Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

Day 26 of 52 Nia challenge

I promised myself when I started this effort that even dancing for five minutes would be a success. Here on day 26, I gave myself permission to just do Nia’s five stages, which is a lovely floor exercise. Supported by the floor, not fighting gravity at the start, I revisited in about five minutes the arm-waving infant to the creeping, crawling, standing, walking toddler, the becoming upright process that all us humans go through.

When I learned this exercise during white belt training, I started out thinking it was kind of silly. That was my skeptical brain. After doing it daily (white belt training is a seven-day intensive), my body gave the skeptical brain additional feedback. For the first three months after getting my white belt I did it daily. I’ve let it go a little but came back to it today.

I like it.

Day 25 of 52 Nia dance

A profound exercise I experienced during Nia white belt training last spring involved dancing with one other person and taking turns mirroring each others steps.

We didn’t speak, we just looked at each other and either led or followed. I don’t think this exercise lasted for more than five minutes, but afterward I felt deeply connected to my dance partner, a lively and delightful person — Nanou, a Frenchwoman who lives in China, who came for white belt training in Oregon. I can’t see her picture without smiling.

I had forgotten about that until this morning while dancing the 30-minute version of Connecting with Laurie Bass online. Usually I follow the teacher’s movements, but in my own way. Today, I found myself mirroring Laurie and it brought me back to that deep experience with Nanou.

Here’s a thing that has changed in me since starting this daily practice. I no longer think less of the process of dancing alone with an online trainer. I’ve had to do it several times in the past week because of scheduling conflicts. I’ve come to appreciate how I can sink into the routine without distraction.

I love the dance community, but I think I also love this different yet meaningful experience.