Education
Aging and Exercise: Get up! Then down! And up again!
Nia: a Whole Body Workout In Nia, we aren’t moving just our arms and our legs. We are moving our whole body. Our torsos, chests, fingers, spine, toes, ankles, pelvis, heads — they all get mobilized during a Nia class. The truth is, if we leave any body parts out, they tend to get lonely…
Read MoreNia: Myths vs. Facts
Over the years, l’ve heard some interesting interpretations of Nia. While people’s perception of situations tends to vary wildly, I have to set the record straight. Nia, first and foremost, is a physical fitness practice. It delivers cardiovascular conditioning as well as flexibility, agility, mobility, stability and strength. There’s some pretty cool other stuff…
Read More5 Approaches to Self-Healing: The Nia Way
“You can fix a car or a bookcase, you can repair a television set or a computer, but you don’t heal them. And they don’t heal themselves. Only living systems heal; they don’t get fixed or repaired or anything like that….Healing is an act of self-recreation…..Living systems self-organize, self-create, self-maintain, and in many ways, direct…
Read MoreMoving to breathe, breathing to move.
When I dance, I really get in touch with my breath. I mean I really get in touch with it. Not only do I become more aware of my breath when I move, but I also become more aware of how my body insists on that deep and full inhale and exhale that moving forces…
Read MoreI've been TIRED all day!
So how did I possibly teach a Nia class tonight? It was possible because I have teaching tools designed to help me manage such situations! When my physical energy is low, I’m able to fall back on a key teaching principle from my White Belt training called “Teaching What You Sense.” This principle allows me…
Read MoreBelly dancing and the Core
I’ve started taking belly dance classes at Joy of Dance (which, by the way, is the best dance studio in Toronto that I know of). At first, I wasn’t sure if they were for me, as there is an incredible focus on technique. Whenever there is a chance of doing something wrong, I find myself…
Read MoreLearn to Dance: Nia
So it’s 2 weeks into 2011. I figure that, like me, there are probably a few of us who are still sorting out how to make our beginning of 2011 intentions become REALITY. Perhaps on your list of intentions is “learn to dance“. It was on my list years back, and I can still remember…
Read MoreCrawling through hotels rooms in America: Self-Healing
I spent the last 7 days crawling around hotel rooms in Arizona. What?!? Sounds a little crazy, right? Possibly, but give me a chance to explain: I was on holidays and wanted to do a little body experiment. I was testing out a self-healing practice I’ve heard lots about but hadn’t yet experienced with any…
Read More10 Ways Nia Benefits Bodies (mine and yours, that is)
When we embrace an active healthy lifestyle we can attain increased fitness, health, and well-being not only in our bodies, but also in our minds, emotions, and spirits. Nia is a unique fusion fitness practice that provides benefits in all these areas; it is easily learned, easily built upon, and a joy to practice throughout…
Read MoreNia & The Feet: Sandi Wants to Know
The other day I got a message from a student, Sandi, with a great question about her feet and Nia. She’s agreed that I could publish it on my blog to share it with all of you! “Hey, Jenn, your tweets about body awareness reminded me of something I’ve meant to ask you for a…
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