Rachel teaches Nia dance every week.  Join the fun!


I recently began a course on Positive Psychology at New York University where I’m completing my Masters in Social Work. Positive psychology asks the question what is authentic happiness and how does one raise his or her level of well-being or life satisfaction?

The founder of Positive Psychology, Martin E. P. Seligman writes in his book, Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment , about an important element of a fulfilled and meaningful life called flow.

Flow is the state that a person experiences when they are doing an activity in which they are so engaged that time seems to stop. Seligman describes flow as a time when “our sense of self vanishes” and there is a “deep, effortless involvement.”

Seligman says one of the keys to a more fulfilling life is identifying your strengths or the experiences that bring the sense of flow and crafting your life in such a way to include more moments to utilize those strengths.

Taking it a step further, Seligman says you can find even more fulfillment by using your strengths and applying them to a cause that is greater than yourself.

Seligman is very vocal about the fact that Positive Psychology and the study of mental well-being, just like the study of mental illness, is backed by scientific research.

It is nice to know that there is a technique for increasing one’s happiness that has been backed by science, but regardless of this, I find the concept of flow and applying it to a higher purpose quite beautiful. It is also somewhat simple and relatable, I have to say.

I think many of us can identify times in our lives when we were so engaged, that time stopped. Even more beautiful is to be engaged in such an activity knowing that the results will be for the benefit of something greater than yourself.

If instead of seeking simple pleasures and instant gratifications we all sought moments of flow in service of others, how different would the world be?


Rachel teaches Nia dance every week.  Join the fun!

  Take Rachel's Nia Class ~  Wednesdays 6:30pm (at Club H 423 W. 55th,NYC)




I don’t know about you, but at this time of year I feel an overwhelming desire to play. I find that the mix of sunshine and the spirit of summer ramping up make me want to move and be active just like I did when I was a kid. As adults, we often forget that play is just as important for us as is it is for children.

Play helps to enliven the spirit, exercise the body and mind and improve communication within our relationships. Most of all, it is difficult to take life too seriously when you approach every moment in the spirit of play.

The spirit of play or playfulness comes to mind when I think of dance. In the practice of Nia, we find freedom through what we call FreeDance. It is only when we let of the need to “do it right” that we find true freedom and play. There are no rules with Freedance, accept listening to the music, sensing your body and moving in your unique way.

As Debbie Rosas, the co-founder of Nia describes it FreeDance is "a way to find that hidden part of you that comes alive as you learn to drop the old and embrace the new. FreeDance gives you a platform for constant renewal guided by internal forces, not external images that tell you how you 'should' be or what you 'should' do."

As we move into the summer months, how will you find the spirit of play in your daily life? What moves your spirit or makes you laugh? Seek out the people, experiences and places that give you perspective and help you find greater joy in every moment.

Take Rachel's Nia Class ~  every Wednesday 6:30pm at Club H (423 W. 55th St, NYC)

rachel@oriensliving.com

  Dance with Rachel every Wednesday Night!

We all know the “shoulds” behind exercising. What I mean is we all know why we should exercise. Exercise helps us manage our weight, combat chronic disease, improve energy levels and reduce stress. These are all great benefits. So how come it is still so hard some days to get to that class or get on that yoga mat?

I believe the answer lies in how we frame exercise or “movement” as I prefer to call it. We’ve made movement just another chore, another item to check off our check-list. So what if moving our bodies was not just another “should” but was a gift and a pleasure we give to ourselves?

I think the key to this shift in thinking is discovering how your body loves to move. Movement is not a one-size-fits-all prescription that can be applied to every person. We each have unique ways that our bodies find joy in moving. So how does your body love to move?

I believe this is a difficult question for many women to answer because so many of us have lost connection with our bodies. Or we have lost the joy of connecting to our bodies. As Elizabeth Carpenter MS, L.Ac., CEFP says: “women’s lives are tied to their bodies at every stage of life. As young women we are often taught to focus on our faults, feeling that something is wrong with us and thus we lose connection with our bodies and what brings us pleasure. Women are the sensors and feelers. Dance helps reawaken that connection, that special gift we as women have."

The emphasis in Nia (dance) class is on reconnecting to our bodies through pleasure, not pain. There are no “shoulds,” allowed! Each person’s unique way of moving is honored and encouraged. It is truly a beautiful sight to see a room full of people moving to the same song, each in their own distinctive way.

So why not make exercise a joy instead of a “should?” Come to class, reconnect to yourself and explore how your body loves to move. As I say to all my students, the joy that can be found is limitless!

     Dance with Rachel every Wednesday night!

"Music is the festive dress of silence."  -Chamalu

Listening is an art and a skill that when developed can enhance communication in all parts of your life. A simple way to develop your listening skills is through the use of music. By concentrating your focus completely on the sounds, silences and vibrations of music, you can bring yourself into a more relaxed meditative state as well as heighten your awareness of yourself, your body and the world around you.

In Nia [dance], in order to develop our listening skills we use a practice called RAW, which stands for Relaxed, Alert and Waiting. Using this simple acronym as your guide, listen to one of your favorite pieces of music. 

Begin with RAW:

• Relaxed Body: in a comfortable seated position, find the sensation of relaxation or the absence of tension through out your body.
• Alert Mind: empty out the mind as much as possible so you are not preoccupied with thoughts or images but awake, conscious and aware.
• Waiting Spirit: have a sense of wonder, be present and open to what comes next.

Begin the song and listen to:

• The sounds and silences
• Rhythms, voices, changes in pitch, tone and mood
• One particular instrument or sound.
• The music as a whole

Once the song has finished, take a few moments and notice how you feel.  Is your mind clearer? Do you find your body is more relaxed? With this new heightened sense of awareness, begin the song again, but this time, get up dance. You may discover a much richer and fuller movement experience.

  Dance with Rachel every Wednesday night!

                Recently I participated in a workshop where we used the dance practice, 5 Rhythms to go deeper into the self and fully integrate the body. So what does that mean? How do we know if we’ve fully integrated all parts of ourselves? I think the best way to find the answer is to look at the opposite extreme, the times when we’ve felt totally disconnected.

                In the workshop, the teacher, Jonathon Horan, spoke about the sensation of being a “walking, talking head.” This was certainly an image to which I could relate. There have been many times when I’ve been so in my head, focusing on my thoughts and obsessions that I am essentially completely disconnected from what’s going on in my body. Often it takes a physical sensation to snap me out of that state such as pain. Pain is always a good indication that we’ve become disconnected from our bodies and sensation. But of course, we’d all prefer a pain-free way to reconnect our bodies! So when you find that your mind is racing, that you’re having imaginary conversations in your head or constantly going over your to-do list, make a conscious decision to come back to your body, to your sensations. One way to do that would be by focusing on your breath. Notice the breath coming in to your belly, expanding your rib cage, causing your collar bones to rise slightly and then slowly exhale with control consciously drawing the navel inward towards the spine.

                Once you’ve become reconnected to your body through noticing one aspect of yourself, such as the breath, turn on some music and begin to add on to that sensation of breath little by little, sensing perhaps your hands and the movement of your fingers. Moving up your arms you can then begin to sense the movement and sensation of your elbows which then leads to sensing the shoulders.  Part by part, using the joints as your guides, you sense and move until you feel the body moving as a fully-integrated whole. In Nia we call this systemic movement.

                You can then take this fully-integrated body out into the world and interact with the people in your life. You may find it is a totally different experience to see, listen and take in sights and sounds around you with your whole self as opposed to that talking head. I like to see my dance practice as a sort of laboratory, a place to experiment and prepare for life in the “real world.” The playfulness of Nia and dance provides a safe space for us to explore stepping into and moving with our whole selves. Come dance and play each week! Let’s see what we can discover!