barefootlifeblog.com

What I Learned from Reading Women, Food, and God

Stephanie — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:56:00 GMT

Reading and re-reading, rather. My revelations have been large and small, and immediately helpful and applicable to my life. Lately, I have been feeling overwhelmed and over-scheduled. I realized from reading this book that I have been using food to feel calmer. Eating lunch watching my favorite TV show was the highlight of my day because I got to do what I wanted to do, not live up to commitments I’d made to others. I have also struggled lately with low attendance at some of my classes, and have found myself feeling frustrated. I became aware that I have been eating to feel more in control as well. The downside is that while I’m eating I feel great and happy, but I don’t stop when my body is nourished. I overeat. Then I feel too full and uncomfortable AND overwhelmed or out of control once again.

This book helped me to be able to notice why I am eating when I am no longer hungry and eating things that are not nourishing my body. What I discovered when I was able to notice these feelings of overwhelm and loss of control was that I could make changes in my life or my approach to my life to address them, instead of avoiding them with food. I discovered that food is just a short term solution, and that there are many better long term solutions. I cut back my teaching schedule to give myself more space; I am working on adjusting my expectations of attendance and re-connecting to dancing for myself versus others, which I had lost contact with.

Already I am beginning to feel better, more relaxed. And I am playing with a couple of the eating guidelines in the book – Eat only when you are hungry and Eat what your body wants – those alone are revolutionary for me. My body actually DOES know when it is hungry and satisfied – it sends me sensations to let me know.

I realize that this is a process and I am not in a hurry to explore it fully. I want emotional and food sobriety, and I now know I can use my relationship with food to deepen my relationship with God. Which brings me the ultimate in fulfillment, more than a cupcake…

More Than Just a Workout...Nia and Your Feet

Stephanie — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:19:00 GMT

I used to take slippers with me on trips because I was so grossed out by hotel floors that I refused to walk on them barefoot (never mind the beds!). I was in this state when I started practicing Nia – in fact, it was almost the only time I was ever barefoot! I lived in shoes, all kinds of shoes, and I was not aware of any other way of living.

Until I started practicing Nia. One of Nia’s principles and part of its uniqueness is that it is practiced barefoot. This allows the 7,000 nerve endings in the feet to do their job – sense and send information to our brains. This information includes pain and pleasure, which enables us to monitor and change our movement habits for better balance, strength, and conditioning of the entire body.

Energetically, the foot is a key area in the body where prana (life force) enters and leaves the body, and moving barefoot stimulates the circulation of this life force within each of us. Our feet are where we are connected to the earth, and sensing bare feet on the earth grounds and centers us.

Moving barefoot, we literally awaken our life – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. For me, my journey with Nia is a story about my feet – once riddled with painuful Morton’s Neuroma and ankle weakness – now strong, beautiful, and alive. I live in Uggs and flip flops when I have to wear shoes, and otherwise I am naked from the ankles down. I marvel at and appreciate my feet and their covering of skin which is an amazing barrier to germs, and objects. I treat them with pedicures and barefoot dance every day, and they treat me to a whole new world of sensation and pleasure! Pleasure experienced living with my feet connected to the earth…

P.S. Want to know which shoes are the healthiest for your feet? Download this article from my website here .

Eating Well Recipe...Watermelon Wonder Smoothie

Stephanie — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:45:00 GMT

Served at the recent Happy Hour Hoopbuilding Workshop at my house, this was a hit! Very refreshing and low calorie – a great way to get a fruit serving!

Ingredients

2 cups cubed, seeded watermelon
1 cup diet lemon-lime soda (I used Fresca)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2/3 cup ice cubes

Preparation
Place watermelon in freezer; freeze until firm (about 1 hour). Remove from freezer and let stand about 10 minutes.

Combine watermelon, soda, and juice in a blender. Process until smooth. With blender on, add ice cubes, one at a time. Process until smooth.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 97
Fat: 0.7g
Protein: 1g
Carbohydrate: 23.5g
Fiber: 0.8g

Beyond Boredom

Stephanie — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:15:00 GMT

In our get-it-now, no-downtime culture, doing NOTHING is considered unproductive and unimaginable. We’re texting, eating, and learning Spanish while driving, and scheduled from the moment we wake up until the moment we sleep. Ironically, we’re rushed to get to our yoga class and we self-medicate with food, drugs, and alcohol to overcome our hectic lifestyle. Heck, even our yoga classes have become a series of seamless movements with little stillness, save the last pose of shivasana!

To re-connect with my sense of inner peace, I occasionally take what I call silent retreats – a set amount of time where I step back from all forms of interaction with the outside world. Many people have asked me 2 questions about these retreats:

Why do you do it?
How do you stand it?

Learning the art of being bored can be challenging, for sure. What could possibly be the benefits? Well, I’ve discovered that just on the other side of boredom, if I can tolerate it, lies peace of mind and a connection to “something beyond the concerns of my daily life,” as Geneen Roth says in “Women Food and God”. Many of us fill our schedules in order to feel accomplished and successful, and unfortunately that often puts us on a treadmill of chasing more success, more achievements. And yet, underneath those achievements and met goals, there often lies a sense of “is this all there is?” or “is this what I’m REALLY meant to do?” that nags at us.

That nagging sense can only be addressed and abated by meeting what lies on the other side of boredom. We must create space, both physically and mentally, to allow the answer to that question, which varies for each of us, to come. As long as our lives are filled to the brim with activities and stuff, that nagging sense will follow.

Here are some of the favorite ways to avoid boredom or downtime that I’ve either tried or heard about:

Learning Spanish during commute
Cleaning, dusting, re-arranging furniture or knick knacks while waiting for guest to arrive
Picking up the phone and calling someone when you have a spare moment
Scheduling something every night of the week and/or weekend
Eating when not hungry

Are any of these familiar to you, too? Stay tuned for more info on the loveliness of silence and stillness.

More Than Just a Workout...Nia and Awareness (or Why You Should Care about Body Awareness)

Stephanie — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:45:00 GMT

During the past few weeks we have been focusing on various aspects of body awareness in our Nia Dance. Specifically on awakening and experiencing sensations (relaxation, stability, mobility, etc.). Many of you have asked me why enhancing body awareness is important and what the benefits are, so I’ll try to answer that from my point of view.

The way Nia works is that by focusing on the physical sensations we experience when we dance, we slowly re-connect to parts of ourselves that are asleep (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually) and we literally awaken to sensation. Usually we may sense that body parts hurt, but we sense pleasure much less often. Pain gets our attention, but pleasure? How tuned in to it are you on a daily basis (I’m not talking sex, people!)? What does pleasure feel like in your body? As we awaken to more sensation in our body, we experience more, and begin to feel more alive.

On a practical level, increasing body awareness through awakening sensation allows us to detect minor upsets in our physical body, such as injury or illness, and take restorative action sooner. It prevents us from injuring ourselves because we are living in our head and just dragging our bodies around with us. This requires our bodies to have to literally scream at us to get our attention.

Increasing awareness works in the emotional, mental, and spiritual realms as well. The greatest gift I have received from increasing body awareness is the ability to sense when I am hungry and when I am satisfied. Sounds simple, but that lack of awareness is a root cause of overeating, and therefore being overweight. I was finally able to address my mindless, compulsive eating and therefore find my natural, healthy weight without dieting (YES! without dieting, people!) through the growth of my own awareness.

Never diet again? Stop injuring myself? Prevent illness? All through awareness? SIGN ME UP! No more mindless eating or mindless exercising for me!

Weight Loss is a Spiritual Matter

Stephanie — Fri, 21 May 2010 22:28:00 GMT

An open letter I wrote to myself, and therefore, since we are all one on some level, to you as well….

Dear One,
Who gets up every day thinking “This will be the day I have enough willpower to eat healthy,” who tells herself, “Tomorrow will be different,” and “I should not have eaten that.” The answer you seek lies within – it is not in any diet or eating plan. It is buried underneath all the beliefs you carry about yourself and the world you live in, all the judgments and restrictions you place upon yourself. The truth is underneath all that. The truth is so precious that once you understand it instead of knowing it intellectually, it will melt away all struggles with your weight.

For you see, your relationship to food is just a mirror of your relationship to yourself. It is a reflection of you living in your mind instead of in your body. Your weight is an outcome of seeking the truth externally versus internally. It is all a mis-understanding.

Food is a comfort to the fears and insecurities you face daily. It is a temporary fix to a spiritual issue. The spiritual issue of having lost your connection, your felt connection to the divine, the universe, God, whatever you like to call it. Having lost that connection you believe that on some level you cannot handle the fears and emotions that make you uncomfortable, and running from discomfort, you eat for solace. Which works temporarily, only to add self-loathing on top of the discomfort for having eaten what you did.

Little do you know, dear one, how powerful and strong you are. If you knew that you could allow the fears and emotions to be, to just watch them, you would soon see how they come and go, and how nothing is big enough to swallow you or take you down with it. The resistance and the fear of feeling these uncomfortable emotions is worse than actually allowing yourself to feel them. Really feel them – physically in the body, without a story in your head. Using the body for what it was meant – to ground you in the here and now, and give you access to joy and peace.

For dieting is not why you are here, and it takes up far too much of your precious energy. Release your fears and your obsession with weight, and see that for what it really is: a way to avoid living your life. Your life, that happens while you obsess about what you just ate, what you are going to eat, and what you wish you could eat. You can handle, in fact you can actually embrace, everything that happens to you, whether you label it good or bad. You are so much bigger than you think you are. It’s time now to put down the weapons in the war with yourself.

Love,
Stephanie

If You Have Teeth, Please Read This!

Stephanie — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:54:00 GMT

I’m not in the business of promoting products and services, but when I discover something TRULY of value I feel compelled to share it. This is so important, it could literally change your life.

I have never been a fan of flossing, and have been admonished by my dental hygienist numerous times for not doing so. I don’t like the messiness, the discomfort, and the overall process, and so I have just refused to do it. Finally, about a year ago, I decided to do some research on flossing, thinking “there MUST be an alternative!”

Not long into my research, I discovered the Clean White Teeth website . To my absolute delight, Dr. Ellie Phillips shares an oral care system that is preventative AND does not require flossing. Well, I’ll try anything once, so I began to use her process. On my next visit to the dentist I said nothing about my new process; I wanted to see if I received the usual admonishment, and to my surprise she said nothing! “Just keep doing what you’re doing.” I smiled in secret delight.

Then, I’ll admit I fell off the Clean White Teeth program because my husband remarked about how expensive it is (some of the products you need to buy, while readily available at the grocery store, are not cheap). And then about 2 months ago I began to notice deterioration of my teeth – they looked dingy, and my dental hygienist threatened me with a “deep cleaning” if I didn’t improve my gums.

So I went back to the Clean White Teeth website, and discovered that Dr. Ellie has written a book about the science and history behind her oral care process. I ordered the book, and was completely fascinated by her scientific and anecdotal research in her 35 years as a dentist and member of the ADA. For example, she shares that there are NO conclusive, scientific, randomized studies that show flossing reduces dental disease. In her book, she not only debunks many other dental myths , but also educates on how cavities are formed and how you have a LOT of control over the health of your mouth, which by the way is directly linked to your overall health.

After reading the book, I feel educated and am once again committed to the Clean White Teeth system, which takes about 3 minutes twice a day and includes brushing, a few mouth rinses, and Xylitol. I invite you to visit her website, order her book, and research for yourself if this is something that you want to try. Especially if, like me, you hate flossing!

More Than Just a Workout...Nia and FreeDance

Stephanie — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:55:00 GMT

This is the third blog in a series on Nia as a lifestyle practice, where I’m sharing my own experience as well as tips on how to enhance your Dance Through Life.

FreeDance is Nia White Belt Principle 4, and a foundation of every Nia class. This principle is designed to stimulate movement diversity, which The Body’s Way requires, as well as overall creativity. It allows us to move in our own way and time, going within for guidance rather than seeking it externally. That’s probably why some Nia students aren’t comfortable with it (in my experience.)

I have had some Nia students share with me that FreeDance is hard for them, that it makes them feel self-conscious because they fear they look silly. I completely understand. I had the same experience when I first began practicing Nia. I thought everyone else looked weird doing it, and therefore I would too. I was not comfortable looking weird, and felt very self-conscious moving without a lot of guidance. I couldn’t really see the benefits of doing so, either. It felt SO outside my comfort zone.

Slowly, however I began to realize 2 things: 1) that the people I was dancing with weren’t judging me, and 2) I felt really energized being able to move in my own way vs. with the structure I’d experienced in past fitness classes. After time, I had similar realizations in my life as well – that I began to care less about what others thought, and that following my own path was very fulfilling to me. I began to see a strong correlation between what I experienced in Nia classes and what I experienced in my life – the same fears held me back in both. And I began to use my Nia practice as a place to push past my fears, as a laboratory to experiment with different behaviors and beliefs.

Allow yourself to be seduced by the music of life, by creating moments of stillness throughout your day. Practice listening to the silence and sounds that arise, by placing 100% of your attention on them and receiving them openly.
Become the witness of what you do in life. Simply observe yourself as you go through life. What triggers your impatience? What upsets you? How do you respond when that happens? After doing this for awhile, you can play with trying something different – or not.
Journal your answers to the following questions:
1. How do I greet the “river of the unexpected” in life? With resistance? With an embrace?
2. Where do I need more form in my life? More freedom?
3. How do I let emotions go? Easily? With difficulty? Why?

The Story of the Butterfly

Stephanie — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 22:26:00 GMT

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.

One day a small opening appeared.

He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours

as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole.

Then it stopped, as if it couldn’t go further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly.

He took a pair of scissors and

snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon.

The butterfly emerged easily but

it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch it,

expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge

and expand enough to support the body,

Neither happened!

In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life

crawling around.

It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness

and haste did not understand:

The restricting cocoon and the struggle

required by the butterfly to get through the opening

was a way of forcing the fluid from the body

into the wings so that it would be ready

for flight once that was achieved.

Sometimes struggles are exactly

what we need in our lives.

Going through life with no obstacles would cripple us.

We will not be as strong as we could have been

and we would never fly.

Author Unknown

Artist Date: Ayurvedic Thai Yoga Massage

Stephanie — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:19:00 GMT

This is the second blog in a series on Artist Date ideas. An artist date is a powerful tool from the book and process “The Artist’s Way,” a creativity recovery process. It is time you spend alone doing something that nourishes your soul. Something just for you - mini-retreat of sorts. In the Artist’s Way you do this weekly. I try but am not always successful in keeping this frequency, so sometimes I take a whole day or afternoon to do something that THRILLS ME. And I am sharing my date activities with you!

Recently I had an Ayurvedic Thai Yoga massage with Janet Love at Family Wellness Center in Midland, MI. If you’re not familiar with Ayurveda, it is an ancient Indian approach to wellness that is based on prevention and treatment of illness through lifestyle practices (yoga, massage, meditation, dietary changes) and herbal remedies. The exact prescriptions for the above are based on doshas, or body types, and how to balance them. I practiced Ayurveda some when I lived in California, but had not encountered anyone with Ayurvedic knowledge since returning to Midland. I found that it made a big difference in my overall sense of well-being in my body.

Janet recently returned from Kripalu where she earned another certification in both yoga and Thai massage, in the field of Ayurveda. In my session, she asked me a variety of questions to help me determine my predominant dosha, or body type. Sometimes it can be tricky to identify if more than one dosha is prominent, but in my case Pitta stood out. This re-affirmed what I’d learned about myself in California. She gave me advice on different lifestyle practices that would balance my dosha, like avoiding heat, intense exercise and competitive environments; she also recommended specific yoga postures to help me calm and re-center, like spinal twists and standing poses.

Then, based on my dosha, she tailored a Thai yoga massage to balance my Pitta. Gently guiding me in assisted postures and stretching while clothed, she coaxed my body into relaxation. Some yoga poses that I usually find too intense for me, felt much gentler and easier with her assistance. The hour flew by, and at the end I felt differently than I usually do after a traditional massage. Calm, but not out of it. Like every joint in my body was nourished and loose. Supremely relaxed.

Janet currently offers this service several days a week, as well as her Gentle Yoga classes at Creative 360.

Please feel free to share your artist date ideas and activities too!

More Than Just a Workout...Nia and The Art of Listening

Stephanie — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:11:00 GMT

This is the third blog in a series on Nia as a lifestyle practice, where I’m sharing my own experience as well as tips on how to enhance your Dance Through Life.

The Art of Listening is part of Nia White Belt Principle 3, Music and the 8BC System. This principle elevates the appreciation and understanding of music as part of our dance, and in my experience makes the dance possible. It teaches us to dance with the music rather than to it.

This begins with the Art of Listening, which is practice in a state called RAW – Relaxed, Alert, Waiting. Relaxed in body, Alert in Mind, and Waiting in spirit. It creates a powerful and intimate relationship with music, and with people as well. When was the last time you simply and wholly listened to someone you loved with no agenda, no inner dialogue, and an intention to simply understand? Learning how to create this relationship with music was a great foundation for me to create with others as well.

In Nia, we say the foundation of relationship begins with listening. When I am in the state of RAW, everything slows down. Opinions fade to the background, and thoughts cease. So much attention is on listening that there is little left for anything else. It is a state of internal silence, which allows me to hear something new. I have discovered, for instance that I really don’t know my husband because I always know what he is going to say which never leaves possibility for me to hear something new. By developing my skill in listening to music, I have developed it in listening to him as well, allowing our relationship to deepen and grow. And I never thought I was the one who was an obstacle to our growth!

One of the many gifts Nia has given me in life outside the studio, The Art of Listening has contributed most to my relationships – to music, to students, to family, and friends. Here are some ways you can develop your Art of Listening by practicing in RAW:

Put on a song and sink into Relaxed (in body, sitting up comfortably), Alert (in mind, no inner dialogue), and Waiting (in spirit, no agenda). Place 100% of your attention on the music and listen for both sound and silence. Notice your experience.

Throughout your day, allow yourself to become fascinated by the sounds and silences of life. Practice RAW while waiting in line, or for the movie to begin. Learn to sustain this state for longer and longer periods of time and notice the effects this has on your nervous system.

For advanced practice, try practicing RAW while listening to someone speaking. How present can you be with them? Notice any thoughts that come up or habits you have when listening to others that prevent you from hearing or experiencing something new.

My Affair...

Stephanie — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:44:00 GMT

As you probably know, Nia is my first love. I love the mix of dance, martial arts, and healing that occurs in every class I teach and take. I love the way it feels in my body, and I love sharing it with others. But this past week I met something new while I was visiting my mom in Houston, and now I am having an affair. With Hooping. Yes, hula hooping. But not with the hoop you played with as a child.

Hooping has grown up. Now it is done with adult-sized, weighted hoops that are decorated in a dizzying amount of ways. In my first class I picked up the technique easily and by the end was actually doing a few tricks! It was exhilarating to feel successful, and to feel the hoop working my mid-section – like Pilates results with Zumba fun. I had so much fun that I returned for another class before I left. Then I began to watch the YouTube videos of what is possible with the hoop and I was hooked! Just watching these amazing moves and dances inspired me to keep doing this.

So now that I am home, I have started making my own hoops, which is a blast! I am practicing almost daily, learning new tricks and just having a ball. I am instantly transported back in time, to the little girl who laughed and played. And I have discovered that these tricks are teachable and that most people can learn them as easily as I did. So…..

I am going to begin offering Hooping as a fitness class starting in May! I know, it sounds crazy, but I did not have this strong of a response to Nia even, so I am going with it! I am going to go to Detroit to get certified to teach with Hoopnotica (a sign from the universe that they are in town in May?), and am SO excited for you to try this perfect complement to Nia. Your Nia moves will aid you greatly in picking up hooping, so don’t worry. In both classes I took, there wasn’t a single person who couldn’t keep their hoop up by the end of class.

It’s time to GET YOUR HOOP ON! Stay tuned for more details later this week on an intro class to try it out and see if you like it….