Wishcasting Wednesday ~ June 10, 2009

What do you wish for your body?

Be a maker of magic and a tender of wishes. It’s easy. Answer the wish prompt above on your blog and then add a direct link to your post in the box below. Support wishes by visiting other participants, leaving a comment saying “As (insert name) wishes for her/himself, so I wish for her/him also.” It’s that simple. There is great power in wishing together.

Soul Coaching Day 24: Using the Physiology of Your Body

What do you think Jinx is feeling right now?

Our bodies send the world lots of signals about who we are and how we're feeling. That's what we're focusing on today for our Soul Coaching journey. Denise Linn talks about how we can impact our mood and our lives through our physiology and how we carry ourself. This was also something I learned in acting studies; in creating a particular posture, we stir certain feelings and body responses.

I took this exploration to the Nia class I taught tonight. Our focus was on self-expression. To end the class we walked around the room, taking on different emotions and sensations. As we walked, I had the class imagine their entire bodies from toe to tip of nose filling with a particular feeling. We started with physical sensations like feeling our bodies becoming heavier and heavier or filling up bit by bit with helium.

And then everyone picked a quality that they would like to embody, a feeling like happiness or ease or strength or determination. You could pick one now. And then imagine that sensation first filling your toes, your feet, your ankles, your legs, on up to your pelvis, abdomen, ribs and chest, all through your arms and hands and fingers, up through your neck and head. Imagine fully embodying that feeling. Notice what's different. Notice your physiology and your feeling. They are connected.

You can choose what energy you would like to fill yourself up with and what you choose can be felt, experienced and expressed through your body.

Isn't that a trip?

Soul Coaching Day 22: Connecting with your Body

We are moving into our last week of Soul Coaching and it is Earth Week. This is a time for connecting to our physical environment, including our bodies. The first level task today was to do an assessment of where our body is at and level 2 was to make a commitment to our body. As I was reading the assessment questions, I kept thinking about what I've learned from my body, so that's what I thought I'd share today.

Things I've Learned From and About My Body
(Thank you, body!)

• I am more available to life when my body's needs are taken care of.
• I feel safer and more at ease when I have attended to regular medical and dental care, even though the experience of the care itself may be uncomfortable or scary.
• I feel more confident when my body is loved and cared for.
• My body is a source of pleasure.
• My body connects me to people I love.
• My body is a source of wisdom and intuition.
• My body will not be ignored.
• My body is an important part of who I am in this life, in this world.
• My body loves to move.
• My body enjoys sweating.
• My body could use more downtime, less adrenalin.
• My body carries my life experience with her everywhere.
• My body likes to wiggle.
• My body expresses my emotions, often of her own accord.
• My body is finely tuned, being sensitive and having sensitivities.
• My body holds my tension.
• My entire system appreciates having vitamins and nutrient-rich food.
• My feet prefer being bare.
• Some parts of my body are stronger than others.
• My body loves clothes she can move in.
• My body lets me know when she needs a break
• My body prefers many small servings of food.
• My body would like more water.
• My body has an emotional relationship with stretching.
• My masseters have forgotten how to relax, but I'm learning how to remind them.
• My body loves being cared for, especially with trips to the spa, facials and massages.
• Life is better when I treat my body with love rather than with impatience, anger and frustration as I have done in the past. Luckily, my body forgives me.
• My body loves to be loved.

My commitment to my body this week is to get enough sleep and some extra rest. This past week has been an emotional one, and I can feel my body just wants to curl up a little extra and let it all sink in. I'm going to listen.

What have you learned from your body?
What would your body like this week?

This month I'm exploring Denise Linn's Soul Coaching with an inspirational group of bloggers at The Next Chapter: Soul Coaching.

Nia's 25th Anniversary

Nia has been a great gift in my life. I still remember the moment I first encountered Nia. Along with some other coaches I had rented a booth at the Yoga Show. Someone came to tell me that they thought I would like the demo that was going on and should check it out. I snuck a peak and instantly felt tears spring to my eyes. I knew this was for me. I was in class the next week and in my White Belt training the next month.

This summer marks the 1-year anniversary of my beginning to teach Nia. I was inspired to teach one day while volunteering at a Nia demo. While the demonstration was going on, I was handing out flyers. I watched as women stopped in their tracks and were mesmerized. The yearning in the room was palpable. I watched as a woman in a wheelchair started to dance along with the entire upper part of her body, grinning ear to ear. I knew that there had to be more opportunities for people to experience this, and I began teaching right away.

There are many words to describe Nia: joy, pleasure, health, movement, magic... I hope that the video will help you imagine what it would be like to be in a Nia class. When I watch this particular video from India, I recognize my own experience in class. This feels like home to me.

• If you're in Canada, you can find a class near you by visiting NIAC.
• For all other locations (and Canada too), you can go to Nia HQ. They also have great resources ranging from a terrific newsletter to monthly teleclasses.
• If you don't have a class near you, Nia now has a DVD workout called Unplugged.

Thank you, Nia, Debbie & Carlos for sharing 25 years of pleasure and joy with the world.

What Dumpling Taught Me about Movement...

This precious beauty is my dear friend's daughter. Let's call her "Dumpling." Her mother does. I've had the great joy of hanging out with my friend and Dumpling for breakfast. This week the little one was full of life and I learned so much from her.

Watching Dumpling in motion made it really clear to me; we are designed to move. This baby girl was moving all the time - moving her feet, spine, head, fingers, forehead - exploring space with her body, expressing her energy in the world. It was a joy to see. And a grieat reminder that we are not meant to sit still all day, to have our eyes glued to the screen and our hands locked in position. We're meant to wiggle and reach and look and touch. So, let's invite our bodies to move today.

I also noticed something else about Dumpling. When she feels something, she experiences it with her whole body. Have you ever held a crying baby ? That cry moves through their entire frame, every fibre is asking for whatever it is the baby wants. And when they smile, they jiggle and wiggle and their hands and legs get all excited. Those feelings move through the entire body and when she's done with them, they're gone. Her emotions flowed through her body like weather systems flow through our atmosphere.

As we get older we tend to contain ourselves, contain our joy by limiting our smiles to our lips, contain our sorrow by holding back tears. But your whole body is experiencing that emotion. Your toes know when you're mad. Your tummy knows when you're tired. What would it be like to just let that be, to not resist it and let your emotions flow right through you?

What would it be like to let our bodies move, to let them freely and fully experience what we're going through? If you listen to your body, what is it saying?