Rockin Nia Headquarters, Portland

Last night I kept the window and the blinds open for fresh air and a sunrise awakening. But what I didn’t count on was River responding so strongly to the birds that started singing around 5:00am. So, even though he did sleep through the night without bothering me, he got up early and didn’t really fall back into a deep rest. So, we got up at sunrise and took a walk. 

I did a load of laundry at the Motel and caught up on my blogging and preparing for classes in the weeks to come. I had a guy come over for some body tuning, and then River and I took a long walk to a park to play some more. 

But the highlight of the day was certainly to come.

In the late afternoon, I packed up River’s crate in the car and headed downtown. Portland got me a little turned around. Like Seattle, you have to know the specific direction name of the street or you’re in a totally wrong part of town. So I accidentally drove to SE Yamhill St. and the studio is on SW Yahmill St. But thanks to my Mini On Board Navigation System, it was a breeze to get there, once I entered the correct address. WIthout the Nav system, I would be quite literally, very lost... often.

So I get to downtown Portland and start looking for parking. My idea was to leave enough time before class to take River to a park and let him run around a bit before he had to nap in his crate.  But it took so long for me to find a parking spot, that it ate up our park time. I parked and we headed straight for the studio.

River loved the space and was much more calm that I expected him to be. I’m glad he was. It’s a very special and important space for me. I often feel like I’m going home, in a way, whenever I return to this studio. And teaching here was such a thrill. I’m glad I had River to help ground and diffuse some of my excitement.

I was told at the front desk that there was a woman who was deathly and irrationally afraid of dogs. She was a regular to class but probably wouldn’t attend tonight because of the presence of River. But later I discovered that not only was she in class, and not only did she yell “WHOOP!” when Light My Fire started up, but she told the front desk afterward that she was amazed because River was a very well behaved dog.

THAT was music to my ears. Considering all the work I’ve done in helping River to acclimate to society, I’m glad to know that someone with dog phobias felt comfortable around him and vice versa. He was actually loose and running around off-leash before and after class; chasing his ball and greeting Nia students.

The class itself rocked. Often when I teach, I set myself a private ‘teacher’ focus. And my focus for this class was to “Stay In My Body and Breathe!” I knew it would be helpful to remind myself of that, considering how enthusiastic the group was and how excited I was to be teaching them.

It was actually a big day, and since we didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before (coming back late from my friend’s house and then rising with the birds), I caught up on some more blogging and went to bed early.

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