Energy Follows Intention

This time of year is always a bit awkward as the holidays have passed and the New Year is still waiting to start. It's a bit of a slow time to say the least, leaving most people unsure if they should be resting or gearing up for all their New Year's resolutions.

It's a perfect time for setting intention. Being that it is still winter, there is no real rush in energy but just as the sun has started setting later in the day so shall we. We can steadily start to increase our energy just like the sun. Now is a great time to start creating your intention and goals for the New Year. 

Creating the intention is a bit different that setting up a hundred New Year's Resolution Goals. It’s how you want it to be ("Being vs Doing") Maybe you want 2015 to "Be" adventurous or "Be" love or "Be" curious. By simply creating an overall intention you set the tone for New Year geared to you. Once you have set the tone you can look at what it is you truly want to create. 

Start by writing everything you want to do or would do if you couldn't fail. Think in terms of personal, career and health and remember to THINK BIG! Then, start to pick the ones you can't live without. Under each category you only want to have 2-3 goals. 

After you have picked your 2015 goals, write them as if they have already happened and give them a "by when". 

Example: "I have run the Honolulu Marathon." By Dec 6, 2015. 

By creating a "by when" you are more likely to hit the goal you have created within that time frame. By stating the goal as if it's already happened, you program your mind that you have already done it. This helps give you confidence in attaining it. 

The last element to creating intention and goals is to share them with everyone. Post your goals in your home where you and everyone else can see them and when in conversation ask others what they are creating and share what you are up to. Not only will you both walk away inspired but you have created the energy of what you want to go forth. We are more likely to achieve all that we want in life by sharing it with others. 

So, as you find yourself in this slow energy that gaps the New Year, create intention and brain storm on what you want 2015 to look like not just with "Doing with "Being" as well. 

Check out all the cool new ways to connect to your well-being and self-expression here at Movement Works this 2015!

Connect to your inner child and take our Hula Hoop Class - Hoop 360 or

Find your sassy side and dance it out in our Zumba or Zumba Gold Classes or

Sculpt and tone that body through our Barre and Pilates Classes or

Find your inner Zen with Yoga or

Burn off those holiday calories and connect to your inner fighter in our Piloxing Classes

and much more!

Visit our website for scheduled classes and start your New Year off right!

http://www.mvmtworks.com/classes

Celebrate Diversity this Holiday Season

Central to any winter holiday or celebration are the messages of hope, charity, gratitude, and family. No matter a person’s religion, origin, race, or social class, we’re all bound together by the tradition of celebration.  

Diversity among cultures and people runs deep across the continents and it’s important to embrace and respect the fact that not everyone celebrates the winter holidays in the same way. But celebrations are expressions of joy and shared experiences, something we all have in common.  Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Ayyám-i-Há, and Winter Solstice (Yule) are just a few of the religious and nonreligious customs  that connect us all this time of year. Acquainting yourself with

the varied winter holidays and celebrations of different cultures and groups can be an enriching exercise and is one way of gaining an appreciation of our differences.

• Ayyám-i-Há is a four to five day celebration among the Bahá'í faith. During the Festival of Ayyám-i-Há, Bahá'ís are encouraged to celebrate God and his oneness by showing love, fellowship and unity.
•  Christmas is the observance of Jesus’ humble birth to a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem. The holiday also celebrates the events surrounding his birth, such as an angel’s appearance to shepherds, telling them to visit the newborn king. Although the Church doesn’t consider it the most important Christian holiday, Christmas is certainly the most popular, at least in terms of cultural and social significance among billions of people around the world. 
  
• Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish celebration that celebrates the first great victory for religious freedom won by the Jews more than two thousand years ago against Seleucid Empire of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is also known as the festival of lights, as the focus of the festival is lighting the eight candles during the eight days of the festival.  Other Hanukkah festivities include playing dreidel and eating oil based foods such as doughnuts and latkes.
• Kwanzaa, a week-long festival that begins Dec. 26 each year is observed by many African Americans in honor of their African cultural heritage and traditional values.  It is based on regional harvest celebrations in Africa. Each of the seven days focuses on one of seven core principles. The principles of Kwanzaa help people to learn, achieve, and grow. A candle is lit on each day, and on the last day, gifts are exchanged.
• Winter Solstice or Yule takes place on the day of the winter solstice, around December 21 in the northern hemisphere. Many cultures organize feasts, festivals, holidays and celebrations around December solstice.

Winter holidays, when shared with family and community,  can bring us all together and help us better understand other traditions, but perhaps gain deeper insight into our own beliefs. When we stop to consider that our world includes countless unique people and traditions, we progress in our recognition that diversity is valuable and that’s something we can all celebrate.

Did you know… Participating in group yoga classes promotes more than just a healthy body. The practice of yoga celebrates diversity, promotes friendships, mutual respect, empathy, and builds a strong community. You can meet exceptional people with varied backgrounds and interests which fosters diversity and acceptance.

Whether practicing yoga or dancing along side a neighbor in class, Movement Works offers a full schedule of classes for all ages and abilities that will transform your body, your mind, and your life. Get to know yourself and your community here with us.

Turn Your Yin In

The air is chilling and the holidays are in full flow as the winter solstice fast approaches. This time of year a lot of us find ourselves busy with parties, planning and creating goals for the New Year but this is the time for rest. Just look at nature. The trees have lost their leaves, the flowers have lost their petals and the bears (along with many other animals) have stuffed their tummies with food and gone to sleep for the winter. Most of nature has gone to sleep so that it can renew its energy. We are not exempt from this equation.

Yin is the opposite of Yang. Yin being night and Yang being day. (Negative, positive, female, male etc...) You cannot have one without the other. Together they work in perfect harmony creating balance. Relating to the seasons spring and summer would be Yang, making fall and winter Yin. Spring and summer are filled with new life, energy and warmth where fall and winter are seasons for reflection, rest and cold. Winter is a time to go within and relax.

Here are five ways to turn your yin in

1. Sleep more

2. Eat root veggies and spicy foods

3. Drink herbal teas

4. Try on milder forms of exercise such as yoga (yin, gentle or restorative) or TaiChi etc. 

5. Meditate / Journal

In conclusion...Embrace the season and relax. 

Nurture your yin within with the variety of yin inspired classes we offer at Movement Works: 

Candlelight Yoga Flow 

Tue 7:15pm

Candlelight Gentle Yoga 

Wed 7:15pm

TaiChi/Qigong

Tue 10:30am

Wed 7:00pm

Thurs 10:00am

Yoga Flow

Mon 9:00am

Tue 9:30am

Fri 9:00am

Gentle Yoga

Mon 10:00am

Kid's Don't Always Need an App; They Need a Parent

Kids Don’t Always Need an App; They Need a Parent

In a world where iPads, smart phones, and gaming consoles are the norm, and work/life balance for parents gets blurred, it seems an easy fix to put a gadget in your child’s hands as a stand-in for you.   

Nielsen reports that 55%of tablet owners with kids say they use the gadgets to entertain the kids while traveling, and 41% use tablets to pacify their kids when they’re in public settings like restaurants.

While kids use mobile devices to view educational content, they’re also using them to play games, watch videos or TV programs. According to Common Sense Media, an organization dedicated to improving the media and technology landscape for all kids, families, and schools, kids today spend over 50 hours of screen time every week. And 38% of all toddlers under the age of 2 have used an electronic device. That’s a lot of screen time!

Over time the lack of face-to-face interaction with parents, family, teachers, and peers can impede a child’s capacity to think for him or herself and formulate genuine social relationships and experiences.  So create specific face-to-face time when phones and tables are put away for conversations and sharing time together.

By spending quality one-on-one time with your kids, they gain many more benefits that an app can’t give them, like feeling loved and appreciated, learning how to develop relationships, voicing their thoughts and feelings, fostering communication, providing positive reinforcement, and learning social skills, all of which can help develop your child as a happy, well-adjusted, and contributing member of society.

So this year instead of putting tablets, smart phones, and plug and play devices under the tree, how about giving your children an even better gift…time spent with you!  

Did you know… That music and movement are influential in childhood development - mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, verbally, vocally, and socially?  Children who are exposed to music and dance at an early age develop critical thinking skills, excel in nonverbal reasoning and communication and work cooperatively and collaboratively with others.  According to the National Dance Education Organization research shows that students who study dance are more:

• Self-motivated, disciplined and focused in their everyday lives.

• Expressive in their communication of emotions, thoughts and feelings.

• Creative and imaginative.

• Able to critically analyze their own work and the work of others.

To help kids reach their full potential, Movement Works offers Musikgarten classes every Saturday; an early childhood music education program that helps infants, toddlers, and children develop a deep love of music and the ability to express it.