Smell the Moment

With the smell of Spring in the air, its a perfect natural incentive to put some attention on how you breathe. In Nia, we use the body's way to show us how to breathe. That is, we look at the design and function of the breathing systems to guide us in breathing for optimal health and well being. For example, the body uses the nose to inhale and exhale. The nose's function is to smell. If you choose to "smell the moment" as the way of inhaling you may notice that the inhale naturally lengthens and deepens. The body also uses the voice box in relation to exhaling. The voice box's function is to make sound. Try smelling the moment and then exhaling with a sound, "ahhhhhhhhhhh". You may notice that the exhale naturally lengthens, allowing for a deeper and more easeful inhalation that follows.

This week we used a breathing technique from Somato (body) Respiratory (breathing) Integration. SRI educates you to your body's rhythms and inner wisdom through focused attention, gentle breath, movement and touch. Through reconnecting your breath, touch, focused movement and attention, you are able to experience the body more fully and instantly shift your state of consciousness to one that supports trust for the body-mind and your life experience. There are 12 stages of Healing in this practice. Below, Faye Fentiman, certified SRI Wellness Practitioner demonstrates stage 1.