The name Sarasweaty was inspired by the Hindu Goddess Saraswati. Saraswati is the Goddess of leaming, knowledge, music and the creative arts. The Sanskrit word sara means "essence" and swa means "self." Thus Saraswati means "the essence of the self."
For most of my adult life I have been searching for the essence of myself and in this search I, like Saraswati, have been a participant of learning and the arts. This path has lead me to my present career as a visual arts teacher. In my quest for knowledge and creative expression I learned about the mind and the spirit, but have many times neglected the BODY. I have choosen the name Sarasweaty to represent my focus on the body. This blog is dedicated to the transformation of my body image as I make an effort to honor it everyday through movement.
My goal is to put my body in to motion everyday for 20 minutes or longer. This could be in the form of walking, yoga, dancing, lifting weights, or even running! The only requirement is that the movement must be conscious. Simply walking from my classroom to the front office will not suffice as conscious movement. The motion needs to be a focus on my body and not just a mode of transportation.
I will start at DAY 1 and record my movement for that day and every consecutive day to follow. If there is ever a day I do not meet my 20 minutes of movement then I will start over. This is a journey of self discovery, which I hope will lead me to a sense of peace with my mind, BODY, and spirit. For now, it's time to sweat!!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Day 2 ... N.I.A.

Alchemy of Movement
N.I.A. dance class
1 hour
Degree of Sweat: Mild

"Originally, Nia stood for Non-Impact Aerobics. The letters ‘NIA’ have come to stand for Neuromuscular Integrative Action, in other words, the interaction between our bodies and our minds."

Whatever NIA stands for I found it incredibly boring none the less. I like the idea of dancing as a way to put my body in motion but this particular class felt so forced. My body was not being inspired by the generic brand dance music. I found my mind drifting off as I reluctantly did another jazz step, kick and turn. I thought that as long as I was doing 20 minutes of some sort of movement that I would feel accomplished. Today I just felt bored, uninspired and I actually left the class with 15 minutes to go! Now, I'm not writing NIA off completely. The instructor was great and I can see how some people could really get in to this .... but for a girl who is accustomed to a 4 hour psychedelic aerobics Phishdance party, NIA put me to sleep.
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