Foci for August - Take Flight routine

 In August we used the Take Flight routine 12 times

Here are the scripts I wrote for setting the focus of each class:

Aug 1 - Elegant Resonance  (Take Flight in Balance Studio) Today we are doing the Take Flight routine. And since it is a brand new routine, never before taught in a class setting, I want to focus on the music, and in particular: How Your Body Responds To and Resonates With the Music. When I create a new routine, the first thing I do is put together the playlist. That part alone could take several months as I search for just the right music and ensure that the songs fit together in just the right way in the right order. When they do, it creates a supportive soundscape for our movement journey. And then the music inspires the movement. Each song has a unique personality. Some are slow, some are quirky. Some powerful. Some nurturing. Some playful. Some mysterious... And there are often distinct unique sounds. When I create the moves, they must align with the personality of the songs and click with the sounds. When that happens, it creates what is called Elegant Resonance and it's what makes the moves seem so inevitable and appropriate. They are in rapport and supported by the music. The right moves help us hear the music more deeply in our bodies. So as we go on this magical, musical movement journey let's focus on how it fits. Let's give less attention to doing the movements exactly and more to the movement energy personality and how it aligns with the music. Notice how it creates Elegant Resonance and allows us to Take Flight. 

Aug 2 - Organic Sensation (Take Flight in Madison Park Beach) In today's class we will use the Take Flight routine to focus on Organic Sensation. We are alive. So our energy can take many forms. During this routine we will be experiencing Dance Art energy (Jazz and the Modern Dance forms of Duncan and Graham), Martial Art energy (Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, and Aikido) and Healing Art energy (Yoga, Feldenkrais and Alexander techniques). You don't need to know any of the forms or even know what they are. I will point some of them out to you as we go through the class and experience them. But what I want us to focus on  is how our Organic Sensation changes like a chameleon as we utilize different movement forms and/or styles. Organic Sensation is less about what you do and more about how you feel doing it. It is to our body what mood is to our emotions. It has colors and degrees and changes depending on what we are doing. It's not the goal to name these movement styles as we do them, and its not important to label your Organic Sensations. Just as it's not important to perfect the movements. But for today, what is important is that you enjoy sensing your changing Organic Sensation as we Take Flight together. 

Aug 4 - Natural Time (Take Flight in Volunteer Park) The focus for today is on Natural Time. It is a very simple concept to understand but can often take lots of practice to embody it. It is the second principle of Nia and it refers to the fact that people learn things at different paces. What could take someone three minutes to learn could take someone else several weeks. Natural Time emphasizes that it is not a contest. It is not a race to quickly learn something, but its important to allow ourselves our Natural Time and learn comfortably at our own pace. We have built in a lot of repetition into the Nia practice for this very reason. Th process of learning requires repetitive failure before we achieve success. Natural Time acknowledges this and encourages us to love and appreciate the failure as a crucial part of the learning process. In order to focus on Natural Time, I will offer you this phrase that you can repeat to yourself as you learn the conplex moves in this routine; "I am learning and it's great!"

Remember that you are not expected to know something until you know it. Lean into the concept of Natural Time. Trust the process takes whatever time it needs and eventually, when it's time, you will Take Flight. 

Aug 8 - Self Healing On The Go (Take Flight in Balance Studio) Today's focus will be on self healing. Nia offers a great opportunity for us to heal our bodies. It encourages self awareness which is the first step of self-healing. Notice where you are experiencing/sensing pain, tension, discomfort and what movements improve or exacerbate it. The repetitive nature of Nia allows you to explore. Invite a gentle energy of relaxation to flow through any problem areas. Notice what you can let go of. Experiment with how you can adjust the moves to increase comfort or alleviate pain. An arm circle (for example) can be done smaller, at a different angle, powered by swinging the hands and relaxing the shoulders or powered by the shoulders and letting the hands be heavy and passive. Get curious about what's best for you. Because this isn't strictly "dancing" we don't need to feel regimented in our moves. We are not concerned with aesthetics at the expense of comfort, but rather the aesthetics of each persons unique comfort. Follow the sensations of pleasure and guide you body to comfort and you will be self healing on the go as we Take Flight. 

Aug 9 - Chest Weight (Take Flight in Madison Park) Today's focus is on the chest weight. When I say chest weight I mean the ribcage including the collarbones and the scapula. Similar to how the pelvis is the powerhouse of the legs, the chest is the powerhouse of the arms. Notice how it rotates to create a twist, and how the arms will swing loosely from it. Notice how it remains facing forward as we tilt and how it stays stacked above the base as we sink. Notice how we place it over our base of support to create stability, or if we move it away from our base of support we either initiate movement or use a lifted leg in the opposite direction for counterbalance. So we are focused on our chest weight, its direction of movement and how it increases our personal power to use the powerhouse of the upper body. 

Aug 11 - Head Weight (Take Flight in Volunteer Park) Today we are going to use the Take Flight routine as an opportunity to learn about the Head Weight. I'd say most the time we take our heads for granted. But they are actually quite significant, weighing in at about 13 pounds on average. If the pelvis is the powerhouse of the legs and the chest is the powerhouse of the arms, then the head is the powerhouse of the nervous system, which controls the whole body. So it is Command Central. The head is home to the organs of four of the five major senses, and even the sense of touch needs to be processed in the brain, so the head is the sensual center. It also houses our vestibular system which cooperates with the eyes to give us our sense of balance and equilibrium. The head can be used to increase stability when we hold it above our base of support, and for mobility when we move it off that base. Swinging the head around is not something to be taken lightly. As I said, it's a significant 13 pounds so it requires a lot of strength to move around and can easily become strenuous if not done mindful of supporting it. We support our head movement by using our eyes. When we look right, look left, our body will automatically support the head more than if you just twist your neck for the purpose of pointing your head to the right and left. The act of looking "sensualizes" the act of turning the head and therefore the support from the body comes intuitively. So as we go through the routine, consciously use your head. You can move it more or less to increase or decrease the intensity. Be aware that moving the head moves the fluid in your brain and the cilia and granules in the vestibular system so it is very easy to become dizzy. (Especially when the movement is not supported by looking) So use the eyes to control the Command Central. Sensing our heads so we can appreciate its contribution to our healthy movement and our sensual living as we Take Flight. 

Aug 15 - Hands and Arms Giving & Receiving (Take Flight at Balance Studio) Today as we Take Flight once again, we will use a focus on our hands and arms to feel and sense the gestures and the act of giving and receiving. We have the freedom to use palm directions as a detail choice to energize our moves with "give" or "receive". A reach out can be energized either way depending on our intention choice. Sinking down to the earth could be considered giving your energy down or receiving support from below. A hug can be thought of as either giving or receiving or both. Expanding and contracting could be felts as giving and receiving respectively, but also, i you think of the way a sponge, a heart or lungs operate, when it constricts is when it gives and it expands to receive, so your gestures could be imbued either way, depending on your choice. So as we move through the routine, it will be your choices that you are noticing as you play around with all the gestures of giving and receiving. The thing that will unite us, is that it is all based on connecting and sharing. Focus on upper extremities gestures to connect yourself to the outside world in a sharing relationship as we Take Flight. 

Aug 16 - Facial Expression (Take Flight at Madison Park Beach) Today we are really going to Take Flight as we explore one of Nia's three uses. In addition to conditioning and healing, we can use Nia to practice self-expression. So today we're going to focus on our face and using facial expression to guide us to sensing our bodies expressing. Experiment with smiling, frowning, looking worried, concerned, angry, surprised... whatever you can imagine, just put it on your face. And hold it there long enough to feel a response in your body. The energy and quality of your movement will change to match your expressions if you allow it. An important thing to remember is that we often stop ourselves from expressing due to fear of judgement. Fear of judgement comes mainly from two things: one- not believing we are as good as others, or two- being overly judgmental of others. Or both. But I'll tell you right now that both of those things are nonsense. You simply are as worthy of expressing yourself as anyone else. Being right, smarter, younger, better looking, richer, more talented, etc. means nothing. Adjust yourself right now to accept the reality that your expressions are just as good as anyone else. So on the other side of the coin, if you spend a lot of energy being critical of others, then how can you help but feel they're doing the same thing to you? Let go of judgement to prevent feeling judged. Replace judgement with equanimity (the attitude that whatever is currently happening is more than "OK" but is literally perfect. With equanimity you will feel free to use your face to make any sort of expression and notice your body responding with the style and quality of movement to match. Once you are willing to declare yourself and everything and everyone as "perfect for now just how it is", then you will really Take Flight. 

Aug 18 - X Ray Awareness of The Whole (Take Flight at Volunteer Park) Today we're going to focus on The Whole. We can view our bodies as a collection of 200 bones, 700 muscles, 400,000 nerve endings in our feet, three body weights, 13 major joints... or we can consider it as a whole. With one center that is the center of all that is. As a teacher, that's how I view your bodies. I use something called X ray Anatomy which is seeing your body as the positioning of your bones. That whole picture inspires the way I guide you. SO today we're going to flip the script and you will use a form of X Ray anatomy called X Ray Awareness to guide your own bodies. Here's how X Ray Awareness works. Put your hand behind your back and picture it in your mind. Then change the position of your fingers and notice that you can picture the new position of your hand without even seeing it. You are aware of shape because of X Ray Awareness. So as we move in class, use your X Ray Awareness of your whole body's shape and position to seek out the sensations of strength, mobility, flexibility, balance and stability in your whole body. Let's Take Flight. 

Aug 22 - Just Right in the Spine (Take Flight in Balance Studio) Today we are going to play Goldilocks with our spine. Let ourselves be guided away from too hard and too soft, to just right in the middle. Stand on a small base with your feet close together and lean in all directions. Feel the effort required to hold the leaning position. Play around with it until you find that sweet spot just above your feet where there is almost no effort required to hold. Then attach a small anchor to your pelvis that weights you to the floor with a gentle downward pull and a helium balloon tied to your head that gently pulls you up. That is your Goldilocks position. It is "just right". I have observed wasted energy in spines being held too rigid or with no conscious awareness, or with an excessive curve, bend or lean and I've seen spines function with easy and power from a position of natural alignment- a place of ease and power "just right" in the middle. So i want to set up the spine for success. Let's get into our just right alignment and while in it, ask the part of you that knows for some guidance in the form of a word to describe this physically. An then ask again for a mental word and then for an emotional description of this just right position. Remember those words and use them as triggers to get you back into the just right position over and over again. When you hear me say "Goldilocks" or "just right" in class, you'll know to use the words you were just given to maximize your power and energy from your spine and out to the rest of your body in your movements as we Take Flight. 

Aug 25 - The Continuum of Levels 1, 2 and 3 (Take Flight at Volunteer Park) One of the most important things about Nia is the encouragement to go at your own pace. One of the ways we do this is with the principle of "3 Levels of Intensity". To describe the levels, we would say level 1 is "easy" level 2 is "moderate" and level 3 is "challenging". But we can't describe any move with a level. We can't, for example, say "this is a level one movement" because if it is challenging to someone, then it is a level 3 movement for them. What could be very easy and level 1 to one person could be difficult and level 3 to another. Likewise, if I do a movement today and it was easy, then it's a level 1 movement; but then if the next day I'm tired or injured, that very same exact move could be challenging to me, so it is now a level 3 move for me. Some movement.  The level is determined by the intensity perceived by the mover. So rather than being three specific versions of a movement, the principle of Levels 1, 2 and 3 refers more to a continuum of intensity that you are in charge of controlling. In general we increase the level of intensity by taking bigger steps, sinking lower, reaching further, moving more quickly or with more tension. We do not change the movement to lower or increase the intensity. The movement structure remains the same but the intensity changes based on the measurement of each movement in size and speed. So as we do class today, I'm going to be staying at Level 1 and inviting you to explore your continuum of levels 1, 2 and 3 by increasing the size and speed of what I'm doing. This is a bit of a departure from my normal teaching style where I normally live in Level 2 and 3 and only occasionally demonstrate level 1.  Its like i'm teaching from the top, down. And today, I'm going to be teaching from the bottom up.  So have fun with it. Change and explore as you desire. Get familiar with your ability to adjust your intensity level. Imagine I'm just your launch pad, but its up to you to TAKE FLIGHT. 

Sept 29 - From the Ground Up (Take Flight at Balance Studio)

Today's class will be taught and experienced from the ground, up. Usually, I teach a move and then very quickly go into an athletic level that challenges me, and invite you to approach my levels your way based on your degree of ability and desire and comfort. Today, (as we did on Wednesday) I am going to be presenting class from my level 1, that is that it will all be easy for me and won't feel like I'm exerting myself (level 2) or challenging myself (level 3). And my invitation to you for this class is that while I remind in my level 1, you go up into your levels 2 and 3 on your own to your degree of ability and desire and comfort. 

We will focus in three realms:

Physically in the feet. Pay attention to the placement of the foot. Use it as a sense organ. Feel the pressure of the weight of your body against the hardness of the floor. Feel the friction of sliding your foot and the harmony of stepping sensually onto the floor. Feeling the articulation of the joints opening as your weight goes into your foot and the regrouping the bones do when they don't bear weight. Noticing what the toes are doing. Are they free as they should be? or unnecessarily clenched? The direction you point your toes. changing the point of contact with the floor. Feel it all and get lost in awareness of your feet. 

Mentally, pay attention to the details of your experience. Imagine you were going to write an essay about this experience in class, or you were going to tell a loved one about an experience you had in class today, what would you say? Make a mental note of your physical, mental and emotional reactions during class that you would want to describe later. 

Emotionally let's give some energy to the fact that this is the last time we will do Take Flight before I put it back into the vault. We've really come to love this routine. So let's honor that bittersweet feeling that we get when we say good-bye to one and start a new routine (Be Breathed) So, before we put Take back in the hangar, today, we're going to get one damn good last ride! We'll get all the joy we can out of it today. On our ultimate Take Flight from the Ground Up.