Do Not Be Afraid to Make Some Noise!

“Do not be afraid to make some noise”… If you ask me it appears our society is sending the opposite message. Simply think how many times we are shooshed, told to keep our voices down, or someone makes the comment “you shouldn’t say that”. It was just the other day that I was in the library softly chatting with a friend (yes I am aware this is a quiet space), when she said “I’m pretty sure you just said the word ‘sex’ way too loud for the library”, to which I cheekily replied “Well I’m pretty sure most people in here have had it”. Anyway the whole taboo on saying ‘sex’ is an entirely other blog post, my point is it feels as if we are so often being told to tone it down.

This though surely makes me wonder if this ‘shoosh syndrome’ is actually causing us to lock away our voices of truth. Are the emotions we feel on a daily basis being stored in our bodies instead of being expressed and released? The answers I came to were YES and YES, our voices of truth and emotions are being fastened away so darn tightly.

But fear not, I have adorned myself with detective attire and have been in search for clues into how we can release all the emotions pulsing through our bodies. The result was me discovering the art of Sounding.

A couple of weeks ago I was a friends Nia class and the focus invited me to use sounding to connect with my spirit, and wow what a powerful experience. Getting to move my body and have complete permission to make sounds was a liberating feeling to me. I felt the sounds come from deep within the core of my body. Each sound that emerged felt like a release, a letting go and an opening all in one. I made sounds that I hadn’t made for a long time, and accessed new tones. As I stepped out of the class I had this feeling of ‘this is me’, as if I had returned back to my truth and felt confident to be in that. I also felt that there were still more layers to be released, that this wasn’t a one off quick fix.

So again this week I have brought this in as my focus, I have been dancing with it in my Nia class, and have also been integrating it into my daily life. I have been playing songs in the car that invite me to sound along with them. I am embracing making a good auditable exhale when I feel the need to let go a little more. I feel as if I have added a new tool to my repertoire of healing, a new friend has joined the party and I am so loving its company.

So feel free to give sounding a go, explore new and familiar sounds roar, arhhh, woosh, ooohhh, mmmm, sisss, hayyy, hooo. Take time for you and please please please don’t be afraid to make some Noise!

 

 

What I Learnt this Week, Playing with the Big V… Vulnerability.

When I accept what I am feeling and allow myself to surrender into being with my truth I gain access to vulnerability. Standing in my vulnerability, owning it and honouring it has given me an opportunity to take another step into my worthiness.

During his past week, when someone has asked me how I was, I found my self sharing how I actually felt, instead of replying with the standard and safe response of “I’m good thanks”. The courage to be vulnerable and actually speak my truth of “I’m feeling overwhelmed and a little bit lost at the moment” instantly opened the door to a deeper level of authentic connection with others.

When I spoke my truth I received responses of ‘I know how you feel’, ‘I have been in that place before’, ‘I too am in that place now’. Connections of common humanness were formed and the story (that I had created) that I was the only person feeling this way dissolved. The sense of being alone transformed into a sense of being deeply held and supported. It felt safe to personally give myself permission to ask for help.

The response I received warmed my spirit beyond measure. Phone calls, emails, text messages, acts of love and support; each saying ‘I am here for you, you are not alone, we are in this together’. The goodness of the human spirit shone through and I felt worthy of being part of it.

With deepest gratitude to those beautiful being who openly shared their truth with me, so that I could better understand my own.

My message for this coming week is…

You are not alone, allow yourself to sense the infinite support surrounding you… and (if needed) its okay to ask for help.

With Joy and Gratitude

Lisa

Bringing More Rest & Relaxation into Your Busy Life Now!

I am constantly blown away by the body and its ability to communicate with each of us. It takes information from the outside world and decides how to respond. It also sends infinite messages from the internal systems to signals what the body needs now.

 At the moment my body is sending me messages saying ‘Rest’. I thank my body for these valuable messages and then find ways to integrate more into my life. For me taking a week or two off and dedicating it to rest is not part of my reality right now. So instead I integrate Living Meditation into my life. It is a practice that allows me to sense the moments of ‘non-doing’ as opportunities for meditation (or rest). From my forearm being at rest when I write on a piece of paper, to emptying out my inner dialogue as I wait at a red traffic light, to the pause between my inhale and exhale.

By simply bringing my awareness to the parts of my life that are in a space of  ‘non-doing’ I am able to discover endless opportunities to bring more rest, relaxation and restoration into my body and life.

 How will you sense more rest in your body, mind, and spirit today? 

 With Joy Lisa

FB/niawithlisa

Dance Your Inner Child

If you are experiencing a lot of changes and feel like one minute you are flying high and the next you are an emotional mess, then you are not alone. However a great way to balance this out is to take a little wisdom from your inner child. Be with whatever comes up, dance the dance and remember to play a little. This vlog shares some great tips on how you can dance your inner child and connect to the creative, curious and playful source that dwells within you.
with Joy
Lisa

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