Nia - Voice of the Muscles
Posted: Jul 22, 12:18 PM
Each Voice of The Body is defined within a Structure made up of the Cognitive, Symbology, and Sensory Awareness aspects. Each aspect is defined by particular elements that impart the scientific components and deeper meanings of the Voice of The Body. Review the Structure to better understand this issue’s Voices of the Body.
Cognitive
Who Am I: I am a system of biological flexors designed to shorten and lengthen to help you move.
Voice of the Muscles: I am the ultimate excitable shape shifter; biological flexors designed to contract and shorten, relax and lengthen, spiral, embrace, and perform amazing functions like keeping your heart beating.
There are over 700 of me, 620 of which are voluntary skeletal muscles that move you’re your conscious intention. Thirty of me are visceral, smooth muscles that help to circulate blood, operate the internal organs and move food.
You will find me underneath your skin. My shape makes up the surface form of your body. I am involved in every movement, no matter how small. I keep working – even when you rest – to support your posture, breathing, and sight.
I make up about 42% of your body weight if you’re a man, and 32% if you’re a woman.
My design is based on my use – I come in bundles and sheets that vary in length and size. My power comes from the number of fibers that make me up, not their length. Those of me that cause movement, the skeletal muscles, are always attached to two or more bones, and depending on where we attach we cause physical movement in several directions. Long muscles produce large visible motions. Shorter muscles, deeper and closer to your bone, are responsible for precise, small motions.
I am controlled by the messages I receive from your central and peripheral nervous systems. Use your mind to assist and guide me so that I can move elegantly. I can become soft, hard, quivering, active, or restful. I can vibrate, pulsate, and move quickly or slowly. I have incredible elasticity and resilience.
I am superb at burning fat. I produce movement; maintain posture; store energy, and create heat for the body.
I respond to the “all-or-none-law — when one of my fibers is stimulated, all of me fully contracts and shortens. I work in balanced pairs – when one of me pulls and shortens, its opposite, or “antagonist”, stretches. I work in supportive teams – when one of me pulls, I am usually accompanied by “agonists” – cooperative muscles that pull with me.
I can move voluntarily from your conscious command, or involuntarily, as in a knee jerk, a heartbeat, or a sleeping breath. Relaxation is as much a part of who I am as my power to contract. Keep me healthy by including strength and relaxation in your movement. Engage me with a dynamic range of motion and force. You improve circulation and metabolism when you move me.
My Gift to You: Mobility, vitality and circulation throughout your entire body. You can use and wear your muscles like elegant clothing that expresses both form and freedom.
Symbology
Imagine Me As: Visualize me as pulled fibers of taffy spiraling over your bones.
Sensory
In Nia: Achieve muscle balance and fitness through the Movement Forms, Free Dance, the Three Planes, the Three Levels and X-Ray Anatomy.
Feed your muscles with movement and energy. Variety keeps them alert and healthy. It keeps them stretching and contracting, rotating, turning, shunting and pulling along and across your bones to help overcome inertia.
The Movement Forms provide you with diverse movement possibilities and energy-food for powerful and graceful movement. Action and rest feed muscle-contracting power.
Free Dance, X-Ray Anatomy, and the Three Planes and Three Levels interconnect sensation between muscles, ligaments and tendons. This develops your proprioceptive sense, helping you monitor your movement. Each principle improves your ability to sense the perfect balance between power and relaxation, and Dynamic Ease.
Sense muscles in motion and at rest. Move in and out of center using X-Ray Anatomy. Bring attention to your intrinsic and extrinsic muscles, bones and joints. The Three Planes, Three Levels, Free Dance and The Movement Forms provide your muscles with a variety of dynamics, intensities, speed and movements. Nia’s steps, stances, kicks, fluid and percussive motions, and melodic and rhythmic energy flow keep your muscles fit and healthy.
When Dancing Through Life: Use your daily movements to play with muscle speed and range of motion. Walk to work or down the hall faster, taking bigger and longer steps. Shake your muscles when you pause to think. While you wait, rock your pelvis from side to side and front to back, breathing deeply to activate your abdominal muscles. When walking to the bathroom, spiral your forearm bones, turning your palms up and down to wring out tension in the forearm muscles. Bend and extend your legs five times while sitting before you stand up.
Before you go to sleep, squeeze every muscle in your body, activating an isometric contraction. Hold the squeeze for two seconds, then release to trigger a natural and delicious relaxation response.
When sitting at the stop light in your car, or when standing in line at the movie theatre, hold onto your forearms with both hands and push in for two seconds, then pull out for two seconds to activate relaxation in the muscles of your shoulder, chest and upper back.
