My maternal grandmother had breast cancer, ulcers, and severe dementia, and died as her singing performances in her retirement years were bringing her joy. My paternal grandmother had scarlet fever and was in & out of hospitals until she was killed by her ex-husband. My Dad was orphaned around six and overheard his Mother was dead at his stepfather’s second wedding at seven. My Mother was diligent and avoided breast cancer, and dementia, but developed and succumbed to Parkinson’s disease. This history inspires a focus on disease prevention on multiple levels, spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, and creative.

“One of the things that we’re starting to see a lot of is this concept of health span versus lifespan,” Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, said. “It’s one thing to be alive; it’s another to be alive and well and to avoid the American curse, which is working hard your whole life, saving your money, retiring and then suffering heart attacks, strokes, dementia.”

• Left back in 2nd grade, P.S. 41, 1976

• Expelled, VCS, 1982 (graduated thanks to my Mother’s pleas)

• Failed Algebra, Bronx Science, 1983

• Failed Algebra, Boulder Summer School, 1983

• Metropolitan Museum of Art Youth Art Classes, 1983-4

• Failed Algebra, Stuyvesant, 1984

• Fredonia Summer Art School, Scholarship, 1984

• Metropolitan Museum of Art Youth Art Classes, 1984-5

• The Cooper Union Youth Art Classes, 1984-5

• Failed Algebra, Stuyvesant, 1985

• Chautauqua Summer Art School, Scholarship, 1985

• Metropolitan Museum of Art Youth Art Classes, 1985-6

• The Cooper Union Youth Art Classes, 1985-6

• Failed Algebra, Stuyvesant, 1986

• Failed Commercial Mechanical Illustration with A.S., SVA, 1986 (conditioned Algebra swap)

• Expelled, Stuyvesant, 1986 (graduated thanks to Pulitzer Prize winning author, Frank McCourt’s, pleas)

• Stuyvesant Graduation Award for Creative Writing, Sole Recipient as recommended by my teacher, Frank McCourt), 1986

• Lived in Berlin, 1986

• GA University Art Summer School in Cortona, Italy, Scholarship, 1990

• The Cooper Union for Fine Art, Architecture & Design, BFA, Full Scholarship, 1991

• Fashion Institute of Technology, Computer Design & Science, 1993-5

• Computer Design, Support Specialist, 1993-2000

• Binghamton University, Nonlinear A/V Editing, Free Audit, 2000-2001

• Certified Apple Trainer, A/V Editing, Technology, Color, 3D, Sound, 2005-2012

• A/V Editing Professor, Sound, Film Analysis, NYU Graduate Center for Advanced Digital Applications, The New School, BMCC, NY Film Academy, The Millennium, NYU Adult Continuing Ed, 2006-2012

• A/V Editor, 3D Special Effects, Color/Sound Mixing, Big Commotion Pictures, LLC, Ken Jacobs, 2001-2021

• Music Producer, DJ/Creative Sound Director at My Mojo Dojo, Eternal Job Lot, LLC, 2024-

Yin Yoga taught me the quiet art of putting down what isn’t mine to carry. No more holding other people’s rules or expectations.

Just space. Just breath.

That’s where I found my freedom and my serenity.

That’s where I found the door to Rhythm-Walking and Moon Salutations.

I drew the drawing in Cortona, Italy, after Rhythm-Walking and practicing Moon Salutations in the mountains in my senior year at Cooper Union. Decades later, I continue this creative journey through halide photography, and painting, available on Fine Art America, and music for creative movement by Feels Like Rita for My Mojo Dojo audio space.

When I was twelve, an Aikido master in Colorado taught me to utilize the energy of another to deflect the body. He was about my height then, and able to throw off a number of physical opponents with ease and exquisite grace. That image taught me early that strength is not always force, but in how the force moves.

Qi, or chi, means energy. In Aikido, I learned not to oppose force, but to redirect it. Yin is the receptive aspect of energy. Not collapse–but allowing. Yielding so that force can move. In Yin Yoga, I work with that same principle in the body by listening carefully and completely to the body’s communication every step of the way during practice. No phones, no gadgets, no entertainment, just listening and responding.

I’ve tried all yoga styles. Each one is incredible and worthy of solitary study. In Yin Yoga, I have found an oasis of compassion that informs my art practice.

Rhythm-Walking liberates the core energetic flow of the body with immersive rhythm. Transcendence comes from connecting to this natural, irrepressible flow.

I noticed in a gymnastics competition that there was a natural flow to mat work and extended running sequences, like roundoff back-handsprings and aerials. This flow emerged on the basketball court when the team worked as a unit. The flow emerged again in African Dance when the drummers ignited an irrepressible groove the dancers moved to in unison across the dance floor. It is the same flow found in rhythmic long-distance walking with immersive DJ-style music.

I compose music and create curated playlists to ground and motivate.

Namaste,
Nisi Ariana

The Moon Salutation (Chandra Namaskar) sequence was created in the late 1980s by a collective group of senior female teachers at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. This beautiful order of transitions perfectly balances the sides of the body, and brings me deep equanimity and peace.

Step-by-step instructions, benefits, and contraindications