Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Nia: A Personal Account of Exploring Joyful Movement through Exercise


In 2004, a friend told me that she had begun attending Nia classes at a new Nia studio in Denver.   I was delighted to hear that Nia had finally arrived in town but, admittedly, I felt apprehensive about taking a class.  I knew that Nia was more than just an exercise practice; it was a way to connect to one’s core and spirit.  What if I were unable connect with my “self”? (I actually thought this!) What if I were unable to do the steps perfectly? What if I embarrassed myself in front of the other people in the class???  After a year of extensive internal debate, I finally donned my “big girl pants” and attended a class. 

As I stood in the classroom waiting for the class to begin, I felt intrigued, nervous, a little scared and, yet, determined to enjoy my experience. Within the first ten minutes and with each successive step, I felt I was “coming home” to myself in a way that I had not realized that I had ignored.  The music was intoxicating and inspiring. The movements were playful and stimulating.  I released my inhibitions and dived into pure sensation.  I felt my body stretch, contract, spin, and open in ways it hadn’t in YEARS…I felt alive and free!  Toward the end of class, as I moved with my arms outstretched, chest open, and my face turned toward the sky, I heard this little voice in my head saying, “thank you.”   In that moment, I felt so overcome with joy and gratitude, I struggled to restrain tears.  I approached the instructor after the class concluded and thanked her for leading such a magical experience.  I then burst into tears, involuntarily, in front of her.  I felt embarrassed by my unintended outburst and I apologized for my weepiness.  The instructor smiled kindly at me and said, “I understand…I cried for four months when I first started taking Nia classes.” 

And thus began my love affair with Nia.

Nia was developed in 1983 by former high impact aerobics instructors, Debbie and Carlos Rosas.  They understood that their students wanted to participate in an exercise class that would challenge them to develop their flexibility, agility, mobility, stability and strength but also felt there was a way to exercise without risking unintended injury to the body. They also recognized that the body has its own sense of natural movement and that people like to move in ways that are enlivening.  As a result, they created this low impact movement modality to invite the student, in the words of Carlos, to “re-connect to passion, play, ease, and joy, and re-awaken something very powerful in us—whole-body dance movement.” 

Nia is about achieving and maintaining fitness through movement. More important, it is also about celebrating the joy of movement and all that it entails.  It includes creating a space in which to dance and move freely, setting an intention for what one would like to experience during the dance, creating an awareness of the how the music and movement feel in the body, and liberating ourselves to move without self-conscious restraint, both with choreography and without.  How beautiful is that???

As Nia has evolved, Debbie and Carlos have incorporated various dance styles (Modern, Jazz, Duncan dance and Ethnic) with Martial Arts (Tai Chi, Aikido, and Tae Kwon Do) and the Healing Arts (Yoga, Feldenkrais, Alexander Method) to create an original exercise modality that is healing to the body, mind and spirit.  Additionally, Nia was created to be accessible to women and men of all ages, abilities, skill levels, and body types.  It is even a perfect modality for people recovering from injuries and illness.        

Nia, for me, is more than an exercise practice; Nia is a means of self-centering, focusing, and listening deeply to what my body needs in the moment.  If I feel I want or need to dance intensely or gently, I do.  If there is a movement that does not feel right in my body, I modify the movement until it does feel right.  Nia helps me to tap into my creativity because, while the classes are presented by an instructor, I can incorporate my own “flavor” of movement into the routine to make the dance my own.  I can also use Nia to explore states of being that we all possess; happy, light, heavy, tense, at ease, sensual, aggressive, introspective, and so much more.

As we move through our adulthood lives, we are often tasked with tending to external responsibilities that can overwhelm and numb us to who we are at our core.  Activities that ignite our passion, joy, and honor our authentic selves are often sidelined because we have children to care for, bills to pay, jobs to maintain…  Nia helps us to remember that we matter and that those little  personality nuances are what make us unique.  I invite you to experience a Nia class for yourself; you will be delighted by what you find. 

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