Personal Reflections
The Blog
I woke up today still excited and on a high from yesterday’s event. The high that arises from connection and belonging to a community.To back up a little, maybe six weeks ago, I reached out to Mariam with an idea of having a virtual women wellness day. At the time, I was already involved with …
Starting to write this, I wanted to look up the history and ancient tradition of women circles. Partially because I want to present you with a comprehensive and compelling essay on women circles and why I feel we need to have that in all cities and villages hopefully more than one. But that’s not all …
“I can’t ride a bike.” I’ve said that so many times in my life and the reaction is always, “oh really, why!!?” I don’t know why I never learn to ride a bike; all my siblings ride bicycles, so it wasn’t an issue of space or logistics; I never got beyond my training wheels, and …
Reflections on the last day of the year (1440) and welcoming the new year (1441) Not knowing can be a bliss or a curse. I can’t be bothered or upset by that I don’t know. Knowing that I don’t know can also be unsettling, nerve-racking, and a tension creating. How can I choose when I …
Click here to register to the talk series So here’s what happened Within the last three weeks, I had great conversations with different women and I was inspired to share their work with others. I was also finding my self connecting with others, sharing stories and creating a space for conversations. Combine all that and …
“Will this help me lose weight.” This is the question I get the most about any of my classes, Nia, mindful movement or dance and when I talk with other teachers, yoga or otherwise, they have the same observation. As if life became divided into two categories; the things that help us lose weight and …
When the announcement for the 1st-degree black belt came out last year, I had no desire of going. I had completed the Black belt training in 2016, and although I did a retake of some of the belts afterward, I was ready to begin a new path in my journey of awareness and self-exploration. I …
Ever since I began my journey to reconnect to my body, and learn to listen to the subtlety of its messages, I had numerous experiences when I ignored what my body was telling me and following the direction of my mind only to regret my choice. It is interesting how we think we are making …
Two things happened around the same time that gave me clarity on the type of coach I want to be. The first one was coaching an aspiring actress who wanted to be comfortable moving in her body. I was honest at the beginning that I knew nothing of theater, but I know I can …
I love my kids; I love how they are teaching me to be a better person every day, I love how they are showing me to how unconditionally love. I have two boys, and they are the best teachers I have, the lessons I learned and have yet to learn from them are …
Awareness is to observe without judgment, to notice what is happening right now, this minute, this second. Awareness is to sense, taste, hear, see, and feel. Awareness is to observe without judgment, how we talk, how we walk and how we love. Awareness gives us a choice; we can’t change what we are …
I’m not a big shopper…well of clothes, shoes, and accessories that is…take me to a bookstore, and I can spend any amount of money you give me :)I’m also conscious about what to buy and minimizing my social and environmental footprint as possible, I don’t buy a lot of things. In 2016, I went into …
In 2017 I set up myself with a challenge to read 100 books. This came about when I realized that I didn’t dedicate enough time to read in the past few years, I love reading, but I didn’t prioritize it and therefore didn’t do it. So 2017 became the year that I put reading …
Jahanamiya is a feminist literary magazine that publishes written work exclusively by Saudi women, as well as accompanying artwork created by regional artists. In its latest issue titled Movement التحرك, I wrote a short story about my experience with movement followed by a poem titled An Invitation to Move. You can read the full story here
As I’m getting ready to host the first Nia White Belt training in Dubai (Dec 12-17) and to encourage more people to sign for the training, I reached out to Nia international community to share their stories about their experience with the training. I would like to share with you some of their stories. …
The seed I planted to grow Nia in the Gulf region is growing 🙂 We have a date for the first ever White Belt training in Dubai. In December, the fantastic Nia Trainer Helen Terry will be flying in to offer the training. Nia has transformed my life in so many different ways; it has …
Last year, I declared the month of December as time off. I canceled my Nia classes, put a hold on few things I wanted to engage in, and didn’t make plans for anything! 2016 was a big year for me, with lots of traveling and projects. It was a great year of self-reflection, growth, and …
Happy New Year 🙂 For the past few years, I didn’t set goals or make resolutions for the new year. Instead, I find inspiring words and ideas and let those organically guide me to what I want to do and manifest in the upcoming year. However, in December I was getting inspirations to do …
Last weekend I went to Riyadh for the first time in over 10 years, I was there to introduce Nia to the Riyadh community. I had the honor of hosting my events in Sukoun. Sukoun is a women wellness center, a beautiful space created by beautiful souls. As I stepped in, I sensed tranquility and …
Last week I answered a call to retake part of the Nia blue belt intensive that was taking place in Paris, France. It has only been little over a month since I completed the Black belt training, and here comes an invitation to experience blue. The blue belt training is the second belt training in …
Yes! I am a proud Black belt Nia teacher! It is still surreal, like a moment in a dream. I did fly into Portland on Sep 10 to begin my journey into the unknown. On the Nia website, the invitation in Black belt is to let go of all that is known and enter the …
As I get closer to our departure date to the US, I begin one of the important parts of my preparation for the trip, online shopping! I’m not big on fashion and cloth shopping, but there are certain brands I like that are not available here. One of these brands is PrAna, which I love …
As I wrote in my previous post, I love exploring new ideas and I take every opportunity that presents its self to learn something new. What I also love, is to share what I learn with others. So here is my new point of interest. Few weeks ago I was introduced to Non Violent Communication, …
Today was one of the days that I stopped and started thinking of what do I really want to be doing, and what direction I want to take in my life. It seems like every now and then I’m guided toward something different. Regarding my Nia practice, I’m getting many signs to focus my practice …
Two weeks ago I had no idea that I will be going to Goa and be lead by Wendy Palmer in a two day course, Level 1 of Leadership Embodiment. I first read about Wendy Palmer when I was curious about Aikido, she is a 6th degree Black Belt. Aikido, is a Japanese martial …
Few days ago, the Nia Technique Headquarters shared with us, teachers, students and future students, the Nia Brand Book. The book presents the purpose, philosophy and meaning of Nia. You can download the book here. From the book, I would like to share here the Pillars of Nia: 1- FITNESS Feeling Good + Looking Good …
Nia Pillars, Survey, and Inspiration for the day Read More »
Earlier this year I set up a challenge for myself, to create and craft a Nia class routine with my music and choreography before my birthday. It would be my birthday gift to myself. That would be a major expansion and stepping out of my comfort zone. I wasn’t sure that I would be able …
Aikido is one of three martial arts that Nia inspires from. Before Nia I had no idea what Aikido is, I never even heard of it! Tae Kown Do and karate were what I knew of martial arts, I didn’t even know that Tai Chi is a martial art. South Korea is the birth place …
Do you want to join a Nia class but have no idea what to expect? More about what is Nia here Here are tips for stepping into a Nia class for the first time. Keep an open mind and relaxed body. Give your self a chance to experience something new. If you don’t like the …
In my post about books I loved in 2015, I included Radical Forgiveness as one of my favorites. The book and the radical forgiveness tools it offers resonated so much with what I feel is true, it helped me resolve some issues, at least for now, and simply made so much sense. I decided to …
During the last quarter of 2015 I was reflecting on what I would like to do in 2016. For years now I no longer set resolutions or specific objectives to be achieved. I realized that many times I don’t do what I set up to do or I’m no longer interested in them. Now, what …
“You are what you eat” this phrase has many truths to it, we are the qualities of what we eat. Some people added “and digest well” to the end of it, because if we don’t digest the food well, we lose many nutrients that we need. While the quality of what we eat is very …
Reading books is one the most pleasurable things I can treat my self with. It is a pure bliss to be able to sit with a book, probably with coffee, and read. Books can take me to places I can’t even imagine and open doors that I didn’t know exist. I read books about subjects …
We are born movers and dancers. As children we moved and danced in order to learn and we did that through playing. At some point while we were growing up we forgot all about movement, dance and play. Some people may have been able to maintain that quality of freedom in movement, but I certainly …