Foci for October - "Be Breathed", "Knee-Ah" and a Blue Monkey Halloween Experience

 

In October we used the Be Breathed routine 6 times, Knee-Ah once and Moss Side Story for a spooky Halloween Blue Monkey class

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

Oct 3 - Feelings from our Feet  (Be Breathed in Balance Studio) The way we place our feet on the ground can have a major impact on the type of experience we have. Today I want to focus intently on the steps, stances and kicks and how it makes us feel as we guide ourselves through the choreography. Let your attention go from my feet to your feet and to a split awareness of both. Be aware of what emotional feelings it stirs up and brings forth. A feeling of comfort, security, success and relaxation should accompany the proper use of your feet. Use your emotional awareness and the splitting of your mental attention to be supported and empowered by your foot-floor connection. 

Oct 6 - Being Kind To Ourselves (Be Breathed in Volunteer Park) Today let's focus on how we're being to ourselves. How we speak to ourselves; How we feel about ourselves; What we believe about ourselves. Imagine that you are just meeting this new person (yourself). You know nothing about them but you do have a desire to help them achieve their best. Approach your new self with genuine gentle curiosity. Be supportive and this new self and be forgiving of its mistakes and proud of its achievements. Be in a constant state of transition from not knowing, to experiencing each moment as you nurture and encourage yourself to Be Breathed. 

Oct 10 - Nasal Breathing (Be Breathed in Balance Studio) Since our routine this month is all about Being Breathed, I thought today we could focus on the information we can get from our breathing. The idea is to keep your mouth shut as much as possible. This will give you immediate feedback about your general health and fitness and about the intensity of your work. If you are unable to keep your mouth closed it indicates a health condition or that you are working at an intensity level beyond your capabilities. The degree to which you can go through life nose breathing is like a barometer of health and wellness. It can also be used as a gauge of how hard you are workout out. As soon as you are unable to breathe nasally, there are some schools of thought that say you're working too hard and you should ease off until you can close your mouth again. When you breathe nasally you get an ideal mixture of oxygen to your muscles and your brain which allows you to function at your best. So do it today and see what you can learn about yourself from your breath as you pay attention to how you are able to Be Breathed. 

Oct 13 - Energy Warriors (Be Breathed in Volunteer Park) Today we are going to be Energy Warriors. This means stalking the self with awareness of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual activity. Imagine putting a small version of yourself up on your shoulder so that small version can observe you and encourage you. It is like your little Energy Warrior coach. Working with your coach, notice the activity in your physical, mental emotional and spiritual realms. As Energy Warriors, we are always sensing that perpetual motion and then dancing what we sense. This is what allows us to be relaxed and powerful so that we can Be Breathed. 

Oct 17 - Creative Expression, Creativity and Creation (Be Breathed in Balance Studio) Creative expression is movement, like with your face, your arms or any part of your body, that indicates feelings or thoughts. A smile, crossing the arms, tapping the foot. the middle finger... all ways that we can express creatively with our body. Creativity is what we use when we have learned the choreography and we embellish it or stray slightly from it to intentionally interpret it. It can be fueled by desire, necessity or playfulness, bu tit uses creativity to personalize the experience. And creation is the experience you manifest through the accumulation of all of your choices. So today we are focused on using creative expression to spark creativity in our movements and create our ideal personalized movement experience. 

Oct 20 - Core (Be Breathed in Volunteer Park) Today we focus on the core of the body. The pelvis, chest and head, hips and shoulders and spine. Notice the effect of including (or neglecting) the core movement in all of the movements of the arms and legs. Notice the energy of emotion and how it can be stimulating and how you can be triggered by core movement. Allow it all as perfect. Notice how inviting the Nia experience into your core can activate emotional energy as you free yourself up to Be Breathed. 

Oct 27 - Knee Rehab  (Knee-Ah in Volunteer Park) Today's routine is from 2012 when I injured my knee and had to take some time off for rehab. I set my physical therapy to music and it became this routine that I call Knee-Ah because it makes your knee say "Ahhh ... that's nice." It was my premiere routine when I returned to teaching. The main focus is to be very aware of alignment. The face of the kneecap should always be looking in the same direction your toes are pointing. You should be equally strong on either side of your thigh. We will be using lots of balancing on one leg to strengthen the thigh. If you feel yourself wobbling, you can use your hands to tap or knock on your inner and outer thigh to activate contraction of the muscles equally. We will also be using lots of squats. Notice in the squat that you want to keep your toes from passing beyond the boundaries of your toes. In other words you should be able to do a squat with your toes up against a wall without banging your knees into he wall. This is accomplished by pulling your butt back to squat rather than pushing your knees forward as if kneeling. 

Oct 31 - Haunted Halloween Blue Monkey  (Moss Side Story in Balance Studio) Today is a Blue Monkey routine. This means that the teacher is familiar with the music but has no set choreography. I will be spontaneous through the whole class. You are invited to follow along with me as best you can or to go off and do your own spontaneous dance as inspired by the music. The sound track today is a cool and weird album called Moss Side Story by Barry Adamson. Notice how this style of teaching and this class experience can emphasize a different aspect of the work. I will be using lots of repetition and very little verbal cuing as we scream our way through this terrifying and blood curdling Halloween celebration. Booo!