Nia - for Mind, Body & Spirit

Some time ago, I discovered a healing form called, "Nia". Wow, what an incredible find! Nia is an holistic art form, incorporating dance, martial arts and healing - all in one! It is uplifting, healing and empowering.

Nia blends nine movement forms - three healing arts, three martial arts and three dance arts. They are:

Healing - Yoga, Alexander Technique and Feldenkreis
Martial Arts - Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do and Aikido
Dance - Jazz, Modern and Duncan Dance

Have to say that I feel so inspired and energised by these classes, that after today's class, I can honestly say, "I feel reborn!"


Here is what Terre Pruitt has to say:

"Nia is the great cardio work out that enables you to get a great workout yet have fun at the same time. It has body-mind-spirit element that is quite unique to a cardio workout. In 1981, Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas decided that their regular workouts of aerobics were lacking so they went looking for something else. They did a lot of research and went down many paths and their combination of different forms of movement led them to the creation of Nia.

Nia is different in a lot of ways, but I think the first thing that people see as being different is it is done in bare feet. Then they might notice the body-mind-spirit aspect. I believe this is first witnessed in our first two cycles of a workout. We set a focus and intent, and then we step in.

So your focus defines what you want to concentrate on and your intent explains why. For an example you might choose to focus on your hands and the intent would be because they are sore from gardening and you want to give them extra attention. Then you step in, leaving all judgment and distraction behind and at this point you activate your body’s sensory awareness.

Then while you are moving through the movements lead by the teacher you allowing your body to sense what it needs. It will bend as low as it needs to, it will stretch and reach as far as it can, it will be as intense as it wants. You can trust it to give you what you need. And, going back to the example focus above: giving the additional attention to your hands will allow them to feel the energy and heal in their own way.

So by going to the body to allow it to workout in its own way, but leaving all judgment and distraction behind we can focus our mind on the body’s sensation. This in two ways has to do with the “spirit”, we enable our own unique individual movements to unfold and that in itself is very freeing and uplifting for a spirit. When our bodies get the workout it needs our body-mind-spirit feel great.

I think if you have not tried Nia you would be pleasantly surprised. I would like to invite you to go to the main website and see if there is a class near you: http://www.nianow.com."

Terre is a certified Nia white belt & licensed Nia teacher. Her website is Help You Well.