Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

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  • Quiet mind

    Day 39 of 52 Nia dance

    It’s a busy travel day, so I danced the shorter 35-minute online Bloom routine with Kellie Chambers.

    I’m like the bee on my rosemary in this picture. Blooming nicely here in October in mild Oregon, the rosemary bushes still attract dozens of bees, and they arrive just a little before the sun touches the plants. I got an early start, too, tumbling out of bed to dance in PJs.

    Somewhere in the last 10 minutes of dancing, my mind let go of words for just a few moments and was all movement, breath, music. That doesn’t happen very often. Mostly my brain is working… what to do next, what time it might be, what will I write about, what about pain, anything hurting? It can be so noisy in there.

    I love it when it quiets. I have a little experience with meditation, with noticing the breath while sitting. To have the mind quiet for just a bit while moving is a rare and welcome part of Nia for me.

  • Wait, why?

    Day 38 of 52 Nia dance

    The religion of my family has a profound scripture: “Men are that they might have joy.” I grew up hearing that, and perhaps it’s among the most meaningful legacies for me of that faith, right up there with loving kindness as a guiding principle.

    So when I think about the reasons behind my decision to commit to a daily practice for more than seven weeks, part of it was simple curiosity about experiencing joy in a physical way every day. Nia is all about joy of movement. It’s about learning to love how I feel in my body. What would it be like to feel that every day?

    Here’s what it’s like: Every day, I have an interlude — any where from five minutes to 65 minutes, depending on my mood and the routine — where I am joyful.

    Honestly, every day. So far, anyway. Joy takes different shapes. Some days it’s calming. Some days it’s exuberant and childlike. Some days it’s a kind of loving acceptance of whatever is going on that I am powerless over. And some days it’s simple joy, like being warmed by sunshine, like a friend I adore smiling my way.

    I have invited friends to dance Nia with me and some have come. Not everybody experiences the enchantment that I’ve found. And I think that is how life works. There are many many ways to bring joy.

    My hope is that everyone finds their path to joy. And not just fleeting glimpses. But a path, marked by their experience and enhanced by the experience of those with whom they resonate.

    Find a way to joy. And find a way back to joy when it’s needed.

    Today I danced “Alchemy.” Again! I’m loving it.

  • My own magic

    Day 37 of 52 Nia dance

    Today I pulled six songs, three each, from the middle of “Bloom” and “Alchemy.” A couple of them — “Shake Down Hold Up” from “Bloom” and “Byzantine” from “Alchemy” — brought such joy, I danced them twice. When trainer Debbie-Lee van Ginkel said, “It’s your journey, it’s your magic,” I heard it and also felt it.

    I wrapped up by doing the five stages, a floor exercise that got me thinking about my own magic.

    The picture with today’s blog is from my playroom window, the maple tree outside going red, inside my small stone diffuser with its tea light and tiny bowl of water and aromatic oil. And, of course, a hefty mug of pens, pencils, paint brushes, etc. It’s my magic space. And by magic, I mean there’s no anticipating what might emerge — alchemize? — here.