Progress

Well, my daughter is safely back home - Albuquerque, NM. It was a wonderful visit. I took her to the airport Monday afternoon. We went to the Rose Garden before going to the airport. The Portland, OR Rose Garden is exquisite. It is a must-see for visitors AND for residents. Sometimes I forget about having this magical garden in my backyard. Monday, while I was walking around and smelling the various blossoms, my mind kept going to memories of Rick Yorba. He died of Aids about 10 years ago. I think of him so often and with such love. We created beautiful theater together and our friendship was precious to me.

One of my students is going to undertake the job of producing the DVD. We will have a meeting next Tuesday to discuss the details and make the plan. YES!!
Thinking about the major theme/focus and the elements I want to include. These become ever more clear and full with each Nia class I teach. One class is for people over 55 years of age and the other for people over 60. At this juncture I have only women taking the class. I am learning SO much about what works and what is more challenging. I constantly check in with my students - particularly before and after the class. I ask them to define their goals for the class. Today, some of the desires included relaxation, energizing, healing a knee and more flexibility. Balance didn't happen to be mentioned. I deliberately added the jazz square to their vocabulary of movement. I like to have one or two more challenging moves in the mix in order to engage their minds and to give them a sense of accomplishment - learning something new. It's great fun to co-create and at the same time to be covering the elements of fitness. I wouldn't recommend this approach to someone who doesn't have an extensive vocabulary and experience. Fortunately we have the library of routines created by Debbie and Carlos to use.

I banked my last paycheck for editing for Nia HQ. I don't miss that part of my life. Perhaps another editing gig will appear. I'm not seeking one, but would be happy to absorb one into my world. I'm mindfully accepting moment-to-moment activities and requests.