Strong back, soft belly, wild heart.

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Thank you Emily, who brought friends to class yesterday. We made double digits, with 10 participants in class, YAY!  and this was with 5 of our strong regulars being absent. Future looks bright and Soma loves to flourish.

The class focus was "strong back, soft front, wild heart". (Inspired by my 2nd reading of the fabulous book by Brene Brown "Braving the Wilderness").  We danced "SanMedusa", a Nia experience adapted from the Nia routine "Sanjana" set to the music of Annie Lenox with guest appearances from Prince and AC/DC!

With several new to Nia folks in the class the focus seemed to work well......

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The concept of "strong back" included to sense the Body's Way of moving forwards, that is, to sense a guiding from beneath and behind (being pushed) instead of flexing/falling forwards with a sense of being pulled forwards. This helped participants to relax their feet, embrace moving softly through the belly of their feet with a heal lead and open their lower back.

The concept of "soft front" included sensing the pliability of the front of the body in relationship with a flexible spine, allowing the jaw to relax (which helps open the hips dramatically) and softening the muscles of the face.

The concept of "wild heart" included sensing and expressing emotions, encouraging feelings to be expressed through the body, arms and face. An invitation to take a safe risk with movement, expression and sounding.

The intent was to have an increased sense of back strength and improving vertical alignment, while sustaining relaxation and pleasure through the body.