Rhythmwood
985 West Road N0H 1W0 Lions Head, ON, Canada

Oh, how this makes me smile! When you need a good dance in the snow ... get outside and do it! https://www.cbc.ca//bhangra-dancing-to-celtic-music-in-the

Mesmerizing to watch!

I wish for all of you a beautiful new year and much happiness in 2021. May we all emerge with the gifts that somehow arise from difficult times. May we grow stronger and more resilient, hold more love in our hearts, and remember that the true importance of life is not necessarily WHAT we do or accomplish, but THE WAY we do whatever it is we're doing ... living consciously through the unfolding of each precious moment. Live-streaming Nia classes will begin again soon. Contact me if you'd like to join us from the privacy of your own home. We move, we shake it up, we feel good, or at least feel better, we find connection and friendship. Life always feels brighter after we dance together!

In case you need a little pick me up. Love his spirit!

In every art form ...

We have a deficit of wonder. When I ask people questions now, they get out their phone. I say, nooo! I don't want to know the answer. I just wanna wonder about it a while. ~ Tom Waits

Shake it off with me in a dance break!

Truly heart warming and inspiring. The power of music and movement! <3 https://www.classicfm.com//new-york-dancer-alzheimers-rem/? fbclid=IwAR0wJ_BI2SNocmsCawNv3UFM5QYyKtqeCjmmGaunLRGgttSoMqe58z-Da58

A mini workshop on Blocks & Punches. This short video will show you how to do them correctly so that you protect the joints of the arms. Also how to make modifications for Your Body's Way and how the blocks and punches help to develop strength and agility in the upper body.

For thousands of years and in multiple cultures, dance has been used as a communal, ritualistic, healing force, from the Lakota Sun Dance (Wiwanke Wachipi) to the Sufi whirling dervishes (Sema) to the Vimbuza healing dance of the Tumbuka people in Northern Malawi. https://www.shondaland.com//psychological-benefits-of-da/

Moving your body is more important than ever!

Dancing at Rhythmwood.

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I just LOVE this family. Look at that Dad go!!

Love the casual multi-tasking of eating while dancing (maybe don't try this at home!)

Somewhere in the slums of kitintale..! #Uganda...

Dancing with this group outdoors is divine!

The importance of staying grounded in these times.

The Canadians represented at Nia HQ! Thanks to our awesome trainer Martha Randall for leading us with grace and charm.

Things are certainly different this year. I am so grateful to be dancing with these people again. We are dancing outdoors in the backyard at Rhythmwood! Next best thing to the beach.

Nia Class on Facebook Live. Begins again Thursdays 11am.

Happy to get back to the livestream this week!

Here's an excerpt from our last movement class. In this dance we focus on the way the breath moves the body. Imagining that the breath itself is actually moving the bones. All the body's movement floats on the breath. Life force energy animates your body. This is an inner journey of self discovery.

I find this song incredibly beautiful. I love the sound of this fascinating instrument, the 22 stringed kora (West African harp).

We've been having some fun dancing to this song in our livestreaming classes!

I'm in love with this dog! <3

The Sacred Pause ... Embodied Prayer ... Finding Peace Within.

This is my practice. This is what keeps me moving forward, in my body, without necessarily having any of the answers. It's movement that keeps this dancer grounded, anchored, and awake to what's possible. With a bow of gratitude to my teachers, those who taught me to keep my Soul in Motion, I invite you to join me in this dance. Inner Awareness. Outer Awareness. Slipping into your skin. Releasing. Dropping. Letting go. Feeling all the layers. Sensory. Circular. Aliveness. Present behind the eyes. With the dancer that's here now.

Such a pleasure dancing with you on Facebook Live <3

I'm so happy to announce the scholarship position for Rhythmwood Soul Journey: Dance of the Feminine Spirit has been awarded to the lovely Lisa Marsh from Owen Sound. Lisa is a physiotherapist, kundalini yoga teacher and energy healer. She brings grace, kindness and wisdom to our circle of women. We are blessed by Lisa's presence!

It's been surprising to me just how fantastic live-streaming dance classes can be. I knew I wanted to provide an opportunity to keep people moving, connected to joy AND connected to each other in community. But the JOY we are all feeling in these classes is really remarkable. This is indeed sacred space. Live-streaming classes are here https://www.facebook.com/groups/676618433112631/

A Trio of Dancers Brave Icelandic Temperatures in a Stunning New Music Video for Pianist Hania Rani https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/04/hania-rani-f-major/

This is Thor. Thor dances with my live-stream classes every Tuesday and Friday. His humans dance with us too. <3 #DancingDogs #NiaTechnique #DanceWithWendyRoman

And sometimes you are walking down a familiar path on a spring morning, and there are questions raging, questions that seem to demand immediate answers. What to do with this precious gift of a life? Where to go? What to say next? Which choice to make or not make? Which voice to listen to? How to make everything okay? How to hold it all together? How to avoid falling apart? And suddenly the questions cannot hold; they shatter into a million silences because a tiny bird has per...ched itself on the path in front of you, perched in the 'here and now', not in the 'there and then' in which you are seeking your answers. Your eyes meet hers, and you know that everything is okay with the universe. Questions will get answered or not answered, and solutions will appear or not appear at the perfect time, because you will make yourself available to them, as you are available now to this tiny and unexpected bird. Perhaps today is not a day for answers and unshakable certainties; it is a day for birdsong and staying close to questions as they walk with you down familiar paths on spring mornings. ~ Jeff Foster

Oh how good it has felt to dance again this week... and to reconnect with friends after class (all online of course).

The mind can only guess at a future. Be willing to not know, to stumble sometimes, to bow before the unknown. Stop thinking your way through life, always trying to work it out before living it. Life is to be lived, not analyzed to death. Feel all the energies that want to be felt, energies that have been waiting so long for your warm attention and embrace. ... Let all of life move through you, the joy as much as the sorrow, the boredom as much as the bliss. Let the questions stay a while; do not try to annihilate them with premature answers. The questions are your intimate friends; the answers are strangers now. In the warmth of the sun's love, flowers bloom in the perfect moment, and not a moment before. Let the warmth of awareness illuminate those parts of yourself struggling for life. See the perfect choreography. Now. Written by Jeff Foster Our inspiration in our streaming dance class this morning ..... Wim Robinson Alison Rowe Irene Grainger Nancy Martin Barbara Martin Jennifer Barratt Parker Wendy Roman Leslie Robbins-Conway Bernadette Peets Debbie Best Randall Marie Knapp

I feel a dance coming on ...

Mary Oliver for Corona Times (Thoughts after the poem Wild Geese) You do not have to become totally zen, You do not have to use this isolation to make your ma...rriage better, your body slimmer, your children more creative. You do not have to maximize its benefits By using this time to work even more, write the bestselling Corona Diaries, Or preach the gospel of ZOOM. You only have to let the soft animal of your body unlearn everything capitalism has taught you, (That you are nothing if not productive, That consumption equals happiness, That the most important unit is the single self. That you are at your best when you resemble an efficient machine). Tell me about your fictions, the ones you’ve been sold, the ones you sheepishly sell others, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world as we know it is crumbling. Meanwhile the virus is moving over the hills, suburbs, cities, farms and trailer parks. Meanwhile The News barks at you, harsh and addicting, Until the push of the remote leaves a dead quiet behind, a loneliness that hums as the heart anchors. Meanwhile a new paradigm is composing itself in our minds, Could birth at any moment if we clear some space From the same tired hegemonies. Remember, you are allowed to be still as the white birch, Stunned by what you see, Uselessly shedding your coils of paper skins Because it gives you something to do. Meanwhile, on top of everything else you are facing, Do not let capitalism coopt this moment, laying its whistles and train tracks across your weary heart. Even if your life looks nothing like the Sabbath, Your stress boa-constricting your chest. Know that your ancy kids, your terror, your shifting moods, Your need for a drink have every right to be here, And are no less sacred than a yoga class. Whoever you are, no matter how broken, the world still has a place for you, calls to you over and over announcing your place as legit, as forgiven, even if you fail and fail and fail again. remind yourself over and over, all the swells and storms that run through your long tired body all have their place here, now in this world. It is your birthright to be held deeply, warmly in the family of things, not one cell left in the cold. - Adrie Kusserow

Stay home and dance!!

I want to offer this song to you as a way to dance RIGHT NOW, in your living rooms! Really ... just GET UP and DANCE, and let go a little bit of all this craziness. We got Soul Power! DO IT! It's what the world needs right now! And you'll feel a whole lot better too.

Due to the global health crises, Nia Technique is currently offering a 30-day free trial period as a resource for making sure movement and exercise is a part of your health prescription. To gain access to NiaTV go to https://www.niatv.fit/checkout/subscribe/purchase

I'm very sorry to say that I have decided to postpone the Introduction to Nia workshop that was scheduled for March 13th. What with things the way they are right now, and everything changing daily, I would rather err on the side of caution. I think in a couple of weeks time we will have a better idea of best measures to take around public events. I am tentatively resetting the date to March 27th and hope to dance with you then!

We begin again next Tuesday in Owen Sound.

Dance, Martial Arts, Mindfulness.

A fabulous dancing retreat on the beach in Costa Rica! Thank you all for your presence, your playfulness, your openness, your love. <3 Sweet memories and friendships that will never be forgotten.

A little taste of our Costa Rica retreat. Pics shared by the group. More photos coming soon!

Many of us step foot on the path to spiritual enlightenment expecting it to lead us onward and upward, hoping to become something better than we are, and ready to gather all of the important things we need along the way. What a surprise it is when we eventually realize that this path isn’t taking us onward but inward, that we’re not gathering things so much as letting them go, and that there was never anything more to aspire to than the truth of what we already are. ~ Cristen Rodgers This quote so beautifully expresses the embodiment work that we do in Rhythmwood Soul Journey: Dance of the Feminine Spirit. Join us here https://rhythmwood.ca/soul-journey

Sweet summertime memory <3

It's taken a while to get some pictures together, but finally, here they are! Nia Trainer Summit 2019 in Portland, Oregon.

Portland, Oregon December 2019. NGT3

Lao Tzu said ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ What is it that you want to do with your life today? Is there something that keeps showing up for you? A desire that returns with it's quiet (or not so quiet) voice, over and over again? It's good to pay attention to what returns, and then take a single step forward. Take the first step, even when the last step is unclear (and it usually is). You don't have to have it all figured out first. Trust that the path will open before you. Clarity will arrive. One tiny step at the beginning, that's all it takes.

Ignite your Spirit!

I just registered for the Nia Evolution event with Debbie Rosas in Toronto May 2 - 3, 2020. Who else wants to join me? <3

Oh! When I get to be this age I hope that someone dances with me like this. Such tenderness, presence and a gentle sense of adventure. Contact. Connection. Communion. <3

Check out these great photos from our Ignite the Spirit weekend! 50+ dancers and 4 Nia teachers, bringing people together one dance at a time!

Excited to dance with over 50 dancers this weekend!! Tomorrow we'll be setting up the space & looking forward to greeting you Saturday morning! Safe travels everyone. <3

For those of you who dance at Rhythmwood you may find this post interesting. Here we are laying down the hot water pipes (10 years ago!) for the radiant earthen floor that we dance upon today.