also listening to music and the sounds of the world around me…. pretty darn impressive if you ask me.

My spirit also gets to dance and express in this process. It soaks in the freedom to be unique, the opportunity to create something new, something that has never been shared before. Yes, sure this concept of writing and holistic connection is nothing new. But to my spirit it is new, for it is the first time I have written these words and experienced the gifts of this very moment.

And it is right NOW, that I experience my very own ‘ahh-ha’ moment of ‘This is exactly what a Nia class does for me’; both when I take a class as a student and when I share a class as a teacher. My body gets to connect with sensations of pleasure and ease, my mind gets to use knowledge, release and be creative, and my spirit gets to uniquely express itself through the language of movement. I feel alive, I feel nurtured, I feel connected, and I feel at home in the world and my body.

 

This week I invite you to explore the things that make you feel ALIVE. The activities that bring you ease and pleasure, and the actions that connect your body mind and spirit. Embrace the moments of mobility and the moments of non-doing. Celebrate letting your mind and spirit creatively play while staying grounded and present in your sacred body.

Here’s a few ideas to get you started

•  Go for a barefoot walk. Notice how you sense your body, observe your thoughts and mind, and see how your spirit can play with a simple walk… let it be creative and unique.
• Observe another while out doing the shopping (without stalking), and look at how their body moves, how their thoughts and mind are enabling them, and how their spirit shines through.
• Get to a local Nia class and do your own exploration of body-mind-spirit… you are the sensation scientist.
• Pause for a moment in your day, and check in with all realms, what does your body sense, where is your mind, and are you in alignment with your true spirit.

Blessings for the week

With Joy

Lisa

Sensing and Releasing Your Wings

This week we create a connection between our hands and our shoulder blades. we look at how to release tension and stress stored in your body, and increase your range of movement. Learn quick exercises for activating movement in your shoulder blades and removing tension from you life. And discover the how this connects to your day to day life and interactions.

Embracing the Intensity Levels of Change

Last week I explored ‘Embracing Change’. This week I take this deeper by looking at the different intensity levels that change can occur in our body and our life. Level 1, 2 & 3. This has offered me new ways of embracing all change… big or small. I would love to hear what you receive…
with Joy
Lisa

Embracing Change

So the last few weeks have brought with them a wave of change for me. Many others have also shared of big shifts that are happening in their lives. Thus a focus of Embracing change.
Yes, of course you can run from it, hide, yell loudly in the face of change… or you can choose to embrace it! The choice is always yours to make… so what’s it going to be?

The Body Knows What the Mind Does Not

So it has been a while since I created and shared a blog post with you lovely readers. I apologise for the delay, it appears that my life shifted away from the writing world for a while. And before I automatically jump to that place of guilt for ‘not doing what I should do’, I instead express gratitude for natural time.

Natural Time is what has given me permission to step aside from listening to the ever-chattering voice of “you should do this”, and instead trust what feels right in this moment.

I am exploring the concept of natural time and how it is not thought in our minds, but rather felt as a sensation in our bodies. It has invited me to switch out of my mental realm (a place where I spend a lot of time and find comfort in being there), and instead tune into the organic wisdom of my body.

Last week I spent time auditing the Nia Blue Belt training. It is an intensive that focuses on intimacy, communication and relationship, and boy did I experience a shift in the relationship I have with trusting my body. 

The big ‘arhha’ moment for me was when I realised that I am able to feel without thinking about it. I am able to feel purely based on what my body senses.

I discovered that “The body knows more then the mind thinks the body knows”, which broken down into a simpler form is “The body knows what the mind does not”.

So what did the voice of my body share with me… When I was moving in my own natural time my body shared the sensations of smooth seamless transition. I felt ease, comfort, authenticity, and intuitive knowing flooding every cell in my body. In contrast, when my body was not moving with natural time it sensed a jerky sharp and tight sensation that felt like I was being hastily propelled forward without adequate safety equipment, which was also accompanied by the feelings of fear, retreat and insecurity.

Instantly I observed and recognised where my habit existed, both in my movement practice and in my life. My habit resides in the latter, in the need to change when I think instead of when I feel. In the need to keep up and constantly please others, for surely if I didn’t I would end up being seen as a failure and ultimately cast away from the connection I so desperately crave.

Talk about a few truths being revealed to me, thank you body for that one! The exciting part about all this, if it hasn’t already been exciting enough, is that I now have the choice to shift my habit. I choose to feel through sensation and trust my body will reveal its own natural time. I can bring this into every day, every moment and trust that I am able to sense what feels right to me, and what doesn’t.

As you step into a new calendar year I invite you to check in with your BODY as you set your goals and resolutions. Ask your body what resonates with you and where you are in your journey. And let yourself ‘trust’ in the organic wisdom your sacred vessel holds, for that is the gift of natural time.

Blessings for the year ahead.

With love and Joy

Lisa

 

Need a little Peace?… then just Breathe.

Hey lovely readers/viewers, so sorry that its been a while since my last post. Between weddings, workshops and everything else life brings to the mix, I temporarily drifted away from the blog scene. but alas I have returned and I promise that the next posts will be soon and more constant.
This week the simple reminder to “Breathe in and breathe out… and repeat”.
With Joy
Lisa x

Relationships …oh what Joy!

“It’s time to get personal”, well at least that is what I was told this morning at a networking event. It was in regards to blogging, and the power of making it personal. Now I actually do feel that I have made my blog pretty personal, in the sense of offering quiet intimate details about how I feel and view situation in my life. But the aspect that I may have missed was, are these topics that I share also personal to my readers… that’s you lovely beings.

I feel they are at some level, however it wasn’t high on my awareness list… so now when I write I will be thinking of you even more.

This week I am playing with the concept of relationships. In particular what we bring to each relationship in our life. There a three key components in a relationship there is ‘you’, there is ‘the other’ and there is ‘the relationship’ itself. Each deserving of the same level of attention and able to be sensed in the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual realms.

But before I get carried away on that tangent, I want to address the concept of ‘the other’. Some of you may only view ‘the other’ as another human being, however that can be quiet a limiting view and can cause confusion when using the word relationship. Don’t worry if you have been thinking this way, it is perfectly fine, and it wasn’t so long ago that I too saw it that way. Thankfully the practice of Nia opened my eyes to this one and I have been exploring it ever since.

The concept or key participant of ‘the other’ can be pretty much anything, it could be a person, your body, an object, a place, a feeling, a sensation or even your beloved pet. It could be a chair, a banana, a friend, a toy, an injury, an emotional hurt, a scaring memory or a piece of clothing.  Like I said ‘the other’ in a relationship is pretty much anything.

So now that we have that sorted, we can explore what we bring to our relationships. We always have the power to choose what we want to bring to our relationships, remember a relationship consist of YOU, the other and the relationship; therefore YOU choose what you bring. For example, what are you bringing to your relationship with your body at the moment? Maybe you are bringing frustration. Frustration because it doesn’t fit into the clothes you want it too, or frustration that it is not as flexible as you would like it to be. The reason is unimportant, it is what you are bring that holds the true value, and can shape and effect your overall relationship.

So this week I am playing with ‘what I bring’ to each of my relationships, sensing how by shifting this I can alter and change the relationship as a whole. Instead of bringing negative qualities such as frustration, anger, doubt and fear, I am choosing to bring inspiring feelings of joy, acceptance, trust and love to my relationships. I invite you to do the same; here are 7 ideas to get you started…

What do you bring to Your relationship with-

1. Your body
2. Cooking dinner for the family
3. Exercise
4. Wearing shoes (a personal one that I am playing with)
5. Loud music
6. Your spine
7. Stillness

I would love to hear how you go, what relationship you explored and any insights you may have received. Have fun playing… I know I will.

With Joy

Lisa