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Grail Lady Faire 2012 – Nia Playlist

By Jenn Hicks | July 9, 2012 |

Last week I wrote about my experience at Grail Lady Faire this past June. You can read all about what an excellent time I had here. I had so much fun teaching Nia while I was there, so wanted to share my playlist with you all! Thank you for this day – Karen Drucker Born…

Dance to the Music: Flash Mob!

By Jenn Hicks | June 21, 2012 |

Yesterday in Nathan Phillips Square, dancers from the Joy of Dance (including moi) surprised those attending a Brain Injury Society of Toronto awareness event. Yup, we did a big ‘ole flash mob. Lemme tell ya’ it was steaming hot under the mid-day sun, but a ton of fun! (this video captures about half of our…

Advanced Nia Performance – April 29, 2012

By Jenn Hicks | May 13, 2012 |

I had the privilege of working with 9 beautiful women in my Advanced Nia class from January – April. THIS is what we created. I’m so very proud of them!

Aging and Exercise: Get up! Then down! And up again!

By Jenn Hicks | August 17, 2011 |

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…

Grail Lady Faire June 27-July 1, 2011

By Jenn Hicks | July 9, 2011 |

I had the unique pleasure of being part of Grail Lady Faire at the most exquisite Grail Springs 2 weeks ago. I was there to use Nia to help participants connect to fun, pleasure and joy through their bodies. And that we did! Every morning in fact! Grail Lady Faire was an incredible gathering of…

Nia: Myths vs. Facts

By Jenn Hicks | June 11, 2011 |

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…

5 Approaches to Self-Healing: The Nia Way

By Jenn Hicks | May 17, 2011 |

“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…

Moving to breathe, breathing to move.

By Jenn Hicks | March 13, 2011 |

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…

I've been TIRED all day!

By Jenn Hicks | February 16, 2011 |

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…