Posted by terrepruitt on January 17, 2012
I’ve mentioned before that in Nia we think of feeling as emotion and sensing as physical. I mentioned it in Feeling vs. Sensing. The other day I was lying down when I realized when someone is there you want to touch you might sink into it or scoot closer. You might acknowledge the softness of the fuzzy little footsie pajamas along the side of your body and how the bottom of the footies are not as soft on your hip. Even going so far as to hold your breath so the softness of the fuzzy material can rub up and down on your arm as the small lungs fill and empty. There could be a moment when you’re aware of the different textures along the length of your back to your tush. You notice the softness of skin and hair of the arm, maybe the roughness of an elbow then the coolness of cotton or silk. You may have had the chance to observe the sensation of fur of an animal next to you. The animal lies there giving you the impression she wants to be near you. As you stop to appreciate the moment you might shift ever so slightly and you notice the cat (tee hee) has assumed her liquid state and the very tiny bit of couch real estate you shifted from is now full of cat. The sensation of warm furry body never breaking contact from your body. With any small movement you are pushed further off (or up or over) of the couch. You might have been asleep or not paying attention in any one of the similar situations, but once you realized or remembered something was there you allowed your body to embrace the sensation.
You sense the closeness in the situations. You stopped to enjoy the contact from the other being. You stopped to concentrate on the touch. The touch of softness, the sense of warmth, the caress of the movement as breath is drawn in and let out. I was not aware of the cat sleeping next to me when I first woke up. Once I sensed the pressure on my body and realized what it was, I snuggled down into the couch further. I scooted just a tad bit closer. And, of course, I was happy.
Sometimes sensing these types of sensations can elicit emotions. In these particular situations (pleasant ones where you want the body next to you) happiness and joy can be at the top of a long list. Of course, sensation can cause a whole range of emotions depending on the situation. I find it interesting that sometimes a sensation can be happening, but we might not realize it.
Have you ever been talking to someone and someone else comes along and not wanting to interrupt with speech they place a hand on your back and you might not even realize it until you stop talking then you notice? You might not notice the dog at your feet leaning on your leg until you stop for a second and refocus. You might not notice the child tugging you in one direction because you are focused on the conversation you are having. Maybe it is not so much that we don’t NOTICE, it is that the sensation is not the focus of our brain or body at that moment so it is dulled? Then once we give it our attention we can actually really sense the touch?
I know that I didn’t notice because I was sleeping, but it still took me a second to realize that something warm was pressed up against me. Once I realized then I was able to enjoy it. Sometimes we might need to realize sensations more as we move through life so we can not take them for granted and really enjoy them.
Are there any sensations that you can take a moment to enjoy while you are going through your day? Take an extra second to sense and see how it makes you feel.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: emotions, Feeling vs. Sensing, feelings, Nia, sensations | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 12, 2011
I learned through Nia that feeling is different from sensing. Feeling is how I feel. It is an emotion. I feel happy. I feel sad. I feel emotion. Sensing is touch or a sensation in the body. I can feel happy, yet still sense discomfort. I can feel sad, yet still sense or experience a sense of Joy with my body. I try to remember to make the correct distinction between feeling with emotion and sensing with the body. I do continue to say “I feel” when I am talking about a sensation, but when I am paying attention I correct myself if I am able.
Recognizing this difference can help with really giving the body and/or the spirit/emotional self what it needs. If my body’s sensation is soreness do I need to rest it? Well I might feel like I need to rest because “I worked hard so I deserve to rest.” But I know, that for me and my body I need to move otherwise the soreness will just continue to get worse. If I feel I need to rest, actually in my spirit/emotional self then I might examine what it is I really need. If it is a feeling of requiring rest then maybe just not being physical is not enough, maybe I need a mental break. So just sitting at my computer working while not being physical won’t give me the same satisfaction.
While spirit and body ARE connected sometimes they need different things. Sometimes we don’t separate the two when they need different things. Sometimes we might assign emotion to a physical sensation. Sometimes our emotions might get in the way of giving our body what it really needs or vice versa. We might have a sense of discomfort, but we call it pain due to an emotion. There could also be the opposite, we feel happy and joyful so we push our physical body further than we should and with that comes the risk of injury.
Fascinating this journey we are on. I actually started typing this with a vague idea of feeling vs. sensing leading somewhere else. But this is where I ended up. Makes me think I will be re-visiting this feeling vs. sensing. For now, this is what I am sharing. Any thoughts you care to share on this?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: emotional self, emotions, feelings, Nia, physcial body, sensations, sensing, spirit, spirit body, spirit self | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 31, 2009
Nia™ is about joyful movement. Move with joy. Move for joy. Move to joy.
A Nia workout includes elements from three disciplines from three different arts:
From the martial arts, we use moves from T’ai chi, Tae Kwon Do, and Aikido.
From the dance arts we embrace styles from Jazz Dance, Modern Dance, and Duncan Dance
And from the healing arts we are mindful of teachings from Feldenkrais, the Alexander Technique, and Yoga.
At times we might move slow, focusing on movements centered around the body’s inner core, as in T’ai chi. We might kick or punch as one might do in Tae kwon do, and these movements might flow into a spiral motion that is associated with Aikido. We could decide to play the showman and do the entire routine with a jazzy flair or just add movements of creating shapes, dropping and then recovering the body’s own weight as a modern dancer might do. There is always a chance we could give into our inner child and run free and honest with the playfulness of a Duncan dancer. While we’re doing one these things we are keeping in mind the teaching of Moshe Feldenkrais and being conscious of sensations. We could stretch to the top with utmost concentration one might contribute to the Alexander Technique, then move onto a dance of bone alignment increasing awareness, relaxation, and balance the could be thought of as Yoga.*
So in one workout you can experience all those things. Strength is balanced with grace. Fun is balanced with seriousness. Body is balanced with mind.
The music is varied and is intended to promote the movement of the routine. There is no doubt something for everyone.
*based on information from The Nia Technique by Debbie Rosas & Carlos Rosas
Posted in Movement Forms of Nia, Nia | Tagged: Aikido, Carlos Rosas, core, dance arts, Debbie Rosas, disciplines, Duncan Dance, Feldinkrais, flow, fun, grace, Healing Arts, inner child, Jazz Dance, joy, joyful, martial arts, mind, modern dance, movement, Nia, Nia San Jose, playfulness, San Jose Nia, sensations, showman, strength, T'ai chi San Jose, Tae kwon do, Tae kwon do San Jose, Tai Chi, the Alexander Technique, The Nia Technique, The Nine Basic Movements Forms Of Nia, Yoga, Yoga San Jose | 13 Comments »
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