Jenn Hicks

My last post here...moving on to jennhicks.ca

2010-10-07T15:59:00.000-04:00

Image by J. Star via Flickr

Thursday April 19, 2007.

That was the date of my first blog post at jennhicks.blogspot.com (well my first blog post anywhere really!). You can see it here if you're interested. Today, nearly 3.5 years later, Thursday October 7, 2010, this is my last post here. I'll be blogging over at my brand new website from now on!

Thanks for the memories, dear blog.

I have Jamie Ridler of Jamie Ridler Studios to thank for my love of blogging and being online connecting with so many amazing people!

It started with my weekly date with Sunday Scribblings, where I had a weekly writing date with the lovely Ms. Meg Genge and Ms. Laini Taylor. With their prompts, I wrote about all kinds of stuff - really amazing stuff like oceans and wings and masks and my job as queen of the world.

From there, I began blogging about my dreams, my travels, my work, and everything else in between. In the process, I have learned a TON of stuff about myself and about the look and feel and creation of this little online world.

Now I continue the sharing from my new website and fondly remember all the good stuff created here.
Thank you beautiful blog. I love you!

Come on over and join me!

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Wishcasting Wednesday #4 - Where do you wish to make a fresh start?

2010-08-18T17:55:00.000-04:00

Jamie Ridler, over at Jamie Ridler Studios, asks us to reflect on where we wish to make a "fresh start".

Image by kalyan02 via FlickrSimply put, I need to make a fresh start at one of the studios I've been teaching Nia at for the past year and a half. This class needs to have a little fertilizer added to it so that I can keep my little community thriving and blossoming!

This is my Wish on this Wednesday. It has been cast....

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Give back to your body

2010-08-17T21:43:00.011-04:00

Give back to your body this fall with Nia

Nia ~ an invigorating blend of
dance, martial arts and healing arts.

Nia ~ dance, get fit and have fun!

Join me for Nia at 918 Bathurst

(and other locations)

Consider gifting yourself with a commitment: a commitment to immersing yourself in your body and it's joy of movement. Why not let yourself sink into Nia's ability to stir up joy week after week? And perhaps learn a little something about yourself along the way....

Fall Term #1: Mondays ~ Sept 13-Oct 25 ~ 6:30-7:45pm (7 weeks)

* I'm in, sign me up!: 7 classes Sept 13-Oct 25 - $98 ($14 per class) (class will be held on Thanksgiving Day Monday Oct 11. 1 make up class: during the following term Nov 1-Dec 13)

* I'll give this commitment thing a try: 3 classes taken between Sept 13-Oct 25 - $45 ($15 per class)

* I love Nia, but am too busy to commit: Single drop-in class $16

Fall Term #2: Mondays ~ Nov 1 - Dec 13 ~ 6:30-7:45pm (7 Weeks)

* I'm in, sign me up!: 7 classes Nov 1-Dec 13 - $98 ($14 per class) (1 make up class TBA)

* I'll give this commitment thing a try: 3 classes taken between Nov 1-Dec 13 - $45 ($15 per class)

* I love Nia, but am too busy to commit: Single drop-in class $16

Please contact me with questions and for registration information.

A cheque will secure your spot in the class.
The class will run with a minimum of 7 participants.

About the class location:

For the past year and a half, I have been so grateful to have been able to offer Nia classes at 918 Bathurst. 918 Bathurst, formerly a Buddhist Temple, is now not-for-profit, multidisciplinary culture and arts community. Nia has been embraced there and I've also been lucky enough to hold several large Nia events there.

If you've been there, you know how stunning the sanctuary space is that we dance in.

If not, see for yourself just how warm and inviting the space is...

I'd love to have you at 918 Bathurst and/or other locations, as your schedule permits.

Please view my full schedule below.

Yours in the joy of movement,

Jenn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TUESDAYS 7:00-8:00pm
Joy of Dance
95 Danforth Ave, 3rd Floor (just east of Broadview)
416-406-3262
http://www.joyofdance.ca/
$16/class (includes GST)
$73 for 5 classes ($14.60/class)
$140 for 10 classes ($14/class)
$265 for 20 classes ($13.25/class)
*Seniors, Equity, Actra, CADA and post secondary
student discounts offered*
**class cards expire 6 months after date of purchase and can be applied to all Nia classes at Joy of Dance**
WEDNESDAYS 9:15-10:30am
Joy of Dance
95 Danforth Ave, 4th Floor (just east of Broadview)
8 weeks (July 7-Aug 25)
drop in fee $16
8 classes in 8 weeks = $104 ($13/class)
6 classes in 8 weeks = $84 ($14/class)
4 classes in 8 weeks = $60 ($15/class)
WEDNESDAYS 6:15-7:30pm
Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre
750 Spadina Ave (at Bloor)
*this is a PRE-REGISTERED CLASS; sorry, no drop-ins
(10 weeks: October 6 - December 15, 2010; N.B. we will have a one week break from class due to Tom's Sale - date TBD)
$115 for JCC members, $144 for non-members
Registration: call 416.924.6211, or register in person
Course Code: FIT135W1T
http://www.milesnadaljcc.ca/classes/adult-fitness/the-nia-technique

Thursdays 7:00-8:00pm
Flow! Yoga
408 Dupont St (3 blocks west of Spadina)
416-570-6957
http://www.yogaflow.ca/
$16 drop in
$140 for a 10 week series (join anytime!)
SATURDAYS and SUNDAYS 9:45-11am
Joy of Dance
95 Danforth Ave, 3rd Floor (just east of Broadview)
416-406-3262
http://www.joyofdance.ca/
$16/class (includes GST)
$73 for 5 classes ($14.60/class)
$140 for 10 classes ($14/class)
$265 for 20 classes ($13.25/class)
*Seniors, Equity, Actra, CADA and post secondary
student discounts offered*
**class cards expire 6 months after date of purchase and can be applied to all Nia classes at Joy of Dance**

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Wishcasting Wednesday #3 - Where Do You Wish to Send Some Love?

2010-08-11T18:20:00.000-04:00

Image by Parvin via Flickr

Thanks to Jamie Ridler for this prompt. It's the perfect thing to do every Wednesday - make a wish and let it growth through the energy of other wish-casters!

Today I wish to send love to:

~ myself
~ my supportive family
~ my dear friends
~ my neighbours
~ the guy who fell today in front of Broadview Espresso, I hope he made it to his doctor and is ok.
~ Parvin, the guy who took this beautiful picture.

Has this guy found JOY?

2010-08-05T12:35:00.000-04:00

I think you'd agree with me that this man is experiencing joy. Something about that music seems to make him come alive. I wonder if he has always been this way when it comes to music, or if he has somehow learned or chosen to be that way?

Not sure what I mean? I wouldn't have understood the concept of choosing joy myself just 5 years ago.

Nia's first principle is "The Joy of Movement". I never actually thought that was possible. To me, movement had always been related to body shame, physical pain and usually some form of embarrassment on my part.

I took my first Nia class with Martha Randal l in 2002. It was arranged by Marla Feldman as part of a "team building" workshop for the therapists at NRC Feldman & Associates. My first impression?

"This is not for me!" In fact I told Martha and the rest of the group how strange I thought it was to be exercising barefoot. That experience sent me back to the gym to the aerobics and step classes.

Until a year so so later when I needed to fill in a night with a new activity (back then I was so over-programmed) and the only thing that worked was a Nia class up the street at the community centre. So I gave it a try.

Fast forward a few years to my exercise addiction, when I had decided to do my Nia (White Belt) teacher training (really as a way to squeeze in more exercise into my life).

The first full day of that White Belt training in 2006 with my teacher Martha Randall,
she introduced this principle "The Joy of Movement".

She said, "In Nia, joy is the primary sensation we want to seek from all movement. If you lose joy, tweak your movement to find it again. When you have joy, sustain it. When joy is not present, look for it."

I struggled with this as my therapist had, at the same time, been telling me that it was ok to experience sadness and that I didn't have to keep pushing it down. And, in my experience, movement had never been pleasurable. The "Joy of Movement" seemed impossible for me.

Martha explained that "joy", however can be part of any emotion. She asked us to consider the "Joy of Sadness" as an attitude shift that might help us learn. That made a little more sense.

In those days, I really had to practice choosing joy (by adjusting my movements and intentionally smiling while practicing). Over time, I began to become alive in my body. I began realizing that sensing and feeling my body (something I had avoided doing for a long time), could bring me joy instead of the shame I was so used to attaching to my body.

And now, I realize that joy is a sensation that comes from me moving in ways that suit and respect my own body. It doesn't come naturally, but comes from my attitude. When I shift to being open to whatever is happening in the moment, then I can make adjustments to invite in the energy of joy. And when I create my own joy and showcase it through my Nia classes, it can help my students feel free to choose their own joy.

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Prepare for BIG changes to auto ins Sept 1, 2010

2010-07-30T16:23:00.004-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks to Justine Lear Hamilton, SLP, of Lear Communication for this important document which she has generously shared for widespread publication. (It has been slightly modified for the purposes of this post).

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT CHANGES TO YOUR

AUTO INSURANCE POLICY

You may be wondering I would be writing about changes to your car insurance!

Well, it's because in my Speech-Language Pathology practice, I treat a number of people who have sustained serious brain injuries in car accidents. Some of these clients were drivers, some were passengers, some were pedestrians, some were cyclists. But all of them were well functioning individuals until a completely unpredictable accident changed their lives forever.

Brain injuries are not like broken legs. Our brains control every single physical and mental function we perform. Trying to “fix” a damaged brain can take years of therapy.

This year, the Ontario government announced sweeping changes to the auto insurance system. Our government is concerned that insurers have not been profitable enough, so they decided to dramatically cut benefits paid to rehabilitate people who are seriously injured in car accidents in order to increase insurer profits. These cuts take effect on September 1, 2010.

Currently, if you are seriously injured, your auto insurance policy covers assessments and diagnostics plus up to $100,000 in therapy/rehabilitation funding over 10 years. This coverage is important because there are next to no rehabilitation services available through hospitals and home care anymore.

Under the new policy, your assessment and treatment costs together cannot exceed $50,000 over 10 years. This represents a 70% cut to your benefits.

While $50,000 may sound like a lot of money, that is just $5,000-10,000 per year, depending on how many years of therapy you need. If you are bedridden, unable to work or go to school, unable to look after your children, etc., you may need the services of a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, chiropractor, psychologist, etc. Having $600/month to fund your entire rehabilitation needs is grossly insufficient.

The government is, however, giving you an option to “buy up”; that is, to purchase a higher level of coverage. You can choose to purchase $100,000 or $1,000,000 in rehabilitation benefits. It is my strong recommendation that you purchase $1,000,000 in coverage. I have been purchasing this level of coverage for several years and it has just cost me an additional $70-100 per year in premiums. I consider this a pittance in order to obtain crucial rehabilitation services should I ever be injured in an accident.

Right now, when you buy your policy, there is a premium for “liability” and a premium for “accident benefits”:

· The “liability” amount is the amount you are purchasing to pay for someone else’s rehabilitation if they sue you because of an accident you were involved in.

· The “accident benefits” is the amount you are purchasing to pay for your own rehabilitation.

Most insurance brokers make sure you purchase at least $1,000,000 in liability to cover someone else’s rehabilitation. However, many accidents do not meet the criteria for a lawsuit, so you can not count on being able to sue someone for your rehabilitation funds. And even if you can sue, you will have to wait years to get that funding, all the while being unable to perform your usual activities of daily living.

If you are willing to pay higher premiums to cover someone else’s rehabilitation, shouldn’t you also be willing to pay more to cover your own?

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

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Hillside 2010

2010-07-29T17:52:00.004-04:00

This past weekend I attended Hillside for the 3rd year in a row. (My post about my inaugural Hillside experience is here if you're curious!).

I was lucky to be Hillsiding with and around Kate McMurray, Chris Kay Fraser of Firefly Creative Writing , Elizabeth Fraser of 52 Projects: A Year from Scratch , the talented singer/songwriter Alex Hickey , my delightfully joyful Nia colleague Sarah Butler, the skilled photographer Alexandra Collas , Erica Ross of Dance Our Way Home , and Zahra Haji of YogaGoddess. What a collection of brilliantly creative and spirited women who are offering their gifts to the world!

I was at Hillside to present Nia workshops as I have done now for 3 years. This year's experience helped me realize that, not only does Hillside offer great music, workshops and a magnificently convivial atmosphere, but it teaches more about who I am right now.

Each year Hillside gives me a marker of where I'm at personally and professionally.

When I started workshopping at Hillside in 2008, I was only a year into my Nia teaching and a year and a half into my life with Bipolar Disorder.

Because I can compare the experience year to year, I can see my personal growth (as I continue to live with Bipolar Disorder), and my professional growth (as I move into my 4th year of teaching Nia).

This, of all the years, was the year I felt deep soul strength. I'm not sure I have the right words, but it was more than "fun" this year. It was more than a feeling of "wow, this is great, these are my people". On top of all of that, I felt my joy, confidence and power as I taught. And I 'hillsided' with a similar deep contentment, poise and self-assurance as I participated in workshops, listened to the music and interacted with fellow festival-goers.

Oh, what a feeling.

Now it could be that the people differed, or the weather differed, or the music differed or.....no. I'm pretty certain that I differ. (Yay for me!)

Oh, and I made a robot at a workshop entitled "Super Happy Fun Robot Time." He's made out of metal/electronic scraps.
He doesn't have a name.
Suggestions?

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The Soul Project - Conclusion

2010-07-21T14:47:00.000-04:00

In April of 2009, I participated in Brooke Manning's Soul Project. I first met Brooke when Broadview Espresso (aka my 2nd home) opened. She was one of BE's first baristas who sadly only worked there for a few months.

When I came across her a year later online, I was intrigued by a project she had embarked upon.

On her blog, Brooke wrote:

I am collecting souls. I am looking for individuals that are willing to give me their soul for one year. Don't worry. You will still exist. Think about what a soul actually means. Your soul may come to me in anything. It must be contained in some sort of package. You can stuff it into a jar, you can give it to me in a locket, you can mail it to me in an envelope, you can bake it in a pie and I will consume it if you wish. I am open to you. I am willing to cater to your needs. If you are a friend, then great. If you are a stranger to me, wonderful. I do not need to know you at all to get to know your soul.

I decided to share my "soul" with her in the form of about a dozen small zip-locked packets of sand that I had carried home from the Ganges River (near Rishikesh) after my first trip to India in 2005. Given that my nature is to be a helper, I wanted to offer this sand, known for it's healing properties, as part of what I'm all about.

My soul needs to be nurtured and fed, so I asked Brooke to share my "soul" (packets of "magic sand") with others and have them offer me something in exchange. Something that might serve to exchange positive energy from another to me. I provided her with empty packets in which to enclose these items she would collect for me.

I originally wrote about my April 2009 submission here and Brooke's description and post-project reflections are here.

So back in June (2010), I was so happy to learn about my soul's adventures over the last year.

Brooke had sent me a nice package of things to tell me about my soul. She include a picture of my soul showing me where it lived for the past year.
See the packets of sand on the far right hand side of the picture?

What I was most anxious about, though, was to learn about what my soul had attracted, what I had received in return for sharing those emblems of my spirit.

I got back 12 packets of people's belongings including:

A beautiful jeweled gold sparkly button with "her jacket, street, halifax, Sept '09" written on the packet.
A plastic opaque oyster coloured bead with "plaid coat man, March '10" written on the packet.
A white green-tipped feather with "aime, October '09" written on the packet.
A small pale green flowery post-it note enscribed with "AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE" and "Andrea, July '09" written on the packet.
A small strip of cardboard with the word "BITS" written on it and "Nov 11, 2009" written on the packet.
A single black and red stripped stud earring with no backing and "April 26, 2009" written on the packet.
My original packet of "Magic Sand" containing the ripped corner of a piece of cardboard reading "Frag...." (probably "fragile" before it was ripped) with "Ryan blended, May 10 '09" written on the packet.
One STM ticket (with french writing and a picture of a bus on it....a bus ticket?) and "Montreal, August 2009" written on the packet.
Another of my original packets of sand containing a small ripped envelope (the kind with the red and blue diagonal stripes around the border that remind me of international postal envelopes) with nothing but my original writing on the packet.
A dried and crumbling reddish-brown leaf with "Brendan, pressed between a book" written on the packet.
A small white rectangular magnet with 'yes' written in red on it and "Jan 2, 2010, on her" written on the packet.
A 2 inch piece of ivory thread with "Feb 14, 2010, he gave it to me from his shoe" written on the packet.

What a variety of offerings! Some were likely meaningful to their previous owners, and some possibly were not at all important to them. Either way, what's most important to me was the spirit of participation and symbol of the offering. There's that connectedness thing that comes up for me over and over again. Pretty cool.

I also appreciated the lovely hand written note from Brooke in which she told me...

"We have ended our time together, as souls contained, and I want to thank you for your most cherished gift....For a long while I contemplated where I could take you...where your multiple vessels would love to exist....I kept two vessels for myself. One will forever exist pinned to my bedroom wall and one travels with me when I leave the house. I intend to do this as long as the physical objects exist and then, forever after. I traded pieces of your soul for objects which existed on a person that day. I asked said person to put their soul into their object and then place it in the empty bags you provided. I only gave them pieces of you if their intentions were in love. I selected people according to the feeling they gave me. Most were strangers, some were very dear. ...Now you belong to the world within strangers and they belong to you. With love, respect, kindness and forever trust, Brooke"

This project reminded me how much I have to offer and how much I can benefit from being open to receiving.

Thanks Brooke.

(Find out about Brooke and her lastest unique project - the tape project - here)

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PROUDLY bringing Nia to PRIDE this weekend!

2010-07-02T18:06:00.000-04:00

Dear dancers,

Nia will be at Pride Toronto tomorrow!

Will you JOYn in?

(facebook event listing here)

YOU are WELCOME to share the stage with

myself and Barbara Ades (of Rhythmic Rainbow Studios),

our colleagues and students!

*us, 2 years ago kicking it up at PRIDE!*

When will we be dancing?

Saturday July 3

1:30-2pm

*please try to arrive at 1pm-ish if possible*

Where will we be dancing?

We are in the (Drug & Alcohol) FREE Zone which is in the Paul Kane Parkette.

We are at the Paul Kane Parkette which is on the NORTH (not south) side of Wellesley, just west of Church Street. It's directly across from the Sunnybrook O & A Hospital. Big stage...you'll see it I'm sure!

Here's the schedule for the day at the parkette: http://www.pridetoronto.com/events/paulkane_sat.html

What to wear?

Let's do a rainbow theme (how original!!). Black/dark bottoms and a solid coloured shirt (choose from the colours of the rainbow - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) OR black/dark bottoms and a RAINBOW themed shirt. Also, feel free to glam it up if you wish (I might just dig up my florescent pink wig and funk-o-rama shades!).

N.B. I received info from the organizers of that space that it is quite limited...they said no more than 4 people spectating per performer. Haven't heard back whether that means 4 people for our group in total or 4 for each of us....dunno....sorry can't be more specific but I say take a chance and bring fans by!!!!

Looking forward to some boogy-ing!

Jenn

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Shiny Ropes

2010-06-24T14:57:00.001-04:00

Just about a month ago now, I received an email from a woman named Shazia Islam.

Enter personal growth opportunity and confidence booster.

Synchronicity.

Enter Shiny Ropes.

The subject header on the email was 'Re: Nia Community Dance Jam on Sunday!'. I didn't remember anyone named Shazia, so I figured it was related to the Nia Jam and fundraiser I held for Good News Toronto last month.

As is my habit, I prioritized this message on the urgency/importance matrix as low urgency/low importance. I came back to it hours after dealing with what now, in hindsight, seem like non-issues. Isn't that always the way?

Turns out she responded to a message I had sent to my Nia peeps - those who have taken classes with me and who are part of my mailing list (a universal shout of gratitude to those of you who read my newsletters that are sent to you with love <3).

In her email, Shazia introduced herself as someone who had taken a few classes and had spoken to me about her voice disorder.

I remembered that as a remarkably special happenstance. If you have read my blog posts, or are part of my community on Facebook or Twitter, you might know how important it is for me to be open about my life. I am extremely transparent about my life with bipolar disorder in an effort to reduce stigma. So when someone has a similar approach to self-full truth-telling-and-spirit-honoring, I know there is a subterranean-slash-ethereal connection.

Anyhow, Shazia (a writer/playwright/journalist, singer/songwriter, actor, and teacher) explained that she was performing a one-woman cabaret at a conference this summer. In addition to her monologue, she would sing some of her songs, but for one song in particular she wanted to be able to dance it for her audience.

And she was asking me to help her.

My initial reaction? "I'm not a choreographer, I'm a Nia teacher"!

Sure, I can (and have) Nia-fied lots of tunes sufficiently to teach them in a class. In fact, a few years, back, when my lovely singer/songwriter friend Alex Hickey were both at Hillside, I had the honour of teaching Nia to her music as she danced along side me!

Yet, what Shazia was asking me to do seemed HUGELY beyond my capabilities. As I listened to her song, Shiny Ropes, I realized that she was asking me to accompany her beautiful words and voice with something very personal. Expressive movement. I wondered how I would be able to respectfully honour her creation and meet her intention through movement.

I suppose this challenge was pushing my "emotional comfort" limits. Being in, around, and through any sort of emotionally intense experience has long been a place of growth for me. And Shazia's story and song struck me in deeply rich, dark, yet hopeful space.

As it turned out, Shazia and I worked together quite beautifully. She taught me about pairing emotion with movement in a way I was ready to learn. I learned about the message being communicated when I move.

And I grew a little more into the comfort of using movement to convey emotion. I know this opportunity allowed me to be a better Nia teacher.

Thanks for sharing your story and such a personal experience with me, Shazia.

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FREE Nia classes with Jenn, Summer 2010

2010-06-16T13:13:00.006-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

in addition to my regularly scheduled classes, I am offering *FREE* outdoor Nia Classes this summer (at a farmer's market, Pride events & Taste of the Danforth)!

Come and join in!

You and your friends/family are most welcome!

Sat July 10 & Aug 14*, 11:30-12:30pm Withrow Park Farmer's Market

You'll find us at the North end of park, 1 block south of Greektown on the Danforth, between Carlaw & Logan (closest subway stops: Chester & Pape).

* In the event of rain, these classes will be canceled. Call me at 4167.573.4911 or email me if the weather is iffy.

_________________________________________________________

Sat June 26, 12-4pm Family Pride event at 918 Bathurst

918 Bathurst St.

Scheduled Events:
12:00 – 12:30 Children's Sports & Activities
12:30 – 1:00 Story Telling
1:00 – 2:00 Drumming
2:00 – 3:00 Nia Dance & Movement
3:00 – 4:00 Live Music & Performances
All Day Activities 12:00 – 4:00
Arts & Crafts
Family Photo Booth
Board Games & Activities
Film Screenings
Art Exhibition
and more!

_________________________________________________________

Sat July 3, 1:30pm Pride, Paul Kane Parkette

We will be dancing on stage in the (Drug & Alcohol)

FREE Zone which is in the Paul Kane Parkette.
The Paul Kane Parkette is on the north side of Wellesley, just west of Church Street.
Come!!!! Dance!!

_________________________________________________________

Sat Aug 7 , (11:30am)

Taste of the Danforth, Stage outside Joy of Dance (95 Danforth Ave).

_________________________________________________________

Sunday September 12, 12-1pm Veggie Food Fair

Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Redpath Stage

Feel free to come along, no need to RSVP,

just show up! Contact me with any questions.

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2nd Annual Nia Lakefront Poker Run

2010-06-10T17:47:00.001-04:00

Nia Poker Run

Sunday, June 13, 2010

12-7pm Cost: FREE!!!!

Join us at 3 different locations along the Lakeshore around Toronto*

*weather permitting (call me at 416.573.4911 if the weather is iffy)

Come to 1 or all of the locations below, create a poker hand & WIN PRIZES!

At the beginning of each of the 3 classes, each participant will draw 2 playing cards. At the end of the day the dancer with the highest poker hand wins.

You can even win by attending 1 of the 3 locations by drawing 2 high cards!

First prize = A set of 3 routines: Sanjana, Opal & Global Unity

Second prize = A choice of 2 of 3 routines: Sanjana, Opal or Global Unity

Third prize = A choice of 1 of 3 routines: Sanjana, Opal or Global Unity

12pm Coronation Park, Oakville

(routine: Global Unity)

From the west, take the QEW past Bronte to 3rd Line. Drive towards the lake (south). Turn left on Lakeshore and Coronation Park will be on your right within a km. or so. Enter from the west, park, and look for the stage.

From the east, take the Gardiner westbound to the QEW. Continue along to the 403 W and take Exit 118/RR 3/Trafalgar Rd. Keep left at the fork, follow signs for RR 3 S/Trafalgar Rd S/Town Centre. Turn left at RR 3 /Trafalgar Road S. Turn right at Lakeshore Road. Drive 5 km and you will see Coronation Park on the Left. Enter from the west, park, and look for the stage which is closeby.

3pm SUNNYSIDE PARK

(routine: Opal)

From Lakeshore Blvd east, pass Sir Casimir Gzowski Park and look for Parkside Drive. The park is on

your right hand side.

From Lakeshore Blvd west, pass Jamieson Ave, & Marilyn Bell park. Travel to Parkside Drive where you will have to make a (legal) U turn to get to the parking lot.

We will be in the open area west of the pavilion.

6 PM ASHBRIDGES

(routine: Sanjana)

This park is at the westernmost part of the east beaches past Leslie St. Follow Lakeshore Blvd east past the Ashbridges Water Treatment Centre. The entrance to the park is on your right hand side at the foot of Coxwell. Follow the winding road (Ashbridges Bay Park Road) to parking for Ashbridges Park (stay to the right; do not turn left towards Woodbine Beach Park). We will be dancing on the sand surrounded by volleyball courts! Download a flyer here

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You ask me why I dance...An interview about Nia with Marilyn Wong

2010-06-06T09:02:00.036-04:00

I recently had the opportunity to interview the lovely Marilyn Wong of Montreal about her experiences with Nia and the White Belt Training. She is pictured above (left) at Rancho LaPeurta, Mexico 2009. (Marilyn is pictured here with Judy, Debbie Rosas, co-founder of Nia and her team of master instructors including Kevin VerEeke (New York City), Caroline Kohles (New York City), Helen Terry (Houston Texas), and Danielle Eastman (Pullman, WA). To the right she is pictured with Martha Randall, Nia White Belt trainer at her Montreal White Belt Training.

Jennifer: Thanks for agreeing to do this interview Marilyn. My first question is, would you describe yourself as a dancer?

Marilyn: Why I dance? If you asked me that question when I was a little girl, I would probably say that I dance because it’s so much fun. The fun factor continues to be important in making my connection to dance and over the years this connection has kept evolving but mainly on a physical and emotional level. My involvement with Nia brought an unexpected awareness and understanding of my connection with dance and it changed the way I related to it, to myself, and everything around me. To understand how Nia has effected this change in my life, there are a few things that should be known about me.

To begin, I have always embraced the idea of being healthy and active. To this end, I have been involved in many different activities. Dance and yoga have

been a constant choice. Yoga brought balance, focus, and helped release me from the negative stresses in my life and opened up my mind to a more healthy lifestyle. Dance gave me joy and made me feel like I was living full out. I took advantage of every opportunity to try any form of dance that would enrich my experience. Still now, as I think about dance, I cannot imagine my life without some form of dance in it.

Yet, there was a period in my life, when dance and other activities which I loved were put on hold for 16 years as I juggled to manage my father’s care and my own life as a mother and wife. This was a labor of love but it took a toll on my body. When my Dad passed away, I decided that if I was going to rescue myself from life as I knew it over the last 16 years, I needed to change. I needed to take time for myself and choose activities that would help bring me to a more healthy and balanced state. In this respect, I wondered if Nia might be of help getting me back on track.

Jennifer: How were you first introduced to Nia? Tell us about your early experiences with Nia.

Marilyn: I took my first Nia class at the YMCA not really knowing what to expect. AsI listened to my instructor talk about Nia, I thought I found something that was a good fit for me. Besides getting a good workout, I liked that Nia incorporated what I loved to do in a fun and creative way. As I did more classes, I looked forward to how Nia challenged my imagination and my emotions as I was encouraged to explore, play, and create with all that was around me . The more I got into this space, the more I felt compelled to draw from other layers of my being. I started developing a new awareness about how my body moves and

talks to me. I started to listen to my body in a different way and to trust what it was telling me- not to overthink it, just to be with it and enjoy it. I was taking pleasure in the dance and my body’s way and developing a deeper connection with movement. A new dialogue was emerging within me when I danced that involved more than just my body. Now my body, mind, spirit, and emotions were all engaged and getting a workout.

Something was waking up inside me and it seemed to be coming from the very essence of me. Push and Pull! It was hard sometimes (and still is!) to resist the urge to follow. My body had been conditioned to do that for so long. But when I did resist, I began discovering things about myself. I felt that my body could tell the whole story about everything going on inside me at that very moment. I felt exposed and vulnerable and I didn’t care. I was getting turned inside out and it felt great. This was empowering!

This was an unexpected but huge accomplishment for me. Although I had been exposed to many dance forms, I had never found comfort or pleasure in interpreting the dance my way. I think being able to follow and deliver another’s interpretation in dance is important for many reasons but I think what makes the

dance special is when we can surrender to that place within us that leads us to make the dance our own, to where we become the dance. Nia has inspired me to take this leap - not with fear but with anticipation of all my body can experience.

The great Isadore Duncan spoke of three types of dancers -

“first, those who consider dancing as sort of a gymnastic drill, made up of impersonal and graceful arabesques: second, those who by concentrating their minds, lead the body into the rhythm of a desired emotion, expressing a remembered feeling of experience. And finally, there are those who convert the body into a luminous fluidity, surrendering it to the inspiration of the soul.” - Isadora Duncan

I like to think that Nia is inspiring me to be the third type of dancer.

On the path of change, I have found that I do not rely on any one thing in particular to effect change. I can’t say that without Nia, my life would fall apart. The beauty of Nia is that it works so well with other things that are important to me and has become an important part of a support system that empowers me to be all that I can be. I guess as long as I continue to embrace the need for change, renewal, and pleasure, I will be drawn to Nia’s “invitation to dance” and I can’t wait to feel the effects of my white belt training. For now, I am committed to continuing my Nia journey and incorporating it in my dance through life. After many years of standing still, I take my time to take it all in and make my dance through life a work in progress that keeps evolving as I do.

Jennifer: How long were you a student of Nia before taking your White Belt training?

Marilyn: It has been around two years since I began my Nia journey and I took this adventure without any real map or plan. I started out thinking that Nia would be transformational mainly on a physical level and I’d have fun doing it. I really got more than I anticipated and I continue to be blessed by my Nia experience. I can say now that I am liking myself again, loving my body, and relishing in the feeling that I can shine from the inside out. The dance has become a more true reflection of me and everyday it becomes more clear how Nia challenges me and helps me make my dance continue through life. I was and am inspired by Nia and empowered by the way it makes me feel.

Jennifer: What made you decide to take the next step and receive a White Belt?

Marilyn: Up to this point, I took every opportunity I could to learn more and deepen my understanding of Nia by attending classes and workshops, going on a Nia retreat, taking master classes with Debbie and Carlos themselves, participating in Nia events, and joining a Nia network where I connected with Nia practitioners from all over the world. Everything that I had experienced and learnt led me to white belt as what I wanted to do next to further my practice Teaching Nia was not what I went in thinking I was going to do but I didn’t dismiss the idea either. Also, I cant deny that knowing Martha was doing the training influenced the timing of my decision. Knowing that I would do the training with someone familiar and that I thought I could journey well with was an important consideration.

Jennifer: Were there any barriers that you encountered when deciding to take the White Belt Training? (i.e., financial restraints, scheduling, fear, confidence, etc)

Marilyn: No barriers as mentioned …. I had prepared myself for this for some time. It helped having the support of family and my Nia network of friends. The only barriers that could emerge were the barriers I set myself . I decided early on that I would have no expectations – I wanted to be open to receive … go in empty without preconceived notions- only possibilities. I had fleeting moments of fear, anxiety, lack of confidence but were overridden by the excitement of possibilities, the knowledge that I was not alone in my journey and the comfort of having a guide like Martha. Once I had decided that this was something that was important to me, I focused on things that took me in the direction of a positive experience.

Jennifer: Describe your 'a-ha' moments while doing the training (i.e., any experiences that struck a chord or resonated deeply with you).

Marilyn: If I have to identify aha moments which resonated more deeply with me during the training, there were two that stand out.

One was when we were exploring free dance. As I explained in my paper earlier, what I had gained in free dance from my Nia classes before WB had already given me some aha moments…. And then in WB all that got shook up again. I thought I had it all figured out until we started going into deeper levels of exploration. On the one hand, this was an exciting new adventure for me and on the other, I started feeling uncomfortable and unsure of myself. I felt like I was right back where I started … knowing nothing and in a place that was unknown to me – exciting and scary at the same time.

I thought about it and decided that maybe this was a good place to be and that great things could come from my discomfort if I allowed myself to be open to what was being presented to me. Then, things started to happen. At one point, I had told Martha how uncomfortable I felt with some of the movements – that somehow they felt disconnected and erratic and just didn’t make sense. She said something to me that haunted me for the rest of the training and changed the way I look at my dance. She asked me, “ Are you one of those dancers that has to make everything look pretty?”

At first I thought, “A dance looking pretty is ok- but the more I thought about it the more the term “look pretty” bugged me. It forced me to reevaluate. I was so conditioned to make it look pretty, to make it make sense that I ( my authentic expression) was getting lost in the dance. The desire to make it “look pretty” started to feel less challenging and more limiting. Pretty didn’t have to be what was suppose to be. It could mean having no boundaries, being different. Pretty could be something less calculated and more free.

As I experimented with this, it felt awkward and uncomfortable at times but I had moments where ugly felt so pretty. They were great aha moments because they revealed a more authentic me in my dance – my own uniquess that I value so much in my life was something I was now really bringing out in my dance. I still think of what Martha said to me whenever I free dance and cherish all the aha moments it brings me for they allow me to celebrate my uniqueness and creativity, the joy of dancing and being me….

I guess another aha moment came out of the process of my WB free dance exploration. Before white belt, I had discovered that I had the ability to free dance and had started to explore my own unique dance and was pleased with what was emerging. I thought to myself then “ it doesn’t get much better than this for me “. During white belt, I realized that there is so much more unknown to explore and the possibility for “getting better than this” is only limited by my willingness to embrace my uniqueness and being open and receptive to what’s unknown and uncomfortable .

Jennifer: What did you gain from doing the training? Have you been able to carry anything you learned from the training over into your personal life?

Marilyn: Besides a deeper understanding of the Nia principles themselves, I think I have a better understanding of how the principles can be applied i.e. the practice of Nia … a consideration not just within a Nia classroom but in my dance through life. Choose joy, seek pleasure, sense what you feel, RAW, the Four Agreements….. these have become part of my manifesto. They help me get through the ups and downs in my life, they help keep me centered and focused. They help me relate better with my world and offer me ways to extend myself in all that I do.

I’m taking everything from my better equipped Nia toolbox and trying it on my life again. Nia seemed to work well in my life before WB and I’ve had 6 months to apply my training. As I have done this , I have found WB has given me a new awareness and attitude that makes me feel empowered and more confident about doing I do and trying new things. Also, when you make joy and pleasure your goal, the world seems to look better and I feel better about myself and my relationships with others.

It seems the deeper I delve into Nia, the more I realize how well Nia fits in my life, how it helps me to be the best I can be and how it keeps me grounded and open to a world of possibilities. On the path of change, I still find that I do not rely on any one thing in particular to effect change. I can’t say that without Nia, my life would fall apart.

However, WB training punctuated for me the beauty of Nia - that it works so well with other things that are important to me and has become an important part of a support system that can inspire me, empower me, and transform me to be all that I can be. I guess as long as I continue to embrace the need for change, renewal, and pleasure, I will continue my Nia journey and open myself to the guidance of my Nia trainings.

Jennifer: What are the major differences between being a Nia student and having a White Belt?

Marilyn: No matter which belt I pursue I hope I’ll always be a Nia student. That being said… in terms of differences, I guess as a WB, what comes to mind (in no particular order) is that I have

1. A new appreciation for what goes into the class in terms of prep

2. A deeper sense of community, sisterhood

3. Much more conscious of sensing what’s going on in my body, mind, spirit and emotions

4. A better knowledge and understanding of my Nia practice in my relation to other things I do in my life. For example Feeling sad- choose joy seek pleasure

5. Free dance is very different, WB lets you go to deeper levels of exploration in free dance and you cant help but be changed by it. Doing free dance in class is just not the same anymore.

6. Feel a sense of responsibility that now that I have the belt that I do represent Nia

7. As a Nia student, there is some awareness of the potential impact of Nia on your life . Through deeper exploration and discovery, WB brings new levels of awareness to body mind emotions and spirit and their interplay… and this can’t help but change the way you look at dance, at yourself, at everything. Connections are different for everyone but they are unavoidable and can be empowering. As a WB, I do feel more empowered and excited by and open to possibilities.

8. Every person will have there own aha moments which can’t help but transform you. The difference in the before and after WB is that before you had the moment but weren’t quite sure how you got there and After, you gain more understanding about the process and how you can move yourself in the direction of joy and pleasure.

Jennifer: What would you say to other Nia students who might be considering doing a White Belt training?

Marilyn: I have never met anyone who has taken WB who hasn’t valued the experience. There is no pressure in WB to compete or pass any formal tests. By the end of the training, you will be tired but feeling great about all that you’ve learned about yourself and Nia, and you’ll have a Nia tool box (so to speak) for helping with your Nia practice and teaching if that’s what you want to do. I will always remember my journey to white belt . It was tranformational, empowering, inspirational, and fun. So get ready to dance a lot, laugh a lot, be moved, share as much or as little as is comfortable for you. Allow yourself to be there in body mind and spirit and emotion- it will be an experience you wont forget.

Some people are concerned with teaching after white belt. Not everyone is meant to teach. Sometimes it’s a question of timing and sometimes desire or ability. And that’s ok. Teaching is an option after white belt not a requirement.

Jennifer: Now that you have your white belt certification, what's next in your Nia journey?

Marilyn: I guess my Nia journey will always keep evolving as I do. I still continue to take classes and I don’t see that changing even if I decide to teach one day. I would like to keep expanding and cultivating my network of Nia friends for they continue to be important to me on my journey. They are for me a great source of friendship, inspiration, and support.

For now, my direction is not so focused on teaching Nia in a class but rather on sharing what I’ve learned and discovered through leading by example. This is challenging but the process can provide opportunities to share, inspire, nurture, and empower. I think sometimes we forget the powerful messages we provide just by the way we live our life everyday. In terms of Nia , this means that my practice of Nia extends to my dance through life and my connection with Nia becomes a source and resource for acquiring the best in me. As a mother, wife, sister, friend, neighbor, citizen etc., I believe that my Nia practice gives me some powerful tools to help me do my best, to shine, and to lead the way to joy and pleasure.

In terms of any other goals for my nia journey, I’m trying not to expect too much. Looking at my Nia journey as an adventure and letting my goal be to let joy and pleasure lead me down life’s path. … so wherever that leads me that’s where I’ll be… so many possibilities….

Jennifer: Thank you Marilyn for sharing your wisdom! You are the sweetest! I am so grateful to you for the energy you put into this. There is so much authenticity and expansiveness in your responses. I resonate with your experiences and think you have presented your message in a really identifiable format.

Marilyn: Jennifer, I have benefited a lot from my Nia experience and if anything I say can help promote Nia or help someone else, I am happy and honored to do so. I agreed to do this interview and entrust with you words that come from my heart because I had a feeling you'd understand what I was trying to say and I knew you'd use my words wisely. Thanks again for the interview. I benefited greatly from it. You have always been an inspiration to me.

For more information about Nia White Belt Trainings in Canada (with Martha Randall & Roberta Mohler), please click on their names to visit their websites or go to nianow.com.

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Declaration of Self-Esteem

2010-06-03T17:37:00.003-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

I came across this again today, and, well, it just needs to be shared!

Declaration of Self-Esteem (author unknown)

I am me.

In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. There are persons who have some parts like me, but no one adds up exactly like me.

Therefore, everything that comes out of me is authentically mine because I alone chose it.

I own everything about me - my body, including everything it does; my mind, including all its thoughts and ideas; my eyes, including the images of all they behold; my feelings, whatever they may be - anger, joy, frustration, love, disappointment, excitement; my mouth, and all the words that come out of it, polite, sweet or rough, correct or incorrect; my voice, loud or soft; and all my actions, whether they be to others or to myself.

I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears.

I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes.

Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. By so doing I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts. I can then make it possible for all of me to work in my best interests.

I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know. But as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for the solutions to the puzzles and for ways to find out more about me.

However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is me. This is authentic and represents where I am at that moment in time.

When I review later how I looked and sounded, what I said and did, and how I thought and felt, some parts may turn out to be unfitting. I can discard that which is unfitting, and keep that which proved fitting, and invent something new for that which discarded.

I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me.

I own me, and therefore I can engineer me.

I am me and I am okay.

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Good News Toronto: Nia Jam & Silent Auction

2010-05-22T13:00:00.001-04:00

GOOD NEWS TORONTO + NIA = $3000 raised to keep

GOOD NEWS TORONTO ALIVE!

Last Sunday, May 16 here in Toronto, we had a Nia Jam and Silent Auction fundraiser in support of Good News Toronto., a local newspaper spreading inspiration through good news founded by our own Eva Karpati.

Here are some more pics of the event
And here's an amazing video

I have just come back down from the high of being surrounded by the spirit of our Nia community.

We had 10 amazing instructors from our Nia community teaching: Cinzia Cavalieri, Denis Karda, Eva Karpati, Denis Karda, Vika Elkina, Anja Gurnig, Didi Wilson, Barbara Ades, Lainie Magidsohn and me. You can find out more about these teachers and where they teach here.

Not only did they invite and bring their students as well as teach with unbelievable amounts of joy, but they also helped with the playlist, brought/setup/managed the sound system, decorated, took on registration, took photos and helped with tear down. What power there is when we come together!

All the teachers were so supportive, collaborative and stellar in their ability to hold the space to let Nia flow through them.

We had 63 attendees and raised over $3000 for this amazing publication!!!

A friend who attended the jam described the best: "You wrapped your arms around that group and lifted them up". Yes! We did that together!

And now, I'm off on May 29, 2010 on to bring that Joy to Ottawa for their first Jam

My Nia friends in London are having their second annual Nia Palooza on May 29, 2010 (invite your friends through Facebook or our Nia Instructors of Canada Association.).

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PRESS RELEASE: NIA FUNDRAISER for GOOD NEWS TORONTO

2010-05-01T15:16:00.001-04:00

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2010

Nia Dance Jam & Silent Auction FUNDRAISER

for Non-Profit Community Newspaper 'Good News Toronto' (www.goodnewstoronto.ca)

Sunday May 16, 2010 ~ 2:00-4:00 pm

918 Cultural Arts Centre

918 Bathurst St, Toronto (2 blocks North of Bloor)

Street Parking

On Sunday May 16, 2010, from 2-4pm, Jennifer Hicks (Brown Belt Nia Instructor) is hosting a Nia Dance Jam & Silent Auction to raise funds for community newspaper Good News Toronto.

Good News Toronto is a monthly not-for-profit newspaper. Good News Toronto celebrates inspirational people in Toronto with the goal of motivating all of us to continue to make this city rich in everyday heroes.

15 Nia teachers from Toronto and the surrounding GTA will inspire and energize over 100 participants in a lively Nia Workout that is sure to move bodies, minds and spirits! A silent auction will also be held.

25 years ago, aerobic fitness experts Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas (Portland, OR) saw a need for a more holistic approach to fitness. They took off their running shoes and began integrating dance, martial arts and yoga into their classes. Today, Nia continues to inspire many worldwide to get fit while having fun! Locally, there are over 80 Certified Nia Instructors teaching in fitness clubs, dance studios and private studios in the GTA and surrounding areas.

Please drop by the 918 Cultural Arts Centre for a unique and inspiring fitness experience supporting an amazing cause. For more information, please contact Jennifer Hicks at 416.573.4911 or jenniferhicks@rogers.com

(to register as a participant at the event, please register here)

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Nia at International Dance Day Toronto, May 2, 2010

2010-04-20T13:16:00.000-04:00

(exciting! Nia will be there! You are MOST welcome to join in. See below for a clip of us dancing at Yonge Dundas Square last year. Read more about it here and contact me if you're interested)

Press release: International Dance Day

From: Dance Umbrella of Ontario

International Dance Day 2010

DANCE IN DUNDAS SQUARE!

Drop in and join us for a lively celebration of Toronto’s

diverse and inclusive dance community.

May 2, 2010, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, Yonge-Dundas Square (corner of

Yonge + Dundas across from the Eaton Centre)

FREE to the public

In celebration of International Dance Day 2010, DanceTO is proud
to present an afternoon of FREE dance activities at Yonge-Dundas
Square, featuring a variety of dance forms and Toronto-based
performers. On stage and off the stage, the square will be alive
with performances, interactive dance presentations, open classes
and information on an array of dance styles and traditions.

We are excited to feature contemporary pieces; hip hop numbers;
ballroom demonstrations; world dances like Korean, Chinese, and
African; sword dances; belly dancing and improvisations. There
will be opportunities to learn contemporary, hip hop, and
ballroom; and do workshops in African dance, Nia, and Bollyfit.
Situated in the open heart of Toronto, this special public event
offers an eye-opening and interactive experience, highlighting
Toronto’s rich, diverse and inclusive dance community.
This event is fun for all ages, including kid specific
activities, and everyone is encouraged to participate!

This year the celebration continues throughout the month as Dance
in My ‘Hood events are scheduled in various Toronto
neighborhoods. There will be dance at Pearson Airport on April
29; spontaneous public performances May 1 (check out Yonge-Dundas
Square, Union Station and the Harbourfront Centre in the early
afternoon); May 5 at 8 pm brings Screening MAD An Evening of
Dance on Film curated by Allen Kaeja to the Magpie Cafe, (831
Dundas Street West, Toronto) including films by Denise Fujiwara,
Allen Karen Kaeja and Douglas Rosenberg, and Bravo!FACT shorts
by Peter Chin, Moze Mossanen, Rubberband, Britt Randle and Anne
Troake and more; there will be free dance workshops at
Trinity-Bellwoods on May 15; May 16 brings salsa to Vivace
Studios (291 Jane St.) with a salsa demonstration, a salsa
workshop and a party; also on May 16 CPDG Cultural Arts
Association will be conducting workshops Chinese Classical and
Ethnic-Folk Dance at the Scarborough Town YMCA (230 Town Centr!
e Court, Meeting Room 3); on May 8 and 15 from 1:00 to 4:00
explore Grange Park to find the performances in conjunction with
the Murmur project (murmurtoronto. ca) and so much more. For more
information on these and other FREE "Dance in My ‘Hood"
events, check the website at www.danceumbrella. net/idd.htm

This year, celebrated Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite penned
this International Dance Day Message:

On April 29th, we invite you to celebrate International Dance

Day. You are dancers, all of you. Life moves you; life dances

you. To dance is to investigate and celebrate the experience of

being alive. Like life, a dance creates and destroys itself in

every moment. Like love, it is beyond reason. Ephemeral as

breath, concrete as bone, dance is made of you. You sculpt space.

You write with your body in a wordless language that is deeply

understood. You grace the space within and around you when you

dance. Force, trajectory, inertia, and recovery: dancing is a

ride, a duet between your instinct and imagination. To dance is

to heighten your experience of the present moment. Your body is

your location - when you dance, you are profoundly engaged in

being there. To dance is to feel the resonance of your life, to

delight in your existence. To be human is to be danced by

experience, energy and emotion. On International Dance Day,

let’s celebrate the life that moves us.

The Toronto Dance Day Committee, now called DanceTO is a
volunteer-run committee that organizes events to celebrate dance
in the City of Toronto. DanceTO committee members are: Mariano
Abarca, Meredith Anderson, Rosslyn Jacob Edwards, Christine
Moynihan, Stephanie Nakamura, Kate Nankervis, Heather Saum and
Cara Spooner.

These events are generously supported by the Department of
Canadian Heritage through the Building Communities through Arts
and Heritage Program.

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Nia: Mental Health Through Movement & Music

2010-04-16T15:22:00.014-04:00

Click on each image to enlarge!

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Joint Friendly Exercise: Nia

2010-04-11T14:00:00.001-04:00

Image of Nia Technique

Today I googled "joint friendly exercise", and can you believe that Nia didn't come up?

So, I thought I'd change that with this little post.

I love running. But I can't do it anymore. It hurts too much.

When I first started Nia, my knees ached, my low back was sore and my feet were a mess (because of plantar fasciitis). But I still longed to work out. What to do?

Nia. That's what I did. Lots of Nia! Nia gave me an invigorating way to move my energy, have fun and SWEAT!

Why is Nia body friendly? Because it was designed with the body's form in mind. In Nia, we only do movements that the body was designed to do. We work with "The Body's Way", moving with it, not against it. We move towards pleasure and away from pain.

Why is Nia joint friendly? Because it is low impact. Because we shift our weight, we don't drop it. There is no repetitive pounding or jarring movements. And yet it will give your whole body a great workout!

As I learned and began to use Nia techniques like the heel lead, my body started to heal! So I decided to teach Nia since it has so much to offer. Now, I've been teaching for 4 years, have done lots of training and have loved to learned how to move my body safely.

Can someone with a hip or knee replacement participate in Nia? Absolutely! I have a 55 year old woman who had a knee replacement 6 months ago moving and grooving with me once a week. Another, woman, 42 years old, had a hip replacement a year ago and she's right there on the dance floor with the rest of us. They say that Nia is an important part of their rehabilitation plans.

Nia is for everyBODY

Regardless of size, shape, fitness or mobility level

Nia is for YOU!!!

FREE Nia Classes at Joy of Dance!

2010-04-06T21:14:00.001-04:00

If you are new to Nia,

come take a

FREE Nia Class

Joy of Dance

95 Danforth Ave

(print your coupon by

dragging the jpeg below to your desktop on a Mac

or by right clicking it and saving it to your desktop on a PC)

Please note that Monday morning classes are canceled during July & August 2010

Contact me for more information here

Cycling in Toronto - Infractions and Ticketing

2010-04-01T11:06:00.000-04:00

Image by epSos.de via Flickr

This is an email I received from Yvonne Bambrick at the Toronto Cyclists Union. Thought I'd share...

Fellow Cyclists,

As per an earlier email, you should know that Toronto Police are now regularly paying closer attention to the behaviors of cyclists on the road, and giving tickets for infractions.

This is not all bad news of course. With this increased attention comes a greater awareness of the negative impacts that some driver behaviours / driving infractions have on the cycling population, along with increased ticketing for these actions. Although we don’t like to discuss it much, there are many drivers and cyclists that drive and ride recklessly and are sometimes deserving of fines – though unpopular, penalties are proven to be an effective tool to help motivate behavior change.

That said, many feel that an $85 fine for not having a bell is unreasonable, in particular when your voice can be more effective in many cases… Unreasonable or not, it’s the law and you can avoid this particular fine by spending a mere $5 on a bell and 5 minutes installing it. Besides, the sound of bike bells is so lovely, the more the merrier!

Please take a moment to consider your cycling habits (good and bad) and remember that cyclists, as per the Highway Traffic Act, must follow the same rules of the road as other vehicles, and are subject to many of the same fines. Cyclists are required by law to have front and rear lights after dusk and before dawn, to have reflective tape on the front and back of their bike frame, to signal direction, lane changes, etc...

Some fines that apply to cyclists:

* Disobey stop sign or fail to stop $85
* Fail to signal for stop or turn $85
* Cyclist riding in or along crosswalk (this included X-walks, and pedestrian crossings at intersections) $85
* Red light, fail to stop $260 - plus 5 costs plus $60 victim surc harge = $ 325
* Red light: proceed before green $260
* Fail to stop on right for emergency vehicle $400
* Careless driving $400 - plus 5 costs plus $90 victim surcharge = $500

Additional cycling related infractions for which you can be fined can be viewed at this excellent City of Toronto site. Please note however that although the fines for Running a red light, and Careless driving have recently been increased, these changes are not yet reflected on the City of Toronto site.

Demerit Points
One very common misconception / error made by Police is that demerit points apply to cyclists.

Demerit Points DO NOT apply for cycling infractions

Please note that in response to the confusion around whet her or not D emerit Points apply to cyclist, the yellow infraction tickets have recently been modified to show clearly that the fine is for a cycling related infraction.

Two things to look for on the ticket:

* Near the top there is a 'Motor Vehicle Involved' box - the officer should put a check in the '[ ] N' box to indicate ‘No’.
* Near the bottom is where a license plate number would be included - this should be left blank, and then in the license plate code box next to it, a 'C' should be marked to indicate Cyclist.

- ID
You should provide ID when asked to do so by police. If you do not regularly carry ID on you, you can simply identify yourself, and provide your pertinent information, verbally – you are legally allowed to do this. Most officers will request a driver’s license because it helps them to know your level of understanding of the rules of the road.

Please note: If you know that y ou have made a mistake and are in contravention of the law, it is better to accept the ticket gracefully rather than lose your cool or fight with police. Even if you feel you have not done anything wrong, arguing with a police officer is rarely a good idea and can lead to more problems than it’s worth.

If you, or someone you know has been ticketed incorrectly, or been treated poorly by police when stopped for an infraction, please connect with ARC (Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists) http://www.respect.to. ARC will be holding a legal seminar on June 9th at Trinity Bellwoods Community Center for Bike Month | 7pm.

See the Bike Month calendar for more details about this, and other community events, including several by the Toronto Cyclists Union.

Safe cycling,
Yvonne & the bike union team

Look at your Auto Insurance Policy!

2010-03-27T13:35:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

As of September 1, 2010, there will be some

big changes

to Auto Insurance

in Ontario.

How will it affect you?

Let's consider that... imagine this scenario:

One day, you get in your car to drive to the mall. It's a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon, you're happy it's the weekend and have started to let go of the stress of week. Even though you really love your 6-figure salary working on Bay St., you value the time to yourself. Your teenaged son is at his friend's house so it's the perfect time to get a little shopping done.

There's hardly any traffic, making your drive so much easier than it would normally be during the week. As you drive you think about how well you've done raising your son on your own. You smile to think that he still hugs you and says "I love you mom".

Ahead of you, you see a car coming in the opposite direction. You are alerted because the car is suddenly in the middle of the road, and you instinctively begin to pull over. Seems you might have been over-reacting, though, because the car moves back into a lane and everything appears well and under control. To be safe, though, you decide to stay in the far lane.

Out of nowhere, you hear tires screeching fade into blackness.

When you wake up, 3 hours later, you feel like you are in a bubble with fog clouding your vision and thoughts. Both legs are in casts and there is a tube sticking out of your nose. Your whole body is in searing pain and your hand wanders to feel stitches on your forehead and cheeks. A stranger is standing beside you. She says she's your best friend. She explains that you are moving to a nursing home.

"John?... John?" you ask.

The stranger gives you a strange look.

"Honey, you and John are divorced. You got divorced 4 years ago".

"No, no, no, no. Ok. Wait. Um...." You can't figure out how to ask her.

"You've had a car accident. But you'll be ok. The doctors say you need a little physiotherapy and you'll be as good as new!"

"Well, uh, no. John. No. I...I...I...oh shit. WHERE IS TIM?" Whew. You're so worried about your son.

"Don't worry, Tim is staying with your sister-in-law. He'll be fine".

Moving to the nursing home is confusing. Yes, you are getting physiotherapy, but you are so confused. You can't remember anything they are telling you to do. You cry a lot. Your friends visit, and when they do, they ask you to stop calling them countless times a day. Tim looks like he's afraid of you when he visits. He says you look so different, that your clothes look funny.

The nursing home arranges for you to get a walker, cane and special shoes with orthotics. They prescribe pain medication, and then, 3 months after the accident, you are sent home to live with your son.

For a few months, a physiotherapist comes to your home twice a week. She is helpful, and orders an orthopedic bed and pillow to help you sleep. Still you rarely sleep through the night and are in constant pain. And then the crying. You can't control it, and it seems to come on when you are feeling confused, which is most of the time.

Because your pelvis was crushed and both legs were broken in the accident, you can't keep up with the housekeeping and maintenance of your 2 storey house. You are struggling with childcare, even though you get occasional help from family and friends. Remembering Tim's schedule is really tough and you aren't able to help him with his homework like you used to. Sometimes you forget about meals, and he reminds you when he says he's hungry.

The first time you make it up the stairs to your room since your casts have been removed, you peer in to Tim's room. You worry when you see dozens of empty beer and liquor bottles. You are disturbed to see the holes in the walls and wonder about the new stereo and flat screen TV.Did you buy them for him? You can't remember. Probably. How else would he have gotten such expensive things?

"I should ask him about all this", you think to yourself. As you walk away, you get distracted by the phone ringing, and completely forget about everything you just saw and your plan to get to the bottom of it.

You have no money coming in because of the 6 month waiting period on your disability insurance plan. Since you're having trouble explaining yourself, your best friend speaks to your lawyer to explain the situation to see if your auto insurance policy will cover some support.

"Did she buy optional coverage for caregiving, housekeeping or home maintenance costs?" is the first question my lawyer asks.

After countless phone messages for the insurance adjuster who has been assigned your file, you lawyer finally reaches the adjuster. It turns out you actually declined the optional coverage, so aren't eligible for support. "By the way", the adjuster says, "your client has used up all of the $50,000 she is entitled to for medical & rehabilitation benefits".

"How is that possible? She hasn't even had any help for her " your lawyer asks.

"She's had 5 months of bi-weekly in-home Physiotherapy. There's the cost of the walker, cane, bed, shoes, orthotics and meds. It adds up..."

So now what? Here you are, your life in shambles, and you're stuck. You have no money and no financial support. Your son is on a fast track to trouble, and there's nothing you can do.

Your only choice seems to be to go back to work. But your physiotherapist says you've had a brain injury and need some help with your communication, cognitive skills and ability to adapt to your home and situation. She said she would have referred you to a Speech-Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist and Social Worker but now, because there is no money left, that's not possible.....

Pardon the expression, but now you're up shit's creek and there's no paddle in sight.

Here's a summary of the main changes

Medical & Rehabilitation Benefits will be reduced from $100,000 to $50,000. Perhaps $50,000 seems like a lot of money to you. That's a pretty decent annual salary, right? Consider the situation above. Many disabilities, including physical, cognitive, language, emotional, spiritual can result from motor vehicle accident. Bones heal, but when brains are damaged, the implications are enormous. The brain is the most complex of all organs and the most vulnerable in a car accident. Keep in mind that the cost for both assessment and treatment comes out of that $50,000. Even though each assessment {along with the report} will be capped at $2000 each, if there are multiple service providers involved, that money won't go very far at all.

Housekeeping benefits and caregiver benefits will be eliminated. Previously, a maximum of $10,400 was available for housekeeping benefits and caregiver benefits were $250/week + $50 per dependent.

Reduction of Attendant Care benefits from $72,000 to $36,000. That is, if you are eligible for attendant care benefits....

No ability to apply for Catastrophic Impairment Designation (and more rehab money) until 2 years post accident. That means if your $50, 000 runs out in the first 6 months after your accident, you will have to wait 1.5 years to go through the LENGTHY process of being considered for more funding.

What should I do now?

Call your insurance company! Make sure your policy includes standard the $100,000 Medical/Rehabilitation benefits and housekeeping/caregiver/home maintenance as well as attendant care benefits. It's worth it to top up your policy to get what you might need (god forbid). This is your life and well-being we're talking about here!

Also, don't forget to find ask how this change affects car rentals or
Zip Car memberships...

FYI:

The new regulations apply to all accidents occurring after September 1, 2010 (so if the accident happened on or before August 31, 2010, the current $100K etc. will apply for the lifetime of your file).

For accidents that occur after September 1, 2010: Unless you renew your policy and opt for the standard (lower) new coverage prior to the Sept 1 Effective Date, all benefits under their policy shall continue to be in effect as per the old regulation (i.e., $100,000 in non-cat rehab funding) until the earlier of renewal or cancelation of the policy.

Prior to Sept 1 consumers will have the option to opt for the new standard coverage. At first renewal after Sept 1, the starting point will be the new regulation with options to buy-up benefits.

If you're interested, read more about the change in legislation here

Can I showcase Nia in 2 minutes?

2010-03-23T17:24:00.000-04:00

I have the opportunity to showcase Nia in a Spring Showcase the Joy of Dance Studio
where I teach here in Toronto.

Dilemma: I only have 2 minutes on stage. Max.

Question: Can I do Nia justice in 2 minutes?

I'm inspired by what my colleagues in France did. They had 4 minutes. Double the time.

Whattya think? Can I pull it off?

If you are a Nia devotee, do you have any ideas, music or choreography to share?

Sunday Scribblings #110 Demand

2010-03-21T22:09:00.000-04:00

Image by alicepopkorn via Flickr

Dear humanity,

I promise

To swaddle and nurture existence, bringing forth

renewal, crisp growth

and lasting succession.

I promise

Ubiquitous brimming beauty; longevity

the world over.

I promise

Simple abundance, effortless enjoyment

Everything you need.

When we cooperate there is magnificence.

What happened?

I demand we revive the partnership that fizzled

when you decided to give up.

The alliance that made it work.

Before this.

Sincerely,

Mother Nature

Sunday Scribblings #109 - Message

2010-02-07T22:07:00.001-05:00

Image by tamaradulva via Flickr

M - my

E - essence

S - sends

S - simple

A - advice

G - giving (me)

E - energy

M - many

E - everyday

S - situations

S - support
A - average (and)

G - great

E - escapades

Image by elvis_payne via Flickr

M - mix

E - every

S - sense

S - so

A - angst

G - gets

E - evaporated

M - marinate

E - essential

S - statements (and)

S - stimulate

A - a

G - generous

E - experience

M - make

E - everyone

S - such

S - soft

A - animals

G - gifted (with)

E - enthusiasm

Image by chrisjohnbeckett via Flickr

My Nia Community

2010-01-30T15:09:00.007-05:00

My Nia students and community rock!

(image courtesy of Barb Kunz, Nia White Belt Instructor in London, ON)

This week my Nia classes were the subject of not one,
but TWO blog posts!

In her post, Lauren (a personal image consultant) at Image for Change said in her post:

"Forget Mama Mia--I can be a Dancing Queen at NIA anytime!"

See what else Lauren had to say
about Nia

(and other interesting topics) here.

Melissa (a family physician/psychotherapist) at

Beyond Oprah says

"Jenn blends her compassion, insight, and people skills with this delightful creative exercise".

Find out what Melissa

thinks about Nia (and important life concepts) here.

Thank you Lauren and Melissa for

sharing the JOY of Nia with your communities!

Sunday Scribblings #108 - Yes

2010-01-24T22:30:00.002-05:00

I have not posted to Sunday Scribblings yet in 2010.

But now here I am, and I say

                             yes    yEs                     YES

yes       yes

         Yes              yes

yes    YES YESYES
YES

yes YES yes

Yes to figuring out how to live in a sandwich of sadness

Yes to leading with my heels out into the life that awaits me

Yes to realizing that I am my own best medicine

Yes to taking care of myself

Yes to absorbing the abundance of love that surrounds me.

yes yes

YES YES YES YES

YES
YES yes
yes yes

Spain, Morocco and Portugal

2010-01-10T17:23:00.000-05:00

This is my second post of our trip to Spain, Morocco and Portugal (December 21, 2009 - January 2, 2010).

The short version of our itinerary is here:

We started out in Spain, first visiting Barcelona. From there we visited Granada, then Algeciras, then took a quick ferry ride to Ceuta (technically owned by Spain, but still geographically part of Morocco ~ AFRICA!). Here's a Google Map of our route with notes for a summary (click on the place markers and icons and you'll get the Coles notes version of what follows in my post below ~ please know that rather than perseverating on the perfection of the map at all resolutions, I decided to carry on and not drive myself INSANE!!!! Can you tell that this first venture with Google Maps was a little frustrating for me?!)

My first post about our adventures is here if you're interested!

In that post, I described (besides the fact that Paul was really sick) our first day in Barcelona.

And I have so much more to share since then!

On our second day in Barcelona, we had a nice walk to see some of the famous Gaudí architecture at La Sagrada Familia. It would be an understatement to say how blown away I was.

For many reasons, I don't usually go into religious buildings when I travel (that's another blog post, though).

But this was different. Mainly because Antonio Gaudí seemed to follow an organic desire to merge nature and the senses into his architecture. And because he worked most of his life on this project - from 1883 - 1926. And because his work is inspired by the geometry of nature, human anatomy and the cosmos. Circular arcs, spirals, spheres, curves and all things seemingly structurally impossible, yet he made it happen.

The image above is of the front facade which depicts Jesus' crucifixion. Notice how the pillars look like bones? That was the inspiration. Haunting, yes. Cool factor = 100/100.

And this image below is what the interior looks like. Remind you of being in a forest, looking up at the canopy? Exactly. Gaudi hoped to recreate the serenity of nature for contemplation. He even created "scabs" on the tree trunks where, if this were a real forest, the lower branches would have needed to be cut.

(amazing photo - credit here)

Poor guy, had an unfortunate death though. It turns out Gaudi was run over by a tram. Because he looked a little rough and had no cash on him, cabbies refused to take him to the hospital (really? this was in 1926...hard to imagine!). Eventually, though, Gaudi was taken to a paupers' hospital in Barcelona. Nobody recognized the injured artist until his friends found him the next day. When they tried to move him into a nicer hospital, Gaudí refused, reportedly saying "I belong here among the poor." He died three days later on 10 June 1926, at age 73, half of Barcelona mourning his death. He was buried in the midst of La Sagrada Família.

Our Christmas day was a 13.5 hour journey from Barcelona to Granada on a train. Ok, not quite like the luxury car that Trixie and I had in October when we traveled from Sarajevo to Budapest (where we had a private car we could each lay down in), but we made it.

In Granada (the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula - which includes modern-day Portugal, Spain, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France), we saw the famous Alhambra. Apparently it is the most perfect example of moorish art in it's final European development. The interior is decorated with unique Arabesque designs and references Allah over and over and over again

I admit that I had no idea who "the Moors" were prior to visiting Spain. But apparently, they were North African Muslims who were the earliest inhabitants of the Iberian pensinsula. If I'm wrong about this, feel free to correct me. This is my understanding.

Alhambra was place where Christopher Columbus convinced Queen Isabella that financing his cartographic voyages was a a worthy investment. Despite the fact that King Ferdinand and a host of advisers laughed at the proposal, it is said that Isabella handed him a "stack of bills" to assist with his "the-earth-is-spherical-not-flat" funding campaign.

In Granada we also stumbled upon a *free* opportunity to have our photos taken. My ears perk up at the word *free* (especially since we didn't take a camera along on this trip).

So it turns out that Zwarte Piet (who is Sinterklaas' helper - S-klaas being the Santa Claus equivalent in Holland, The Netherlands, Belgium and other places) was in Granada. Zwarte Piet (Black Piet) is Sinterklaas' helper. And he's black. But the jury (according to Wikipedia) is out as to exactly why he is black. Is it because he is of Moorish descent? Or because he is a chimney sweep helping Sinterklaas on rooftops everywhere (a rather dirty occupation)? As you can imagine ZP's colour is a controversial topic...

Why was Zwarte Piet in Granada? Apparently because legend has it that he goes there on off season to "school" to continue to "learn his trade". Think North Pole and the elves building all those toys. Same deal I guess!

Here we are with him.....my sister says he looks like Gary Coleman (?!)

We left Granada to travel to Algeciras. Although the second half of the journey to get there was a little rough (a 2 hour bus ride hugging cliffs on curves as we spiraled up a mountain), it was a great destination. Even though it's typically visited only briefly as it is a port town which gets across the sea to Morocco, it's a nice spot. It's a very walkable city and has a great daily market and many beautiful plazas/placas.

When we arrived in Algeciras, Paul had a "sick day" and then the following day we journeyed to Ceuta, Morocco by ferry. Although the original intention was to travel to Tangier, Morocco, apparently the sea swells in the Atlantic were enormous causing ferry delays and leaving folks stranded.

So instead we visited Ceuta, a short 45 minute ferry ride from Algeciras across the Straight of Gibraltar. While on the African continent, Ceuta is a city owned by Spain.

It was beautiful, and there was definitely an African vibe there. No market, but that gave us the opportunity to experience the natural beauty of the city.

There was a "Royal Wall" surrounding the entrance to the city and a moat (pictured on the right).

And get a load of this beach that gave us a chance to dip fingers and toes into the Mediterranean Sea!

This is where I packed some warm breezes and summer-like sensory experiences into my bones. That memory is helping now that I'm back in wintry Toronto!

We also had a great walk around some interesting Muslim neighbourhoods and luxuriated on vibrantly green and cushy grass under trees swish-swish-swishing in the wind.
Then back on the ferry to Algeciras.

From Algeciras we took a bus to Seville. Here, we ignored the
guidebooks recommendation to visit the 2nd biggest
cathedral in Europe, and as a result stumbled upon an amazing park.

Before finding the park, we had a look at the Plaza de España - lots of folks were taking horse and carriage rides around the inner court.

In 1929 Seville hosted the Spanish-American Exhibition and numerous buildings were constructed around the Plaza for the exhibition in Maria Luisa Park.

The park was LOVELY! A nature oasis that I had been missing the whole trip. There were ponds with ducks and a
Peacock overseeing everything! Beautiful sculptures and monuments lined an intricate network of paths. And fresh clean air and the sound of branches and leaves being swept away by the wind.

We had a quick tour at the oldest bull fighting ring in Spain - the Plaza De Toros De Maestranza

Seville was where I had one of my best seafood meals. Tender, flaky cod in almond sauce with the greenest tastiest asparagus imaginable. Mmmmm.....

From Seville, we traveled to Lisbon. We treated ourselves to traveling in style. We took a 1 hour flight - delightful! My legs and hips thanked me after all those long train and bus rides!

Within the first 5 minutes of being off the airport transfer bus in Lisbon, Paul was asked by 2 separate people if he wanted to buy marijuana or cocaine...shortly after that we were turned away at the hostel we had reserved (due to a leaky roof) but ended up in a nice hostel nearby.

I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful black and white stone patterns in sidewalks, squares and mostly every where one looks!

It turns out that Lisbon is built on a series of 7 hills. There are 3 funiculars (one of which is a actually an elevator) which connects the lower to the higher elevations. We walked up a 265 meter incline (buns of steel!) and along the way came across Lisbon's Urban Art Show. Cool.

On Dec 31, we enjoyed visiting the Port Wine Institute where we sampled a 15 year old tawny, a 30 year old tawny and a 8 year old white port. There really is a difference - the aging seems to dull the acidity, giving it a very smooth finish.

Later that same day, we went to the oldest Beer Hall in Portugal, called the Cervejaria Trindade. It had these unbelievable tiled walls depicting the 4 seasons and the 4 elements.

By the time 8pm rolled around on New Year's Eve, Paul and I were so exhausted from all the imbibing during the day that we crashed and didn't ring in 2010 with all the revelers out in the squares.

Our flights home was pretty uneventful but LONG. Lisbon to Amsterdam to Philadelphia to Toronto. For what it's worth, the rocking chairs in the Philadelphia airport are mighty comfy and soothing!

This trip was a great conclusion to 2009 and an even better way to welcome 2010. I am so grateful for the experience! We visited 3 countries, 6 cities and took 7 flights, 2 train rides, 2 bus rides and 1 ferry ride - all in 12 days!

Spain (and loving blogging with Zemanta)

2009-12-28T19:49:00.002-05:00

Image via CrunchBase

Before, I begin, if you are are reading this and are a blogger, please check out Zemanta - it's my new FREE blogging buddy that makes it easier and faster to blog. It takes my hand and leads me automatically to related online content and creative commons picture. Please make your blogging life more enjoyable and check this out!
(Thanks to Greg Stock at goyestoeverything
for this recommendation).

Paul and I have been in Spain since arriving on December 22, 2009. We spent our first few days in Barcelona before moving on to Granada. We are now in Algeciras (southern tip of Spain) and came here with the intention to go from here To Tangier, Morocco. We will finish off our trip in and around Lisbon, Portugal before flying home on January 2, 2010.

I am writing this post by the light of my MacBook screen. In other words, in the dark.

Poor Paul is trying to sleep in the bed on the other side of the room here in our hostel.

Paul has been suffering since we arrived in Spain. I'm afraid I take responsibility for triggering the string of events that has landed him in this most unfortunate state.

I unintentionally gave him an unwanted Christmas gift - the cold I brought with me from Canada. At first it wasn't so bad, but then it seemed to ramp up his jet lag, and so he hasn't been getting much sleep at all. Which of course is intensifying the cold symptoms.

All that was manageable until today.

This morning we woke up early to get the 7:15am train from Grenada to Algeciras (the pronunciation of which I have almost mastered - al-hhcchhh-theee-rrrr-uh-sss - the /h/ is a throaty glottal sound).

When we got on the train, a map was given to us and then, before rushing off, the train employee said many-beautiful-Spanish-words-which-I-didn't-understand. He concluded with "Ronda" and with that, he was gone.

I look at Paul. "Ronda?".

We look around the train confused, and a man who spoke very little English marveled me with his use of gestures and body language. He communicated that because of construction, we'd have to get off the train at Ronda and take a bus.

A bus. Ok, I can handle it. I have no choice. You see, I have motion sickness. Thankfully I've managed to adapt over the years to cars, planes and trains. But buses (and boats) still make my stomach turn. Even the word 'bus' stirs a little bit of a Pavlovian nausea in me. Yet I know that if I keep my eyes closed I can tolerate it.

About 20 minutes into the bus ride, we begin a curve-hugging ascent up a mountain. So far, my stomach is fine. Paul is not. I open my eyes as he says, with great distress, that he is going to the back of the bus. In his hand is a plastic bag.

I think 2 things:

1. Oh my. Emesis is near.

2. The back of the bus? Man, he's gonna make it worse.

And as empathetic as I am, if I don't keep my eyes closed, I will be in a similar position. So I stay where I am.

This is a surprising twist. When we traveled by bus through New Zealand in 2000, I was the one with the barf bag handy in which I had to spill my gastric contents on a regular basis.

When we arrived in Algeciras, I had to leave him in the bus station while I found us a hostel. Upon locating one through the tourist office, we got a cab out front of the bus station. Although our cabbie was dressed very nicely, and was proud of herself for being strong enough to lift my suitcase into her trunk, she didn't seem to have a clue where we wanted to go. The map I gave her with the hostel location circled on it didn't seem to help...

After stopping to ask another cabbie for directions, she dropped us off somewhere and indicated that our hostel was down the street.

It wasn't.

I hope the rest of her day was better and she didn't get lost on her way back to the bus station to get more fares (!).

Meanwhile, Paul is ill. I'm starting to hear faint whimpers and he explains that not only is he nauseous and dizzy, but now stomach cramps are setting in. I feel badly as I try to get us oriented to find our hostel.

Finally, after walking around asking a good half dozen people where our hostel is (and showing them the map), we finally find it. Paul makes a bee line for the washroom in our room, and I take care of getting us signed in.

And the rest of the day involves him sleeping, puking, moaning, and me hunting for a supermercado (supermarket) to buy him "sick food".

Despite the above reported drama, we are having a good time!

I'll go back to the beginning.

We arrived in Barcelona after a 24 hr journey (we experienced delays in T.O., Philadelphia and Frankfurt due to a bad snow storm in the Eastern US the preceding weekend. I was SO stoned from fatigue that at each of the 3 lounges we were waiting in, I slept on the floor, desperate to be horizontal.

On arrival in Barcelona, we gorged at a Tapas Bar before sleeping a good 14 hours. Tapas are small dishes of shareable snacks. We sat in front of what was like a cafeteria display case and pointed at what we wanted. Yum!

The next morning, I learned what a tortilla is here in Spain.

When I think tortilla, I think of those chips that you use to make nachos.
Actually, in Spain, it's like a fluffy omellette with potatoes or peppers or spinach. (I'm not exactly sure what makes it rise like cake though...).

Our first day, we toured Las Ramblas (a pedestrian only zone where, in one area, they sell pets - mostly birds, turtles, bunnies and hamsters; in another they sell flowers and had holiday decorations).

We also visited the Picasso Museum. I was amazed to learn that Picasso was not only a lauded visual artist in the abstract cubist style, but that he also worked with bronze and ceramics.

But the best is this: Picasso owned a large collection (like many of his contemporaries) of Japanese Shunga Art (erotic prints). Not only that, but he fashioned some of his work after this style.

(Is it inappropriate to say that this special exhibit we were lucky enough to see, entitled "Secret Images: Picasso and Japanese Erotic Prints", was my favourite part of the whole museum, and that I lingered there for quite some time when Paul was ready to move on?).

Whew, now I'm a getting a little tired.

Must sleep (cross fingers that Paul is ok enough to go to AFRICA tomorrow!).

(Wish me luck sleeping, there's a human chainsaw on the other side of our paper thin hostel room walls!).

The Get Inspired! Project - Interview with Jennifer Hicks

2009-12-20T00:52:00.000-05:00

***~* The Get Inspired! Project *~***

by Toni Reece of the PEOPLE Academy, Inc

365 interviews over 365 days with inspiring folks around the world

I was

ThRiLLEd

today to learn that my interview was

#80 on the list...

check it out here

Nia is the biggest part of what inspires me and

I sure get that point across in my interview!

(thanks so much Jamie of Jamie Ridler Studios

for introducing me to this amazing project!).

Love at Home ~ Thank you Paul

2009-12-16T00:03:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Tonight I was doing a little pre-trip organizing and came across a lovely gesture that Paul (my hubby) made on my behalf so many years ago.

When we first started dating (in 1994), I was phasing out my attendance at church (The Salvation Army). Paul was so respectful of that process in my life, and I remember him coming along to a church service one time.

We were singing a song from the song book called "Love at Home" during that service. I remember my mom mentioning that this was the song that she chose for our dedication service (for my twin sister and I ~ a "dedication" in the Salvation Army is the rough equivalent of a "confirmation" in Catholocism or a "baptism" in the Baptist church). I had never heard this before, but it meant something to me.

Paul remembered that and somehow got ahold of the Salvation Army song book and reprinted and framed the lyrics from that song. I think he presented it to me on Valentine's Day either in 1995 or 1996. That was touching.

Knowing that this was a song that both my mom and dad had chosen for us, meant a lot. Knowing that Paul also recognized the significance meant even more.

In any case, the sentiment still resonates ~ here are the lyrics:

~*~ LOVE AT HOME ~*~

O THERE's joy in every heart

When there's love at home;

There's a smile on every face

When there's love at home!

Voices have a kindly sound,

Happiness beams all around,

Peace and gentleness abound

When there's love at home.

Love at home! Love at home!

There's an angel in the house

When there's love at home.

O there's sunshine on the hearth

When there's love at home,

And there's music in the air

When there's love at home!

Faces at the door are sweet,

Laughter echoes in the street,

Paths are smooth for little feet

When there's love at home.

When there's Jesus in the midst,

There is love at home;

He will teach you what to do

When there's love at home;

Help you in life's busy mart;

Whisper softly in your heart

Of the bright and better part,

When there's love at home.

Anon

I am so thankful to have LOVE AT HOME.....

Nia with Jenn 2009 Survey Results

2009-12-09T17:18:00.001-05:00

Below are the results of my 2009 Nia survey

(Click on the images that follow to enlarge them.

You will find a summary of these results and a plan at the very end of this post).

SUMMARY

Here's what I've learned about how best to describe the Nia experience to potential participants:

The most common words used to describe Nia were:

Fun, energizing, joyful, freedom, relaxing

And the most common words used to describe your experience of my teaching were:

Fun, Energizing, Encouraging, Creative, Inspiring, Non judgmental, Positive

Here are ideas I'm working with to improve your experience and respond to your feedback.

1. Lack of time to attend class:

It seems that many of you would love to come to class more often but just don't have the time. So let's find a way to bring more Nia into your life!

I'll bring Nia to you!

How about a lunch-time or after-work class at your workplace? A private or semi-private class at your home? A class at your school or church with your peers?

My schedule is flexible and I can work around you and your needs. Contact me if you're interested and we can talk.

Nia in your living room

I have Nia DVDs for sale. They are $20 each and will give you the Nia experience in the comfort of your own home!

2. Substitute Teachers:

From time to time, I need to have a substitute teacher teach my classes. Of course this is the exception rather than the rule!

Please consider, though, that I may need to arrange a substitute teacher because of illness, a training I'm taking, workshops I'm giving or because of travel.

Several of you mentioned you'd like a heads up about this. I will announce my planned absences at classes with a couple of weeks notice. I don't want to inundate you with email about my comings and goings, as for some folks this is not desirable.

If you are not a regular at class, please do check in with me before coming out to make certain I'll be there. Email me at jenniferhicks@rogers.com or call me at 416.573.4922.

3. Quality of Substitute Teachers:

I appreciate specific feedback around this subject! Several of you mentioned that you did not enJOY your experience when a substitute teacher was at class.
It is always my intention to leave you in the most experienced of hands, but at times that is not possible due to availability. I am listening to your feedback and giving/receiving feedback and mentorship to/from my Nia colleagues as part of my own developmental process.

I do thank you for opening yourself up to the experience of receiving what each teacher has to offer. I'm reminded by my teacher that the Joy of Movement is within, and that tweaking and adjusting my body/mind spirit/emotions makes it possible to find that joy, regardless of external influence!

On the other hand, others of you mentioned that you are interested in experiencing the variety possible when another Nia Instructor is leading the class.

I am always intrigued by how we all resonate with some folks better than others...hmmm....

3. Music:

Let's move to the music that you LOVE!

Learning about new music is a passion of mine and I'm more than thrilled to attempt to Nia-fy your favourites!

Click here to make music suggestions.

I will do my very best to use what you suggest!

Wanna see my current teaching schedule?

Click here

You can email me by clicking here

Nia Music ~ What do you desire to dance to?

2009-12-09T16:17:00.002-05:00

Let's Dance....

I love to choreograph Nia moves to new music!

Can you help?

Your favourite music might just be perfectly Nia-fiable....

Please comment below to suggest

music you'd like to dance to in your Nia classes!

Sunday Scribblings #107 - Game

2009-11-29T21:17:00.001-05:00

Straight from urbandictionary.com

The definitions are chuckle worthy!

These are fun to have delivered daily to your inbox!

1.	game
	1) (n) something you play, usually a competitive activity 2) (v) to play a game (see def. 1) 3) (n) an animal that is hunted 4) (n) skill or ability in any game (see def. 1) 5) (int) short for "Game over!" 6) (n) a measure of smoothness with the opposite sex 7) (n) lines or moves you use to get the opposite sex into bed 8) (adv) a state of being willing to do something 9) (n) that thing from that movie "The Game" 1) Drinking Checkers is a shitty drinking game. Beirut is better. 2) I just went to Vegas and got fucked over by the gaming industry. 3) Yo' honor, I didn't mean to shoot that mothafucka in that gang war...I thought he was game, you know, like a deer or some shit. 4) Shaq lost to Aaron Carter in 1-on-1? Damn that fool must have no game at all. 5) 3-pointer at the buzzer...it's good! That's game! 6) You couldn't even get some from Line-em-up Liz? Cracka you must have no game. 7) I broke out the old "You must be from Tennessee" game on the bitch and it worked like a charm. 8) You want to go to the ball game, game at the casino, shoot some game, then work game on some bitches? I'm game. 9) Welcome to the game, Nicky. We're here to make life...fun.
2.	game
	1. pick up lines 2. skill 3. mojo/sexdrive 1. I'm feelin' ya game, I holla at you later. 2. Babyboy's got game, I don't think I can handle him. 3. Shit, baby, ya game is off...
3.	game
	The ability to seduce anybody of the opposite sex...or same sex for that matter. "First Night Ima Break her, aint Gotta Fight Or Make her, I got Game like a Laker" Lloyd Banks-Short stay "I spit game cuz baby I can't talk it" Nelly-Hot in herre

4.	game
	ability; skillz; will to do something. 1. cuz you got no game son! 2. I've gots the mad game yo'! 3. quittin' on me? that's a sign of no game!
5.	Game
	An affirmative confirmation of one's partaking in such activity. "Yea man i'm game"
6.	game
	A referense to an illigit bussiness, usually the drug game. Can also mean the entire thug lifestyle. -also, the ability one possesses to "sweet talk" a female. -also also Dr. Dre's new artist and G Units new member. MA nigga, i'm, comin up in the game
7.	Game
	1 : discourse marked by force and persuasiveness, either with women or in any situation to get what one wants; also : the art or power of using such discourse 2 : the quality of forceful or persuasive expressiveness "Tyrone pulled that hot chocolate model last night because he got game."

SARK's Anytime Adventure - Day 3 - Sleep & Rest

2009-11-24T15:45:00.000-05:00

Amazing

Sark is telling me that I've got to sleep to get rid of the Crabby Appletons - that's pretty bang-on these days.

Only mine are called the Downer Doldrums.

Still, sleep helps.

thank goodness for sleep.

(click on the images to enlarge them)

India - Second Post

2009-11-24T10:48:00.000-05:00

As I have been unable to track down a USB cable that will allow me to upload my own photos, I have had to resort to Google images to get some suitable pictures for this post. That's probably for the best in any case, since many of my photos are not the typical scenery, travel companions or touristy shots. I have a propensity to capture the subtlties of where I am in my photos. For instance, yesterday I took a shot of an entire family's flip flops - there were little baby flip flops, a child's flip flops, flip flops I assume are for a school aged child, and giant adult flip flops... Yes, but this is not the point of this post.

Take a look at where I am right now. I'm in Goa (the state) but more specifically Arambol, close to the northern tip of Goa (it's in the region of Pernem and the Hindi name is Harmal).

Photo Credit

Photo Credit

Arambol is not quite "real" India. It is very westernized, with many European tourists. I'm not limited to chai...I can even get starbucks here (so far, no Tim's yet)!

Photo Credit

The beaches are just beautiful, the water is like a warm bath, and it's a treat to stay in a straw hut at a cost of roughly $3.50 CAD/night (just as long as there are no big bad wolves around, I'm happy...).

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I'll be going parasailing at Anjuna beach to celebrate the day....

More soon!

Photo Credit

Please note: all the graphics and photos used in this post are Google Image Files.

SARK's Anytime Adventure - Day 2 - New Experiences in Your Home

2009-11-22T16:52:00.000-05:00

Day 2 of SARK's Anytime Adventure

Today, SARK inspired me to DRAW - just squiggly lines, circles, starts and such, but I drew.

Oh, and I changed the wallpaper on my computer. It's one of SARK's downloadables.

Now my MacBook tells me:

You are seen.

You are known.

You are loved.

You can get yours here

(click on the images below to enlarge)

SARK's Anytime Adventure - Day 1 - Change in Routine

2009-11-21T13:54:00.004-05:00

Today I decided I needed a little inspiration.

So I headed over to Planet Sark to see what Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy (SARK) could do about infusing me with some juicy creative energy.

I'm so happy I did that! I gave myself a virtual voyage sitting here in front of my MacBook. How easy!

When I signed up for her newsletter, I got a little gift - an ANYTIME ADVENTURE which will be delivered to my inbox for the next 3 days!

First of all, I need that little dose of creative nourishment and a daily smile in my inbox.

Secondly - SARK has given me a little business inspiration. I'm excited!!!!

I'm sharing SARK's special gift below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

(click on the images to enlarge them if you need to)

Nia FUNdraiser: The Children's Storefront

2009-11-21T00:02:00.001-05:00

Nia: Dance & Donate

A FUNdraiser to support The Children's Storefront

Date:	Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Time:	7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location:	1443 Bathurst (south of St. Clair; side door entrance)

Nia FUNDRAISER: Join Lainie Magidsohn, Martha Randall, Jennifer Hicks and other Toronto area teachers for an evening of Nia dedicated to the relocation and rebuilding efforts of The Children's Storefront.

(The Children's Storefront is an interactive drop-in for both children and parents which burned down early November 2009)

Nia is a joyful celebration, a chance to dance, and love your body!
Nia combines the Dance Arts, Martial Arts, and Healing Arts and invites you to move in The Body's Way...your body's way!
To learn more about Nia visit: www.niac.ca

Whether you're a seasoned mover, or a veteran couch potato, you are welcome to join us for an evening dedicated to dance, play and raising money to support the future of The Children's Storefront.

(If you can't make it but would still like to donate, please visit: www.childrensstorefront.com)

Suggested minimum donation of $25

Contact:
Lainie Magidsohn (find her on Facebook!)
416.533.2147
magidsohn@rogers.com

or

Jenn Hicks 416.573.4911 jenniferhicks@rogers.com

Sunday Scribblings #106 - Oracle

2009-11-15T21:22:00.005-05:00

I must admit, until just now, I had no clue what the word "oracle" meant. I mean, sure, when I first read the word, I thought about fortune tellers and Ouija boards, but really had no clear concept about the word's meaning.

In other words, I read the prompt for Sunday Scribblings this week and thought, "ok, not so smart over here. Don't even know what the word oracle even means, so how can I write about it!"

Enter Wikipedia and Google Images (how did I ever do research before these life altering tools arrived and implanted themselves in my MacBook?).

Wikipedia says:
An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion. It may also be a revealed prediction or precognition of the future, from deities, that is spoken through another object or life-form .

The highlighted part had me going "WOW, Really?"

Prediction of the future. Huh.

Here's what Google Images gave me:

Artistic Credit

This is all so bizarre. This topic, and this definition and this beautiful image.

Why?

Well, on 3 separate occasions this past week, I have had these weird experiences where just that has happened. I think of something, and then it happens.

This has never happened before.

I think of something, and then it happened - occasion # 1

On Wednesday morning, I was in the shower. For no reason at all, a memory popped into my mind of an occasion where, at the last minute, I was asked to co-teach Nia with my Nia teacher Martha Randall . When I opened my email over breakfast, Martha's message asking me to co-teach that morning was a the top of my inbox.

I think of something, and then it happened - occasion #2

On Wednesday evening, I was at a Twitter workshop (hosted by the amazingly knowledgeable Jaime Almond and Rachel Foster ). Before the workshop started, I was looking at my MacBook screen and thinking about a few things that I needed to follow up on after the workshop. My mind led me to a gentlemen by the name of Marcus Schwartz who had interviewed me about my Nia fitness business at a Nia event back in June. At the time, we discussed using the interview for a podcast. His card had been sitting on my desk for months, and I was aware of the need to touch base with him.
The seminar began, and introductions started. I turned to look over my left shoulder, and there was Marcus Schwartz, sitting just a few rows ahead of me.

I think of something, and then it happened - occasion #3

On Thursday afternoon, I was driving home from seeing a client. I was listening to 102.1 The Edge on the radio as usual. One song ended, and in the 2 seconds of silence that followed, I began to hear the first 3 notes of a song. Those same 3 notes followed on the radio. You guessed it, I had heard the next song in my mind.

Explanation?
Probably best left to the mystery of it all.....

Creative Business Picnics :~::: How I Build my Nia Business :::~:

2009-11-06T18:22:00.011-05:00

A while back, a good friend and creative entrepreun-essa of mine, Chris Kay Fraser formed a "Creative Women in Business" (CWIB) group.

Luckily, I was invited to be part of it.

We are a group of 6 women who meet bi-weekly at a local coffee shop. We are artists, dancers, writers, workshop facilitators, retreat organizers, life coaches and health care/sexuality workers who meet to share business ideas.

We talk about how liberating it is to follow our creative entrepreneurial dreams. And we brainstorm about how we can build on our passions. We cry about how tough it can be, and, best of all, we make art together.

Yes, we have business art picnics.

Alongside lattes, herbal teas, pastries and much laughter are scads of magazines, stickers, markers, ink pads, stamps, scissors & glue sticks.

While we celebrate our business successes, present our problems, ask for advice, learn to grow from business ideas gone sour, we create!

The outcome?

Pretty cool creations documenting my process. My picnic partners offer ingredients for my business recipes and those ideas find their way mysteriously into my art. Or is it the other way around?

Either way and get to carry those powerful doses of inspiration with me until the next time.

We had an article about us published in McClung's magazine this week. Read it here!

Here are a few of my favourite creations:

Isn't this woman gorgeously outside the box?

Does she not inspire greatness?

This one reminds me to eat, live well and be BOLD.

Pretty good business practice I'd say!

Could describe me and my role as a Nia Instructor... spicy, joy, being, guide, DIVA, shape

What my business offers ME:

thrill factor, a l'heure de la sieste
(naps when I want them!), s'inspirer

CWIBers are Chris Kay Fraser (of Footprint Memoirs), Jamie Ridler (of Jamie Ridler Studios), Danette Relic (of danietterelic.co m), Kim Sedgwick and Amy Sedgwick (of Red Tent Sisters), and me, Jennifer Hicks (of jennhicks.ca)

Here's a fun picture of us at Danette's Halloween party last week!

Sunday Scribblings #105 - Adventure

2009-11-01T20:53:00.003-05:00

Do you remember reading choose-your-own-adventure novels?

What a pleasure to be able to exercise that kind of control, to tailor my experience.

I guess those novels served as an early literary lesson in how to customize and care for my own life path. Options, all I need are options...

(click on image to enlarge)

Sunday Scribblings #104 - Shame

2009-10-25T22:37:00.003-04:00

I could talk about the concept of shame for hours.
But I feel like I've already said what I need to say, so I'll keep it short.

Shame is almost instinctual.

For instance, when recently traveling in Hungary, I explained to my Hungarian friend's husband, Gabor, that we Canadians continually apologize. Even when a situation is not our fault, we babble on and offer "sorry". God knows why, but we do. Pretty pathetic really.

So my way of connecting with Gabor and his minimal command of English (and my paltry command of Hungarian) was to jokingly say "sorry, sorry" each time we interacted. He thought that was funny, and so did I.

And yet I've grown to learn there's really no room for shame in our existence.

We are what we are and who we are and we have been given our lot to move us along the path towards achieving englightenment. Simple. That's it.

I remember my Reiki master in Riskhikesh, India telling us that asking the universe for our needs and desires is our birthright. So we shouldn't feel shame in asking for what we desire.

One of my classmates (let's call him Bob, cuz I forget his real name) in my Reiki training was balding. Bob was cool. He was a nurse from America who was disillusioned with his work in allopathic health care. He knew there must be something more to healing. High five to Bob.

Our Reiki master (man, what was her name!??! dang....) had us doing an exercise where we were to do Reiki on our intentions or dreams. See, the thing about Reiki is that channeling it (it or Reiki being 'universal life force energy') into things we see and intend helps bring about additional power to that thing or intention.

I guess it's kind of like taking vitamins during the wintertime to help boost our immune systems and guard against colds and flus.

So in any case, 'Bob' wanted to to create an intention about having a full head of hair, but said he felt guilty about that.

"But it's your birthright to have what you want" said our German Reiki Master (whatever her name was).

That stuck with me.

No shame for what we want, desire or are.
That would be against our birthright.

Photo credit

Does this picture not depict the stupidity of shame?

Sunday Scribblings #103 - Junk

2009-10-19T22:26:00.001-04:00

I have this interesting relationship with the word "junk".

I can hear myself saying it with emphasis: "JJJUNK".

This way of saying it involves using seriously pursed lips for the /j/ sound, a clipped /k/ and an overall kind of harsh-slash-angry pronunciation of the whole word.

Is it a suprise that my twin sister Kim says this word in the very same way? And that now my husband Paul and my nephew Andrew follow suit? Imitation is a form of flattery, or so they say....

When Paul and I moved from Jedburgh Rd. to Cambridge Ave, I remember him wanting to sell stuff we'd been storing in our basement left by Vivian (the previous owner). They were things we thought we might use some day, but had never got around to doing so in the 5 years we'd lived there.

So obviously this stuff wasn't much use to us (i.e., it was JUNK), and I seriously questioned whether it would be of any use or interest to anyone else. Nonetheless. the debate was about the effort involved in selling it vs. the ease of walking it down the driveway. Posting it on Craigslist, getting a fair price and arranging delivery was far too much to think about in my mind. Walking a few steps to the curb was much more reasonable and efficient for me.

Paul argued that the stuff was "antique". I maintained it was "junk".

In the end, it ended up on the curb. My fastidiousness and purging attitude won out over Paul's laziness. Bonus for me!

Overcoming Mental Illness & Anorexia

2009-09-30T16:04:00.007-04:00

Thanks to my dear friend

Cindy Ashton

for having me on her

Monster-Kissing Secrets internet radio show.

It's because of dear souls like Cindy

that I can passionately tell my tale

while sharing insights about crawling out of seemingly bottomless pits.

Best part of the whole story is the

part about how Nia was
(and still is)

a major part of my wellness plan.

Listen to the interview here

Hey, why not be be inspired in print?

Purchase Cindy's Monster-Kissing book!

Sunday Scribblings #102 - Tattoos

2009-09-13T22:08:00.004-04:00

I have a couple of tattoos and a few piercings. I like them for the individual I feel they make me. Yet I giggle inside about the fact that one day I'm sure to be in a long term care facility and that I'll be sagging all over the place with this unique body art that will surely be lost on whomever is wiping my ass at that time (graphic, yes, but come on, it's true!)

Here's the story of my body art:

Tattoo #1

Tattoo: "Made in Canada" framing a maple leaf. How patriotic! (and true! I was "made in Canada" I verified it with my mom just to be sure!).

Location: Inside my right ankle. It got a little messed up when the needle hit my ankle bone and I flinched with a WTF kind of reflex! As a result it reads "Nade in Canada"!

Date of Tattooing: I'm a little fuzzy here. I'm guess-timating it was in the summer of 1989; possibly 1990)
City of Tattooing: Near Springdale, Newfoundland, Canada.
Location of Tattooing: A stranger's basement. No, seriously. There were no tattoo parlours in NFLD in those days!
Accompanied by: Matthew Hancock, boyfriend at-the-time. He was born in Springdale NFLD.
Occasion: Hancock family homecoming trip to NFLD .
Side notes: That same day, Matthew had a tattoo with an outline of the province of NFLD which said "Home Sweet Home". I still think it was kind of cool that we were country/province-loving first time tattoo recipients! Also, my "Made in Canada" tattoo is what I lovingly refer to as my HIV / HEP RISK tattoo (when I was too young to know/understand hygiene and risks of lack there-of),

Tattoo #2

Tattoo: A rabbit made of stone. A rabbit. NOT A BUNNY! I made sure there was to be no bunny-like being on my body....

Location: On my back, between my shoulder-blades.

Date of Tattooing: Christmas 2006. It was a Christmas gift between Paul and I. He and I both had that rabbit permanently embossed on our bodies in the same place.
City of Tattooing: Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Location of Tattooing: Yonge St. Tattoos. Eric who did the drawing and the work, but he's no longer there : (
Accompanied by: Paul Kralik, my loving husband who got the same tattoo in the same location.
Occasion: Christmas, bonding.
Side notes: Paul and I chose to have rabbit tattoos emblazoned on our backs. Paul's last name (Kralik) means "little rabbit" in Slovak. That's the basic meaning behind them.
But there's another part of the "deep meaning" of the tattoos: I had been *desperately* attempting to draw an Inukshuk verison of a rabbit in my drawing class. (An Inukshuk is a man-made stone landmark or cairn used by the Cairn, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of Northa America, from Alaska to Greenland. To me it represented northern Ontario where I spent a lot of time as a child).
I was, at the time, pretty serious about being able to draw my own future tattoo. But I had to come back down to reality eventually! I gave up and handed over the idea to Eric who came up with what he did.
Eric also informed me that I happened to be allergic to the red ink of my first tattoo, which had kind of gone brown a little at the red edges....

I love the body stories I carry!

Do you love yours too?

Nia @ the Veggie Food Fair

2009-09-12T16:59:00.000-04:00

~ It's not too late to join in~

TOMORROW

Nia is on-stage at the Veggie Food Fair
(Sunday Sept 13 12:30-1:30pm)

I have been working on getting Nia to be part of the Fair for 2 years and so I'm thrilled to have been offered a spot to showcase the JOY OF MOVEMENT this year!

YOU are a big part of sharing

Nia's joy with Toronto

Here are the details about the event

1. The demo is on Sunday September 13.

It's at:

Harbourfront Centre
235 Queens Quay West

and is on

The Redpath Stage (a round stage in the middle of the Ann Tyndal Lawn is surrounded by vendor and activity tents).

Transportation:

From Union Station
Take either the 509 Exhibition or 510 Spadina streetcar west from inside Union Station (to exit from the subway platform by the correct stairs, look for the Harbourfront signs). Get off at the Lower Simcoe Street stop.

Both the 509 and 510 streetcars stop directly in front of Harbourfront Centre.

From Spadina Station
Take the 510 Spadina streetcar south.

Bike Parking is available on site.

2. The demo is from 12:30-1:30pm.

3. Please arrive between 12:10-12:15pm.
I am available at 416.573.4911 after 11am if you need to contact me for any reason.

4. I will have a Pink Nia "I love my body" T-shirt to loan to you to wear on stage.
We'll match! How fun!
Please wear black or dark bottoms (pants, skirt, shorts) if possible.

5. When you arrive, I hope you will find me/us without difficulty. You'll probably see a bunch of people with pink t-shirts milling about ~ and hopefully a few Nia signs!

If not, please ask for Scott Penner at the stage.

6. Please enJOY this experience as you would any other Nia class.

This is NOT a performance ~ in presenting Nia at this fair, I simply hope to showcase the JOY the is possible through a typical Nia experience.

If you know of someone who might be interested, INVITE THEM ALONG! It doesn't matter if they have never experienced Nia before. The point is to show Toronto (and beyond) that Nia is for everyBODY!!!

7. If you have a photographer or videographer in your life, please invite them along!

Footage of ANY nature would be so welcomed!

Questions? Please email or call (416.573.4911)

Julie Devaney - My Leaky Body

2009-09-09T20:22:00.001-04:00

I have a friend named Julie Devaney.

Julie talks to people about her body, which literally leaks.

Really.

Julie shares her experiences dealing with her leaky body to help her audiences

gain insight into experience of illness

and the impact of sometimes not-so-positive encounters with our health care system.

My Leaky Body is a theatrical story-telling performance by Julie Devaney based on her experiences spending five years in and out of hospitals, propped up on operating tables and in bed in pain for weeks and sometimes months at a time. Pretty cool, huh?

Last week, I received an exciting message from Julie.

My Leaky Body the book will be published in 2011

by Key Porter Books!!!

Yay! Hurray Julie!

As I was thinking about her success at creatively illuminating critical issues in our health care system, my mind soared dreamily into the future.

I suspect that a few years from now, I'll be writing something similar to the following reflection in my journal:

"MacLean's Magazine. I NEVER read it because the print is so small and I kinda feel a little stupid reading it (I'll admit it, I'm a little outta touch with a lot of pretty important issues). But today was different. Today I DEVOURED that pretentious magazine. It was the LEAKY BODY issue!

Can you believe that that I USED TO TEACH Nia to JULIE DEVANEY! JULIE DEVANEY!
THE Julie Devaney who created a powerful consciousness raising career out of her own health crisis? Out of all the Nia classes she could have attended, SHE CHOSE MINE (only after Samantha semi-retired)! I remember when Julie wore these really funky skirts to class; she danced so gracefully in them. I never had the courage to be as free as her in those skirts. Oh, yeah, she also had this awesome yellow streak in her hair. And then it was white. Cool.

The greatest thing was that MacLean's profiled Julie as the model for using a personal hell to create change. They described her as a 'luminous and scholarly edu-actress who took a bite out of patient silence and complacency'. Not only did Julie educate scores of health care professionals about the patient expereince, but she was also the driving force behind getting Disability Studies added to the high school curriculum.

And you know what? That girl really knows how to shake her booty too!"

Jenn Hicks

My last post here...moving on to jennhicks.ca

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Sunday Scribblings #110 Demand

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Sunday Scribblings #109 - Message

My Nia Community

My Nia students and community rock!

Melissa (a family physician/psychotherapist) at

Beyond Oprah says

"Jenn blends her compassion, insight, and people skills with this delightful creative exercise".

Find out what Melissa

thinks about Nia (and important life concepts) here.

Thank you Lauren and Melissa for

sharing the JOY of Nia with your communities!

Sunday Scribblings #108 - Yes

Spain, Morocco and Portugal

Spain (and loving blogging with Zemanta)

The Get Inspired! Project - Interview with Jennifer Hicks

*~* The Get Inspired! Project *~*

by Toni Reece of the PEOPLE Academy, Inc

365 interviews over 365 days with inspiring folks around the world

I was

ThRiLLEd

today to learn that my interview was

#80 on the list...

check it out here

Nia is the biggest part of what inspires me and

I sure get that point across in my interview!

(thanks so much Jamie of Jamie Ridler Studios

for introducing me to this amazing project!).

Love at Home ~ Thank you Paul

Nia with Jenn 2009 Survey Results

Nia Music ~ What do you desire to dance to?

Sunday Scribblings #107 - Game

SARK's Anytime Adventure - Day 3 - Sleep & Rest

India - Second Post

SARK's Anytime Adventure - Day 2 - New Experiences in Your Home

SARK's Anytime Adventure - Day 1 - Change in Routine

Nia FUNdraiser: The Children's Storefront

Nia: Dance & Donate

A FUNdraiser to support The Children's Storefront

Nia FUNDRAISER: Join Lainie Magidsohn, Martha Randall, Jennifer Hicks and other Toronto area teachers for an evening of Nia dedicated to the relocation and rebuilding efforts of The Children's Storefront.

Suggested minimum donation of $25Contact:Lainie Magidsohn (find her on Facebook!)416.533.2147magidsohn@rogers.com

or

FREE Nia classes with Jenn, Summer 2010

***~* The Get Inspired! Project *~***

Suggested minimum donation of $25

Contact:
Lainie Magidsohn (find her on Facebook!)
416.533.2147
magidsohn@rogers.com