A friend from Brighton came to visit and I tested her out on a NIA routine I have been learning – Sanjana.

She really enjoyed it, however she confessed that one song – Am I the One? – and the martial arts moves associated with it, felt a little alien. I explained that NIA helps the body to balance the different energies within ourselves and that the more masculine martial arts moves encourage strength and confidence in our bodies and minds and help to balance with our lighter and feminine selves.

Next day she rang me from work.  She had remembered me saying ‘no!’ as we did our blocks and punches and it had encouraged her and given her the confidence to tackle something at work that had been niggling her for ages.

Wow!……. the joy of NIA

There’s a dancer in all of us. In fact, it’s probably one of the first things we all did  when we were tottering around as babies and heard music for the first time.  Back then we didn’t really care what we looked like, we simply moved and jigged however felt best.

And, for me, that’s what dance is all about – freedom of expression, connecting pleasure with  movement and music, a ‘lifting of spirits’, and ….. having fun.

Dancing is going to be bigger than ever this year. Why?

• Everyone in the UK  is invited to dance during Big Dance Week (7 – 15 July) to mark the countdown to London Olympics fortnight
• It’s been proven, sitting for too long is dangerous for your health – find out the truth about sitting down
• And…. best of all, I’m helping to spread the word through dancing with Nia!

Remember …….stifling an urge to dance is bad for your health – it rusts your spirit and your hips – Terri Guillemets

During these past few months I have metamorphosised (another good word) from a web content writer/copywriter into a Nia dance teacher. It’s been an amazing experience and I look forward to starting my Nia dance classes up here in Staffordshire from February next year.

To give you a quick taster of Nia:

• It increases the pleasure of living in your body
• It strengthens muscles, improves muscle tone, and increases muscle definition
• It calms the mind and relieves stress
• It increases grace and flexibility
• It improves organ function
• It enhances sensory awareness
• It improves circulation of blood
• It strengthens immunity
• It improves concentration and cognitive function

And…. most important….it’s fun!

So, consequently, my blog posts will be metamorphosising too, although I feel the combination of Nia and writing can only be a good one…. there’s so much to write about.

It’s National Kissing Day

There seems to be a ‘national’ day for everything these days, but this one definitely caught my eye as I must admit I’m a born romantic.  After all, there can’t be many people who don’t appreciate a kiss.

If I was brave enough I would walk down Tutbury High Street and help everyone celebrate such a special day, but as it is, I’ll save it for my nearest and dearest ….

I’ll leave you with one of the most memorable movie lines ever:

‘Kiss me as if it were for the last time’

Happy National Kissing Day everyone x

So I thought I’d create a ‘word of the week’ blog spot focusing on ‘words ’that we just don’t seem to use much in our everyday language.

And then I’m going to try and use these ‘words’ as much as I can so they become part of my life.
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Word of the Week: BALK

What does ‘Balk’ mean to me?

• not a very pretty word
• I could ‘balk’ at something, i.e. be nervous about doing it
• Geography lessons and ‘The Balkan mountains’

So I thought I’d create a ‘word of the week’ blog spot focusing on ‘words ’that we just don’t seem to use much in our everyday language.

And then I’m going to try and use these ‘words’ as much as I can so they become part of my life.
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Word of the Week: FISH

This week’s word just has to be………FISH!

Have been busy recently preparing for our Fish Art stall at the Lichfield Spring Fair which took place yesterday.  It was our first arts fair stall so lots still to learn, but was thrilled by customers’ reactions and enthusiasm for our colourful display of fish art.

There’s so much I could write about the word FISH.  But for now, just two things:

1. It’s scary to think that the world’s oceans may be empty of fish by 2048

2. So even more important to keep spreading the word about Fabulous Fish Art!

So I thought I’d create a ‘word of the week’ blog spot focusing on ‘words ’that we just don’t seem to use much in our everyday language.

And then I’m going to try and use these ‘words’ as much as I can so they become part of my life.
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Word of the Week: GROOVY

According to The Times last weekend the word ‘groovy’ is making a come back, along with the ‘crazy’ colours and ‘funky’ fashions of the ’70s.

I grew up with this word as a teenager and am still very fond of it.

According to wikipedia it originated in the jazz culture of the 1920s as it referred to the groove of a piece of music. It became really popular during the ‘hippie’ 1960s and ‘funky’ 1970s and yet  had largely vanished from everyday use by 1980′ (I wonder why…..).

I feel it’s one of those words that you either love or hate (and makes you smile or squirm).  For me it’s a great ‘feel good’ word.

So….I’m making a conscious effort to give up the word ‘brilliant’ for lent and will use ‘groovy’ instead.

What does groovy mean to me?

• It’s a groovy kind of love sung by Phil Collins
• A ‘different’ way of complimenting someone on something
• A word my father definitely didn’t use

What does groovy mean to you?

So I thought I’d create a ‘word of the week’ blog spot focusing on ‘words ’that we just don’t seem to use much in our everyday language.

And then I’m going to try and use these ‘words’ as much as I can so they become part of my life.

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Word(s) of the Week: ‘MANSE’ and ‘JINNY’

I’ve fallen behind a bit with my ‘words of the week’.  So, this week, it’s 2for1!

I’ve discovered these two words since I’ve been living in Tutbury, so I’ll call them my Tutbury words.

Everyday I pass a house called The Old Manse.  It’s up by the castle and I was sure this word had medieval connections.  Having looked it up it does in fact mean ‘rectory’ or mansion house.  And now I find that I’m seeing it on the name plates of quite a few of the older houses in nearby villages.

Jinny proved more difficult.  We’ve got a Tutbury Jinny (model shop), and a Jinny Inn, and also a Jinny Trail.  But no reference to ‘Jinny’ in the dictionary.   And then I found out that it was the affectionate name for a steam train service that used to run between Tutbury and Burton….and it all made sense.

Does anyone else like this site as much as me?

I really like the quirky new items, quote of the day, and the search trends.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day here’s a great word cloud I’ve created from their news – ‘Forty-seven words to call a love’

We’ve got to have the best weatherman in the UK here.  Des Coleman presents the weather in such creative style!

Take a look at him in action here: