"When my time comes, forget the wrong that I have done.
Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed." Linkin Park
It's funny (read ironic) how painful experiences can reap remarkable rewards. While I surely do not recommend that you run about hurting your friends' feelings so that they may grow as human beings, it has been my discovery that when it comes, pain can be its own teacher. To clarify, it's not the pain itself, but the event that triggers the pain (being a bit sardonic here). We'll come back to this!
I have been gifted the opportunity to share in the process of developing a workshop series for other teachers with two Nia teachers who happen to be 2 of my closest friends. This is an offering I have wanted to share for sometime, but I have come to believe that I was not intended to walk this path alone. I had to wait. Up until now, the time never felt right; not enough interest, too many other things going on - the soil was not ready. Now that the soil has been prepared and seeds planted, we are getting buds - an how appropriate in April! In June there will be blooms; velvety petals in a variety of hues and fragrances.
Back here, in the present, I am working on structure, flow and content.
How? When? What and How Much?
Focus: Expand Teaching Skills using the Continuing Education Model
(White Belt Principle 12)
Intention: to Deepen, Enrich and Support Nia teachers in a collaborative environment in order to Create, Sustain and Increase a thriving Nia Community
For research, I'm delving back into my White, Blue, Brown Belt manuals as well as the Green belt prep manual and the constantly growing amount of information available to me on the Nia website. I've discovered that these works not only support how I share and communciate the magic of Nia in my classes but also how I share and communicate in the world in general. And how interesting that the sections I turn to are not only the ones with needed information to share with other teachers, but also what I need on a personal level. Oh, yea, I remember covering that - it was so relevant, now I'm back and I require a refresher and time to dig deeper.
Truly, I never learn so much as when I share!
As present as I believe I am in sharing Nia with students, I have discovered that I have an unconscious "checklist". I seek to do something, such as be fully present to my students as I speak. When a certain comfort level or level of accomplishment is arrived at, this skill, technique or tool is checked off the list. This means that I am no longer quite as vigilant about my impeccability. So while I believe that I have been doing my best in terms of communicating with my students during class, I realize that I have fallen into an old habit. I'm talking too much. I had checked it off my list.
How, you surely must be asking, did I come back to myself? I had a rather harrowing emotional event a few hours before I was to teach 2 Nia classes. From some reading in White, I remembered a passage about the importance of teaching from my own experience; if I didn't bring my experience then I would be faking. I was very hurt and I didn't feel like speaking, so I spoke very little in class. I brought the hurt and disappointment and I let it flow and dance with me. No tears, no drama. The energy flowed and the few words I used were just right. I felt the power of my silence, allowing me to hold the space for my experience and I felt the power of the silence through which I could honor my students and their personal processes.
This allowed me to continue to work through my personal issue without bringing it to my students and without damming it up, pretending to be happy and f.i.n.e. (freaked out, insecure, neurotic and emotional!). The feedback from students was that class was a tight, high-energy workout.
Nia is the "everything" class.
When my spirit feels especially creative and wants adventure. When my body feels the desire or need to become more mobile, stable, more agile, stronger and more flexible. When I want to explore emotional expression. When I want to play with mental precision and focus. Nia offers me all of that - in every class if I choose to accept it. All of that is there, available, for everyone - for every Body!
The Magic of Nia!
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