Why fun is fundamental to your health and happiness

Why fun is fundamental to your health and happiness

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Why fun is fundamental to your health and happiness

Nia - Now I Am - positive affirmations with Sophie Marsh
Nia with Sophie Marsh dance for health

“Having fun is not a diversion from a successful life; it is the pathway to it… written in the language of joy.”
~ Martha Beck

When was the last time you felt light-hearted, connected, and alive with joy?  What were you doing?  Who were you with?

Maybe you’ve been crazy busy… or stuck in a loop of everyday life… or weighed down by difficult circumstances… or overwhelmed by change and uncertainty. There are serious, sad, and confronting things happening in the world around us, contributing to general stress and an epidemic of mental health issues. In these tough times, fun may seems frivolous.

But what if fun was the secret to health and well-being?

Recently I came across a book “The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again” by science journalist Catherine Price. (She also does a great TED Talk.) She says having fun is a like a health intervention that can bring you back to life.

Catherine explains there’s a big difference between what she calls “fake fun” and “true fun”. Fake fun gives a quick fix of pleasure – like fast-food, binge-watching Netflix, scrolling socials or a few wines – it ultimately leaves you feeling numb and unsatisfied.

By contrast, true fun is a relaxed and open state that makes you feel nourished and refreshed.  Through her own research and experience, Catherine defines true fun as a congruence of three psychological states – playfulness, connection, and flow.

  • Playfulness means being spontaneous, light-hearted, and doing something just for the pleasure of it, without striving for a goal or outcome.
  • Connection means having a special shared experience with someone (or something) else. Meaningful relationships and human connection are vital for our physical and mental health.
  • Flow state is a feeling of effortless attention where you’re so fully immersed in an activity that you lose track of time. Your skills meet the challenge, and you feel deeply satisfied.

How to fill your life with more playfulness, connection and flow.

  1. Increase playfulness by embracing your inner 5-year-old and giving yourself permission to be more spontaneous, expressive, and free of judgment.
  2. Increase connection by interacting more with others in real life… face to face, soul to soul, human to human. Notice how our differences disappear when we connect through fun.
  3. Reduce distractions to increase flow. Replace mindless screen time with more purposeful presence, doing what you love.
  4. Commit to daily rituals and weekly activities that nourish your body, engage your mind, and liberate your spirit.

Make fun a priority… 

Scan your daily life and make 2 lists. Write down

  1. activities (or people) that take up time and result in feeling empty or drained.
  2. activities (or people) that help you get into a state of playful, connected flow and leave you feeling energised and alive.

Set your intention to invest less time on #1 and more on #2. Sounds easy, but think about how much time you spend on your phone. Taking action on this can be a powerful habit breaker.

When you feel like you’re getting your joy back, you’ll know you’ve got the balance right for you! Research affirms you are more resilient, creative, persistent, present, and productive when you are engaged in pursuits that bring us maximum fun.

Want more fun… do more Nia!

Nia is a serious practice that reminds you not to take yourself too seriously! Every Nia experience offers opportunities for playfulness, connection, and flow. With contagious joy and community at its heart, practising (and sharing) Nia brings you meaningful connection, a sense of purpose, and sustainable health and wellbeing… the FUNdamentals of feeling alive!

If you want more joy in your life, why not (re)commit to coming regularly to my online or in-person Nia classes or immerse yourself in a week of fun and self discovery with the Nia White Belt?

“Fun is important. Fun is what keeps you ageless.” ~ Dr Christiane Northrup

MOVEMENT IS MEDICINE – PLAYFUL NIA PRACTICE

First, tune in to your body and notice any places that feel heavy or tight.  Take this 3 minute dance break with me and then afterwards, notice what feels better and give gratitude for that. Thank you body!

Sophie Marsh © 2022 • Web Design Seedhead

How body awareness can change your mind and boost your wellbeing

How body awareness can change your mind and boost your wellbeing

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How body awareness can change your mind and boost your wellbeing

Nia - Now I Am - positive affirmations with Sophie Marsh
Nia with Sophie Marsh dance for health

“In order to change, people need to become aware of their sensations and the way that their bodies interact with the world around them. Physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.” ~ Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score

Changing your body changes your mind!

For centuries we were programmed to live in our heads. The mind was seen as the fount of knowledge and rational thought, separate from the body, which was considered less significant or even reviled. Now anthropologists, philosophers, neuroscientists and cognitive scientists affirm that every cell and organ has its own intelligence and that the body plays an integral role in thinking and decision making.

The gut-brain connection is a burgeoning field of mind-body research. Did you know, gut bacteria manufacture about 95 percent of the body’s supply of serotonin, which influences both mood and gastrointestinal activity? And hormones have a huge impact on your mental wellbeing. (Just ask any teenager or menopausal woman!) Yet in education, health and business sectors, the power of the body to affect the mind is still being under-utilised.

How can you unwind stress and fear patterns that keep you feeling stuck or anxious?

Google “best ways to manage stress, fear, anxiety, depression, overwhelm, trauma, distraction, or dementia.” The most recent answers will most likely include “pay attention to what you feel in your body and where you feel it, use conscious breathing techniques, and prioritise regular exercise”, as well as intermittent fasting a diet of unprocessed food, quality sleep, social connection, and balancing your hormones (I take Happy Hormones from HHY).

This evidence-based holistic approach aligns with what we teach in the Nia White Belt – how to access your body’s natural intelligence and use mindfulness and movement to feel better.  N.I.A = Neuromuscular Integrative Action!

  • Begin with developing the ability to notice subtle body sensations – listen to them, then respond in a way that respects your body’s needs. In Nia we call this body literacy. Notice and name the little things that make you feel good inside and out, throughout your day.
  • Commit to a daily practice that shifts your awareness deeper into your body and reconnects you with your inherent vibrancy and vitality – practices like Nia, 5Stages, conscious breathwork, a mindful walk, or a body scan meditation.
  • Make moving your body for your health and wellbeing a priority. It sounds simple (and it is once you get started), but the latest stats show that 50-75 percent of middle-aged women are insufficiently active. Put it on your schedule to make it real. Like most things, the more you do it, the easier it gets. 

A MIND-BODY EXERCISE

Try it out… Tell yourself a contracted thought like “I’m hopeless”, “It’s never going to work out”, “I shouldn’t… couldn’t… can’t…” and notice what happens in your body. Let your body response be exaggerated. For example, if your shoulders feel heavy, let them really fold in. Notice any tension, breath-holding, or dense energy. 

Now… lift your heart and open your posture. You might organically take a deep breath or two. Keep shifting until you take on a more powerful, expanded stance… now make it even bigger. Open your eyes, and with softness, look around and let the light in. What has happened to your thoughts?

NOW I AM…

Nia’s creator Debbie Rosas says that when you get stuck in the thinking mind you block your life-force and creativity. This is your ego coming from control and fear, and it shows up in your body as tightness. Living in your head depletes your energy, steals your joy, and restricts your potential and growth.

As you tap into your body intelligence, it shifts your mind in a positive direction – away from negative thoughts and towards creative connection and authentic expression. You learn to trust your intuition and respond from your sacred truth. Distractions and things you can’t control lose their power, freeing you to experience more joy and your natural state of being – love.

In any given moment you can decide… what do I want to embody? N.I.A = Now I Am…

Healing Affirmation – Going Beyond the Limitations of Fear

“Today I will let go of all fear. I realise that fear comes from my self image and not my Self. My ego is an image that I have created. By letting go of my ego I will embrace the truth inside me, which is fearless.

EGO = Edging God Out. Whenever my ego overshadows my spirit, it creates tightness in my body. I will witness the sensation of fear by feeling it, and then I will take the courageous step to do the very thing I fear. I will not fight my ego, I will witness it. This is the highest form of human intelligence – to observe yourself without judgment. Today I will observe my fear and my witnessing of it will transform it into love.” ~ Deepak Chopra

MOVEMENT IS MEDICINE – NIA DANCE BREAK

First, tune in to your body and notice any places that feel heavy or tight.  Take this 3.5 minute dance break with me and then afterwards, notice what feels better and give gratitude for that. Thank you body!

Sophie Marsh © 2022 • Web Design Seedhead

HOW TO HARNESS YOUR BREATH FOR TRANSFORMATION AND SELF-HEALING

HOW TO HARNESS YOUR BREATH FOR TRANSFORMATION AND SELF-HEALING

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HOW TO HARNESS YOUR BREATH FOR TRANSFORMATION AND SELF-HEALING

“Our breathing is a stable solid ground that we can take refuge in. No matter what is going on inside us – thoughts, emotions, or perceptions – our breathing is always with us, like a faithful friend. Whenever we are carried away by our thinking, when we are overwhelmed by strong emotions, or when our minds are restless and dispersed, we can return to our breathing.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh 

Inhale, exhale, repeat. Breathing – it’s an autonomic reflex and the foundation of life.

The body knows how to do this simple act without our interference – we do it 23,000 times every day!  Yet our thoughts, feelings and perceptions can change the depth and rate of our breathing, setting off a cascade of physical changes that promote either stress or relaxation.

Right now, feel into your body and remember the worst that you’ve felt in this last week.  Yep… the worst!  What do you notice in your body?  Contracted slump, quickening heart rate, shallow breaths, tight chest?  Okay… shake that off (literally, give yourself a good shimmy.) Now, recall the best that you’ve felt in this last week.  Feel into a moment of pleasure or gratitude.  Embody the feeling and make it even bigger. Did you just take a deep breath? The quickest way to change your mind, is to change your body and energy. Conscious breathwork is a really easy way to do that. (So is dancing Nia!)

Breath has been at the heart of most meditation, mindfulness, yoga and conscious movement practices for hundreds to thousands of years.

It’s revered as a conduit of lifeforce energy, the movement of spirit, a way to anchor “monkey mind” and bring awareness into the body.  It was a central part of my training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Pelvic-Heart Integration, and Trauma Sensitive Yoga. As with many ancient practices, science is now affirming the powerful benefits of breathwork as a tool for transformation and self-healing.

Nia’s creator Debbie Rosas loves to say, “Smell the moment.” Try it out now… take a slow sip of air through your nostrils and softening your jaw, gently exhale through your mouth. Do it several times, extending your exhale a little more each time. As the relaxation response kicks in, you might notice a build-up of saliva in your mouth. That’s your parasympathetic nervous system being activated to calm the brain.

Another gift of focussing on your breath is that it brings you into the present moment and enhances your sensory experience. The senses are immediate, alive, here now. As you breathe and isolate each sense, it creates feelings of connection, purpose and meaning.

TRY THE FIVE SENSES BREATH TECHNIQUE (downloadable pdf coming soon)

In contrast, sitting for prolonged periods online can cause screen apnea – breath holding or shallow breathing. Over time, screen apnea can disrupt your sleep, lower your energy levels, interfere with your ability to focus and think quickly, lead to or exacerbate depression, anxiety and other mood disorders, and cause systemic inflammation and stress-related illness.

“When you’re looking at a screen, your breathing changes. You’re like an animal in stalking mode.” ~ Dr. Belisa Vranich, Breathe: The Simple, Revolutionary 14-Day Program to Improve your Mental and Physical Health

It’s well documented that learning to relax is one of the most important keys to long-term health and vitality.

When you inhale, you receive energy and life; when you exhale, you let it go. Most of us have been under prolonged stress for so long, we’ve forgotten what deep relaxation feels like and according to psychologist Dr Belisa Vranich, 9 out of 10 of us have been breathing incorrectly since childhood.

Why does breathing correctly matter?

How we breathe deeply affects our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual fitness and wellbeing. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lungs relate to grief and loss. Grief is a normal response to anger, loss, and violence. When the trauma affects an entire community, country or the world, it is known as collective grief and we’ve been riding it in relentless waves. Over time, our breathing, muscles, and posture can get stuck in fight, flight or freeze stress-response patterns, and so we’re unable to move through the stages of grief.

What can we do to self-heal?

Breathwork is one of the most effective tools to activate the vagus nerve and improve the mind-body connection. When we combine intentional breathing with Nia 5 Stages it’s an even more powerful way to re-pattern our breath, realign our core postural muscles and calm our nervous system. Of course, Nia’s blend of mindfulness, music, movement and community connection is also wonderful medicine.

It’s the practices that we prioritise every day that prepare us for when life throws us a curve ball or we feel generally overwhelmed. Being able to consciously control our breathing in times of stress and anxiety can improve how we feel and how we respond.

Experience the healing and transformative power of intentional breathing

Check out some of the many breathwork resources available or join me via YouTube for a 9 minute 5 Stages practice. In addition to integrating breathing techniques in our Nia classes, stay tuned for some upcoming online mindfulness and breathwork sessions with me or contact me for one-on-one appointments, in person or online.

MBSR meditation with Jon Kabat-Zinn – 4 minutes

LETTING GO – 9 Magic Breaths meditation with Tara Brach – 6 minutes

WIM HOF METHOD – free mini class of power breathing

BREATHWORK CLASS – with Chris Keener – 45 minutes

HOW TO BREATHE and why most of us are doing it wrong – Dr. Belisa Vranich TEDx – 10 minutes

BREATHE – Joe DiStefano TEDx (at 12 minutes – learn how he uses 5 Stages with professional athletes) – 17 minutes

10 Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Breathing Exercises
  • feeling calmer, more focussed and non-reactive
  • lowers blood pressure and heart rate
  • improves immune system functioning
  • better balance of oxygen and CO2 in the blood
  • increases physical energy
  • improves metabolism and digestion
  • more compassion, less rigidity
  • increases inner peace and mental clarity
  • decreases symptoms of trauma and PTSD
  • helps release suppressed grief

Sophie Marsh © 2022 • Web Design Seedhead

FINDING ALIVENESS + PEACE NOW

FINDING ALIVENESS + PEACE NOW

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FINDING ALIVENESS + PEACE NOW

“Everything that I am stating is obvious. What is the obvious? That you are alive. This is obvious. That peace that you look for is inside of you. That is obvious. Everything else, in a moment’s notice, can change. The only thing that doesn’t change is your strength, your beauty, your joy. You, after all, are a human being.”
~Prem Rawat 

Bringing Your Awareness from outside yourself, into your body

To live in a human body is a precious gift. Our bodies are sacred vessels of aliveness and portals for peace. They carry the potential for self-knowledge, self-healing, love, and compassion if we are open to paying attention and learning. Coming home to the body with awareness can offer a refuge amidst the uncertainties of life.

In our disembodied society, we habitually seek safety and control by looking outside ourselves, avoiding our feelings, and living in our thoughts. We resist what is, and try and figure things out, all of which takes us away from being present in our body where our joy and inner peace reside.

Purposefully paying attention in the present moment, without judgment is the cornerstone of mindfulness. Nia as a mindful movement practice deepens our capacity to cope with anxiety and other difficult emotions by gently interrupting runaway thinking and feeling, and anchoring our awareness in our “Now Body”, where our deepest truths live.

BODY AWARENESS PRACTICE

Take your attention into a body part – your feet, arms, belly, heart, whatever you choose. Then hold your awareness there. Stay with it and notice what you feel, without judgment or commentary. With time  you might feel like there’s a space within this body part, or some warmth, tingling, or aliveness around it.

Keep your attention there and if you become distracted by thought, that’s ok. Just keep breathing and returning to body awareness. As you practise you might begin to feel a larger sense of spaciousness throughout your whole body. Be with the felt sense of your aliveness and peace now.

PUTTING MINDFULNESS IN MOTION

When practised with self-compassion and radical acceptance, mindfulness unites the body, mind and heart in remarkable ways. It creates a sense of spacious stillness that helps us feel more at choice than reactive in the moment. In Nia we practise choosing Joy in the face of fear (or any emotion). We invite possibilities alongside hopelessness. We seek connection instead of separating ourselves. We perceive more pleasure and peace, even when there’s pain. We cultivate calm in the chaos.

Mindfulness doesn’t mean sitting still. When we bring awareness to our body in motion, we can experience whatever we are currently doing as something we have never done before. The most ordinary activity – washing a cup, brushing our teeth, preparing a meal – can take on a magical, one-of-a-kind, never-to-be-repeated quality, that Nia calls Dancing Through Life.

By reawakening the skills of feeling, sensing, and intuiting, we can allow the wisdom of the body to emerge, to guide and inform us. Living through sensation we tap into our primal intelligence and access more physical vitality, heart tenderness, sensual power, mental wellness and spiritual presence.

WELCOMING 2022

As we find ourselves in another incredibly challenging time thanks to Omicron, many of us may be feeling pulled into a heady tailspin of anxiety, frustration, and resistance. We’ve certainly been thrown out of the nest! And I’m deeply grateful for the 4 pillars of Nia – Mindfulness, Movement, Connection, Joy – that support us returning to our body in the here and now, to find peace and freedom in the midst of this mess.

At a time when there is a plethora of changing and conflicting information, the ability to tune into our body and trust what we sense helps us take our power back, choose how we want to feel, and take our next steps. Here’s to being lifted by love and joy, and feeling alive with hope and lots of dancing in 2022.

“Peace is this moment without thinking
that it should be some other way,
that you should feel some other thing,
that your life should unfold according to your plans.

Peace is this moment without judgment,
this moment in the Heart-space where
everything that is is welcome.”
~ Dorothy Hunt

Sophie Marsh © 2022 • Web Design Seedhead

JOY AS A HEALING ENERGY + A MEDITATION

JOY AS A HEALING ENERGY + A MEDITATION

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JOY AS A HEALING ENERGY + A MEDITATION

“Biology isn’t just genes playing out some unalterable script. It is sensitive to the world around it.”
~ Dr Bruce Perry, Child Psychiatrist

Environment dictates how your cells perform. If your body moves in an environment of pleasure and comfort, your cells vibrate at a higher frequency. If the environment is one of tension, fear, anxiety, every system in your body vibrates with this energy.

Practising Nia and 5Stages brings you to a place of sensitivity that enables you to observe and release stress and embrace the sensations of “dynamic ease”, pleasure, and comfort. Every time you vibrate higher, a part of you heals.

Prolonged pain, loss, and stress in the world around you, and in your own life can lead to persisitent inflammation in the body and can adversely affect brain systems linked to motivation and mental agility. Article: chronic stress and the brain

Often, we can’t control our external circumstances, but we can change our cellular environment by choosing how we move through life’s experiences, what meaning we give them, and how we direct our energy and attention.

Living with self-awareness and intention takes courage and commitment. It’s being willing to start where you are, and begin again, and again.  It’s staying open to learning, letting go of expectations, and allowing the aliveness of every moment to inspire you. It’s paying attention to subtle feelings and trusting what you sense, making choices that are in vibrational alignment with your highest – body, mind and spirit. It’s finding your soul’s medicine.

A JOY MEDITATION

Take a moment to settle into your self, noticing the feeling of the earth or chair supporting you, maybe lowering your gaze, and letting yourself soften a little more as you exhale. Now think about a time and place in you life where you felt yourself bursting with Joy. Keep replaying it in your mind’s eye.

As you bathe in the memory with all your senses… the sounds, colours, smells… begin to notice what’s happening in your body now. Keep your focus on sensing into it. Maybe there’s a deeper breath, or your face moves into a smile, or your heart lifts or you feel a wave of warmth or a peaceful pulse or a tingling buzz?

Stay with this feeling and allow it to permeate through every part of you. Imagine your cells are swimming in light. Gently sway your spine and visualise loving energy flowing through every part of your body, and oozing out of your joints. This feeling is what in Nia we call the “Big J Joy.”

Big J Joy is a sensation of aliveness and wellbeing that permeates the Universe and every healthy cell in your body. It’s available 24/7, waiting for you to open to it. It’s not about putting a positive spin on things, or or even feeling happy. Often it’s when we are in our darkest moments that Joy does its greatest magic.  Sit with the sadness, pain, discomfort, fear. Acknowledge it, feel it and flood your cells with Joy.

Choosing to connect to this high vibration creates powerful changes to your biochemistry, thought patterns and energy. It creates a feeling of being at home in yourself, and connected to all. It helps you take your power back and self-heal.

“Each time an inner conflict is resolved, a person’s energy level increases.” ~ Alexander Lowen MD, Bioenergetics

Join me for a 3.5 minute Nia dance break to the song “Call Me Out Tiger” to practise choosing and oozing Joy, with the intention to self-heal.  Notice your energy before you move (give it a number out of 10) and then compare it again afterwards. Do you feel better?  More energised? Thank you body!

Sophie Marsh © 2022 • Web Design Seedhead