I taught one of my favorite Nia routines to some new students this past Friday morning. Two students had taken Nia classes before from other teachers (in fact, one student WAS a teacher from out of state) and therefore knew what to expect. Another student (I’ll call her “Angie”) was new to Nia and, while she was an avid yoga practitioner, she was interested in experiencing being in her body from “the other end of the spectrum”, if you will. At the beginning of class I asked my students to focus on the transformational power of movement, to notice how they were feeling in their bodies at the beginning of class, to notice moments of ease (and even difficulty) during the class, and to check in with their bodies and emotions again at the end of class to notice if any shifts had occurred. And then we began the class. As the class progressed, I kept noticing in the mirror that Angie was smiling. She literally smiled through the whole class! At the end of class, I checked in with the students to see if they had noticed any shifts and when I got to Angie, she began to cry and shared that she was feeling overcome with joy because she connected with her playful side in ways she hadn’t experienced since she was a child. I understood completely. The participants and I chatted about how little space we create for playfulness in adult life and how society frowns upon such "childish" behavior. Too bad. I have been pondering the following questions ever since that class:
Why do we adults blindly or unconsciously buy into the unspoken “rule” that pure joy and playfulness is childish? Isn’t that when we feel most alive and connected to ourselves and others? Why do we close ourselves off so much to our emotions as adults?
I believe that children can teach adults a thing or two about living. Children are rather honest about how they feel at any given time and, thus, live more honestly than many adults do. They hide very little. What a wonderful way of being! When we reach adulthood, we buy into this attitude that life is a burden that needs to be taken seriously. If we get angry, become hurt, feel fear or feel unsure, we believe we must detach from those feelings in order to hide perceived weaknesses and to just get through the day or a particular experience. The unintended fallout is that we also stifle our joy, an emotion that feeds our spirit and makes us feel complete. How unfortunate.
Our emotions are vehicles for information. We do not have to react to them, but we can use them to help inform/reflect how we move through our lives. We are living at a time when there is an immense amount of struggle. That is why, more than ever, it is important to connect with our feelings and lean into the joyful moments that occur in our lives. They are happening all of the time. They can show up as a wonderful conversation with a friend, lover, child, or even a stranger. They can show up in the lyrics or melody of a song. They can show up as a completed project that evokes pride, they can even show up when we’re not doing anything at all. Joy appears in myriad ways even when we don’t expect it.
Take some time this evening to ponder what brought you joy today. You might be surprised by where it has shown up.
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