Cross-Training Body Mind Emotions Spirit | Rachael R. Resch

We are asked not to talk about the specific content of Black Belt so I have felt challenged in writing blog entries that really reflect what is happening, yet keep the lid on the alchemical vessel of Black.

As I sat in a discussion session this morning following movement practice, I thought,  “I couldn’t even talk about the content of Black Belt, if I wanted to.”  The experience of Black Belt includes human language but spirals way beyond it, weaving every imaginable layer, and yet in the end, is still very definitely Nia.

These are the languages we are immersing in again and again: the body, the heart, the spirit, the Mystery, sensation of the Mystery.  We take the mikvah of the moment again and always again.  We are ever new, ever moving waves in the river flowing into the Ocean of All Time.

This afternoon, Carlos took us on a field trip.  We went to the South Park Blocks, where row after row of grand, old London Plane trees preside over cobblestone, asphalt and human, the constant rustling of their leaves singing blessings to the life below, the life above and the life within.

We stopped at the Shemanski Fountain and gathered in a semi-circle on the steps.

Joseph Shemanski was a Polish immigrant who in 1926 commissioned this fountain of Rebecca drawing water for Abraham and his camels when she was revealed to be Isaac’s bride.  Shemanski was a dog lover, and the fountain has two drinking platforms one for people and one for dogs.

Just then a group of college students, many of Asian ancestry, filed by, also, apparently, on a field trip.  “Look!  There’s another gang,” said Carlos.  “Lets rumble with them!”  Carlos shouted at them and raised both hands over his head, fingers in the peace sign, “Hey!  What are you doing?!”

Their young teacher, curious, led her group over and they stood before us in a semi-circle.  “Do you know who these people are?” Carlos asked them.  “They are a world famous choir and they are going to sing for you.”  He directed us to sing “Happy Birthday” in four-part harmony, which we proceeded to approximate. They applauded whole-heartedly. 

“Now you have to sing us a song,” said Carlos.  They looked at each other, unsure.  Then one of our group, a woman named Sun, spoke to them in Korean.  They all looked relieved as she defected and went over to stand among them.  Sun led them in the Korean national anthem.  I wept.  Everyone applauded.

“Thank you very much,” said Carlos, “Now they have to rehearse.”  We all waved good-bye and Carlos turned his attention to the next portion of our training.

I live my life in growing orbits
Which move out over the things of the world.
I do not know if I can achieve the last,
But that will be my attempt.
I am circling around God, around the ancient tower
And I have been circling for a thousand years.
And I still don’t know if I am a falcon, or a storm
Or a great song.

Rainer Maria Rilke

The wonder, the work and the joy of moving my point of view around and around, below and above, inside out and beyond, just to the side, around the corner or way over there — this has been the ongoing, moment by moment stream of the day.  It’s a work-out!

My brain feels stretched, even though it’s not my brain that’s doing most of the work.  My eyes feel tired even though it’s not my physical vision that’s being exercised.

We’re a group of 33 Brown Belts, including three men, several people from Germany, two from India, one from Switzerland, one from Sweden, and one from the Virgin Islands.  People are loving, relaxed, diligent and aware.  It’s a pleasure to join with them in this practice.

I cross kitty corner at SW Yamhill and Park toward the venerable Pythian Building, built in 1907 by the Knights of Pythias, an American secret society whose members, in their fraternal wisdom, included in this building at least five dance studios and one grand ballroom. 

A street musician plays an upbeat violin concerto.  The afternoon is shimmery, hot, but not too hot.

Inside the building, the elevator won’t stop at StudioNia on the fourth floor.  Instead, we spiral.  We ride up to the fifth floor, back to the first floor, and then walk up.  First I hear them, then I see them.  

Two flights of the wide, old stairwell are full of chattering Nia Brown Belts, waiting for the fourth floor doors to be opened, perched like a bunch of colorful, talkative cranes that have migrated here from all over the world, and wait, together, on the river bank for some mysterious signal to jump in and swim.

After registration, we enter the studio, where, like every Nia intensive, there is a circle of pillows, each with a name tag and a stack of materials for the week.  We find our names, we sit, and it begins.  We enter the river.

It’s the eve of heading to Portland to begin my Black Belt training with Debbie and Carlos and 20 plus other Nia Brown Belts from around the country and around the world.  As I write I feel excited and ready to plunge in.  

But until a few hours ago, I’ve been productively procrastinating about getting ready, not wanting to step in to the process — as though I’m somehow not already in it!  I’ve been scaring myself and distracting myself from the moment with all sorts of stories.

Why would I rather listen to the insidious voice of an inner Wormtongue than tend to the tasks at hand?  Than step forward onto the next part of my path as it spirals before me?  Than smell the moment?  Than feel my body?

Because the of the sensation of my heart cracking open.  Is it breaking?  Is it blossoming?  Will I cry?  Am I dying to the moment?  Will I live?  Will I make it?  Will I love and be loved?  Will I be OK?

Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things. 

Mary Oliver

Here are some benefits the practice of Walking brings to the body, mind, emotions and spirit:

Body:

The heal lead.
Stability combined with mobility.
Integrating the vertical body with motion in space in the horizontal plane.

Mind:

360 degree awareness.
Moving forward in life.
Integrating the entire neurological being. 

Emotions:

Being in relationship with community.
Being in relationship with all beings. 
Integrating the emotional body. 

Spirit:

Walking meditation.
Walking your path.
Stepping into the moment with your animal ancestry intact. 

Stage 5: Walking.  Human-like.

Walking.  Walking is a balancing act.  Being human is a balancing act.  Your eyes are at the horizon.  See one thing, see everything.

You now have full freedom of motion, and therefore the opportunity to exercise conscious choice.  The vertical energy running through your body to the center of the earth and to the center of the heaven is balanced and stronger.

This stage is all about integration.  Find your rhythm.  Walk your path.    Walk into your life.  Walking.  Awake.  Aware.  Walking.

Here are some of the benefits that the practice of standing brings. (For more about how to do the practice of standing, please see my post, The Five Stages of Self-Healing:  Standing.)

Remember, what we call “Standing” in The Five Stages of Self-Healing, is, in its classic form, actually squatting, monkey-like.  Along the continuum of developmental movement, we eventually rise from squatting into upright standing as we prepare to walk. 

The most profound offering that the practice of Standing brings is the re-orientation of the spine from horizontal to vertical.  This is a profound change anatomically, physiologically and neurologically, as well as energetically.

Mysteriously, all the previous stages, Embryonic, Creeping and Crawling – each with its own unique sensation – have prepared us for standing.  We begin with the sensation of allness in Embryonic, move through the sensation of being horizontal in Creeping and Crawling, to find ourselves vertical for the first time in standing.

Body:

Physical flexibility of hips, low back, pelvic floor, knees and calves.
Preparation of the body for childbirth.
Integration of the lumbar and cervical curves of the spine. 

Mind:

Mental flexibility.
Being “on top of it.”
Naturally attaining a new point of view. 
Seeing across large vistas. 
Taking a stand.
Knowing where you stand. 

Emotions:

Emotional flexibility.
Standing together.
Standing up for yourself.
Feeling supported from below.
Standing on your own two feet. 
Feeling where you stand.

Spirit:

Presence.
Plugging into the Earth’s rising energy.
Plugging into the Heaven’s descending energy.
Marriage of Heaven and Earth in the body.
Tree of life body. 

And here are some applications of the practice of Standing to Nia’s three movement arts:

Dance Arts:

Free pelvic energy of Jazz Dance. 
Rooted yet ascending like a tree in Duncan Dance.
Arms and hand are free to create shapes in space in Modern Dance.
Base of the body as foundation for vertical alignment.
Balance.

Martial Arts:

Nia’s seven martial arts stances: closed stance, open stance, A stance, riding stance, bow stance and one-legged stance.
Hara connected to the Earth. 
Monkey energy in martial arts forms.

Healing Arts:

Head floats to the Heaven, as in Alexander Technique.
Yoga’s conscious alignment of bones in Tree Pose and other standing postures.
The conscious sensation of stacking head over chest over pelvis over feet in Feldenkrais. 

Stage 4:  Standing.  Monkey-like.

In the practice of the Five Stages of Self-Healing, what we call standing is actually squatting.  For the first time your spine is vertical.  The soles of your feet connect your body to the Earth. Your spine lengthens up.  Your hands are free.

The front body is revealed.  The chakras are vertical, bringing a new alignment in relationship with the vertical axis between the heaven and the Earth.  You’re more rooted and have more potential to rise up.

This stage is all about flexibilty.  Standing shifts sight and the perception of all the senses.  You can see more of  the three-dimensional world and your arms are free to reach in to the world.  Standing.

Here are some benefits that the practice of Crawling brings.  (For more about the practice of Crawling, please see my post The Five Stages of Self-Healing: Crawling.)

Body:

Freedom of movement coupled with physical stability.
Co-contraction of the rotator cuff and stabilization of the shoulder joint.
Stability for spine and neck. 
Activation of deep abdominals.
Coordination of arms and legs. 

Mind:

Mental mobility coupled with mental stability.
Childlike spontaneity. 
Ability to interrelate broadly with the world. 

Emotions:

Playfulness.
Fluidity. 
Natural ferocity.
Groundedness. 

Spirit:

Remembering your animal nature.
Connection to animal ancestors and relations. 
Fluidity in your state of being. 
Pulling Earth’s energy up through front and back paws.  

And here are some applications of the practice of Crawling to Nia’s three movement arts:

Dance Arts:

Free expression of the tail in Jazz Dance.
Free expression of the natural soul in Duncan Dance.
Playfulness of Duncan Dance. 

Martial Arts:

Coordination of arms and legs around your center.
Animal energies in martial arts forms, e.g., bear claw swipe.
Animal instincts bring just enough power needed in the moment. 

Healing Arts:

Relationship of four limbs to torso in Yoga’s alignment of bones.
Practicality of Child’s Pose in Yoga.
The sensation of reciprocal motion of the limbs, shoulder girdle and pelvic girdle in Feldenkrais.