Nia Mind-Body Fitness

The 13 Principles of Nia...

Before I start with Principle Number 1, I would like to share a brief excerpt from the book, The Nia Technique. Even though I have heard it or told it a thousand times, I still love this story. So here is where Nia began…

“Debbie. Carlos. Let me see you move,” the martial artist said to us.
 
We just stared at each other. Move how? Straight leg kick? Flat back? Cancan Kick? And where was the blasting disco music to rev us up? We began doing jumping jacks.
 
The sensei shook his head. “You have fifteen seconds’ worth of knowledge,” he said softly. “You know how to exercise, but you do not know how to move.”
 
Well. Gee. Then why were we two of the most successful aerobics teachers in California? This was way back at the height of the aerobics movement and Debbie’s fitness company had fifty teachers who together taught over a hundred classes every day.
 
But we had come to the sensei because we knew that something was wrong. The aerobics industry was riddled with injury, burnout and pain. A study done around this time showed that traditional aerobics had an injury rate that hit 76 percent among teachers and 44 percent among students. Of those injuries, 82 percent were to the knee or below, indicating that the human leg just is not built for the pounding of conventional aerobics.
 
What was wrong? We got our first feel for what was wrong that day at the sensei’s martial arts dojo.
 
The first thing we found out was that we were not nearly as fit as we’d thought. We were appalled, because Carlos was an indefatigable tennis teaching professional and Debbie was the diva of Bay Area fitness. However, when the sensei asked us to do some basic martial arts stances, our legs started to quiver in just a few seconds. We realized that we had strength in our large muscle groups, but were weak in the smaller stabilizer muscles that provide power and definition…
 
Most noticeable of all, though, was that we’d both lost the joy of moving. As we watched our smiling sensei move with great sensual pleasure, we realized that we’d lost the childlike, playful, pleasant quality in our physical action. For us- like so many others who struggle to be fit – movement had become work.  It was donkey kicks. Sit-ups. Push-ups. Repetition. Drudgery. We were like wild horses, captured and domesticated, that now pulled a plow.
 
But what could we do? If only we’d known then what we know now...

Nia Principle Number 1

The Joy of Movement.
 
The Joy of Movement is the Secret of Fitness. Stop exercising. Start moving. Follow the pleasure principle. If it feels good, do it; if it doesn’t, stop, adjust.
 
Joy is the primary sensation you should seek from all movement. If you momentarily lose joy, tweak your movement until joy again arises. When joy is present, sustain it. When joy is not present, look for it.
 
Focus on the joy of movement with the intent to find ease, efficiency and pleasure. Focus on joy as the energy and sensation you seek in every workout.
 
Key words or “pearls” associated with the Joy of Movement:

Love, honesty, play, freedom, trust, listening, honoring, integrity, grace, respect, passion, humility, achievement, personal, pleasure.

For those of you who know me, you can probably guess that of all the Nia Principles, this one is by far the easiest and most natural one for me. For some, this one is perhaps a challenge and some of the other principles will come easier. We are all built so beautifully and perfectly different thus the importance of letting YOUR body be YOUR guide through your movement. Listening to the wise inner voice of your body and allowing your movement to be a joyful experience - for you...

Nia Principle Number 2:  Natural Time and the 9 Movement Forms
 
All of your Nia movements are done in your own personal, natural sense of time and include movements and energy from nine classic movement forms. Move the main thirteen joins of the body and use your body sensations to measure movement. Move your body, respecting its natural timing and way of moving.
 
Key words or “pearls” associated with Natural Time:
Joints, bones, sensing, explore, timeless, connected, personal, authentic, movement, measure
 
All of the Nia moves are derived from nine classic movement forms: three each from the martial arts, the dance arts and the healing arts.

The Martial Arts:

• T’ai Chi: the slow dance
• Tae Kwan Do: the dance of precision
• Aikido: the dance of harmonious spherical motion
  

Key words or “pearls” associated with Tai Chi:
Soft, relaxed, like the wind, grounded, internal, harmonized, strong, inner calm, open, chi, dynamic ease, floating ribs

Key words or “pearls” associated with Tae Kwan Do:
Defend, react, sharp, solid, masculine, protective, thrust, aware, speed, forceful, warrior, pushing, aggressive, instinct, survival

Key words or “pearls” associated with Aikido:
Flowing, entering, continuous, recycling energy, centering, peaceful and powerful, yielding, bending, adapting, turning

The Dance Arts:

• Jazz Dance: the dance of fun, showmanship and expression
• Modern Dance: the dance of creating shapes in space
• Duncan Dance: the dance of free-spirited, honest movement
  

Key words or “pearls” associated with Jazz Dance:
Playful, jazzy, soulful, vital, happy, hands, impulsive, showy, alive, fun, electrifying, shimmy, uninhibited, rhythmic, expressive

Key words or “pearls” associated with Modern Dance:
Moody, serious, free, bound and unbound, introspective, long and short, up and down, lively, languid, on and off balance, form and formless

Key words or “pearls” associated with Duncan Dance:
Movement from the soul, child, spirit, angelic, freedom, natural, walking, running, playing, skipping, social, interactive, hope, joy, awakening, creative

The Healing Arts:

• Teachings of Moshe Feldenkrais
• Alexander Technique
• Yoga
  

Key words or “pearls” associated Feldenkrais: Somatic, individualized experience, functioning, simple, felt, perceived, reflective, healthy, healing, body, mind, spirit, emotions, senses, sensation, feeling, mindful

Key words or “pearls” associated with Alexander Technique: Internal, body weight, healthy joints, effortless, balanced, equalized, organic, grace, breaking habit, head up and out, lightness, upward direction, ease, three-dimensional

Key words or “pearls” associated with Yoga: Bones, alignment, postures, muscles, ligaments, extensions, strengthening, flexibility, agility, gentle, powerful, conscious, long, unity, oneness, presence, soft eyes, open mind, letting go

Nia Principle 3: Music and the 8BC (music counting) System

“The sound of music is one of the most powerful underlying creative forces in our universe.”  ~The Nia Technique White Belt Teacher Training Manual

“Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.” ~Ludwig van Beethoven

Music is the universal language of mankind.  ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Music -- Its language is a language which the soul alone understands, but which the soul can never translate.  ~Arnold Bennett

Nia is almost always practiced using the sounds and silence of music — using an 8-beat counting system to organize the movements. Strive to master the art of listening and connecting to sound and silence. Focus on listening to music with the intent to develop an intimate relationship with all kinds of sounds, including silence.

Key words or “pearls” associated with the Music and the 8BC Counting System:

Sound, silence, rhythm, melody, resonance, harmony, beat, syncopation, rest, vibration, tone, healing, creative, expressive,  stimulating, speeds, off-beat, temp-changes, double time, pause...

The 8BCs is a system of music notation that helps Nia teachers learn and create choreography.  Each song is broken down into bars.  A bar consists of 8 counts or 16 beats (1 and 2 and…). The bars are classified into the type of music being played, i.e. intro, verse, chorus, or instrumental-solo.  The teacher‘s job is to overlay the choreography onto the musical bars. This helps the teacher quickly learn how the choreography fits with the music. The teacher can then use musical cues to recognize a specific movement and where movement needs to change.  As a result, the teacher doesn’t need to count repetitions of movement.  The entire process frees the teacher to teach the choreography and be full present to the class at the same time.

Nia is so much about the music.  As teachers we learn to dance to the music. So as we lead our participants through the workout routines it is more like dance than exercise.  Sometimes we count the number of our movements as we are leading the class, but when we know our music well, we are to go to the music and use its cues and not rely on the count of the moves.  So when I am leading a class and I am in a section where I am counting if I get distracted from my count, I can just listen to the music and know exactly where I am.  Honestly, some songs I know better than others and I can accomplish this, some I am still learning. It is a process. It is amazing. 

Music is powerful and has been used for teaching and healing.  Your entire body can listen.  Your body can respond to the music it senses.  The body can sense the vibration.

There have been studies done that equate specific tempos with specific moods and/or emotions, in Nia we play with all of that.  We can go with the music or play the opposite. A stereo-typical “happy” song, we might practice as sad and slow or excited and angry. It is a great exercise for the body as well as the mind and spirit to sense music one way and move to it in another, as an example, like previously mentioned; while “happy” is playing move to it as if you are sad or tired. It is a wonderful challenge.

It is energizing to play with the music. The rhythm or beat of the music is said to be the male or Yang energy of music.  The melody is the feminine or Yin side.  Harmony blends it together stimulating the spiritual energy. You can dance to the rhythm or the beat or move to the melody, or have your senses stimulated by the harmony. When you let your body sense the music you can dance it all.

There are so many ways to play with music. Another way to use music as a workout tool is to visualize what type of sound your body parts would make, match them up with the music as you listen and when you hear that sound activate that body part. Again, challenging your body, your mind, and your spirit. Getting the whole body workout that Nia is known for and at the same time letting the music be the motivation for the movement.

Nia is a workout, but it is a workout that allows you to exercise your body along with your mind and your spirit. It allows participants to be moved by the music in the body’s way. Your body’s way...

Nia Principle 4: FREEDANCE

Anything goes, movement wise. Let go of structure. Break out and move in spontaneous, free ways.

Focus and Intent
Focus on cultivating and express your authentic self with the intent to break movement habits. FreeDance provides you with a foundation to be free and creative each time you dance.

Key words or “pearls” associated with the FreeDance:
Empty mind, anything goes, seduced by the music, feelings and emotions, creative source, authentic movement, body expression, change, no judgment, creativity, evolve, no thinking, go shopping for new motions...

Workout Tips:

• Move and freely express yourself.
  

• Move and use emotions to fuel your dance
  

• Move and make radical movement changes.
  

• Move and be spontaneous and theatrical.

For those of you who are curious about FreeDance, I am attaching a worksheet that you can play with. Of course you can substitute any CD for the CD that was used to create this worksheet. It is a great way to deepen your connection to your body and in turn, your practice in Nia.
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Above is some basic information on Nia Principle 4.  Again, please note this is just a taste of the information that is available on this subject. For more, please read The Nia Technique book which is available to borrow from me (or you can purchase new or used from Amazon).

FreeDance Commentary by Allison Frederick
Nia Studio owner/operator

FreeDance is the time to push aside some of our inhibitions and rediscover the free spirit inside each of us.

A workout routine with a free dance portion? What is the reason for that? For me, free dance during Nia has always been a little odd. Why am I dancing in the morning and without a glass of wine in me? Each class I muddle through this portion of the routine. I do enjoy losing myself in the beats of the music and eventually my body follows my mind as I sway, stretch, or actually dance. It all depends on my mood and that is exactly the point of free dance – anything goes. I met one lady during my Nia teaching training <http://www.nianow.com/nia-education/professional-training#white>  who said she took the “anything goes” literally and she would leave each time free dance started to go to the bathroom or read literature in the lobby.

So, if there are some people who feel self-conscious about the free dance portion of the routine, why do Nia teachers keep it in? The philosophy of Nia is to reestablish the connection between our mind – and in this case we might say our “mind police” and our free spirit which often hides in a tiny corner somewhere in our body. Our mind police tell us that we are busy people with a lot of responsibility and there isn’t time for us to dance or express ourselves freely. If we are going to exercise we should do something practical like jumping jacks or lunges.

Our free spirit may still have a voice but it is often trampled on by the governing mind police. Nia is one hour, given to yourself, to push the mind police aside and discover and hear your own free spirit. free dance is the perfect opportunity for you to listen to your body and do what your body wants to do. This is probably a big change for most of us.

To help you dust off your free spirit, the Nia Technique offers keywords, or what they call “pearls.” These are words you can say to yourself during a Nia routine to trigger your mind and body into a particular movement or emotion. If you feel awkward during free dance, trying keeping some of these words in your mind: anything goes, pretend, no judgment, no thinking, change, or creativity. Try using one of these keywords whenever you feel awkward and want to quit. Does is shift your mood? Does the word help take you to a better experience? Sure, there are a few people who are very comfortable with this part of the routine. They look graceful and happy as they float around the room. For me, I consider it a journey and with each new experience I can feel my body lift as I improve my ability to stifle the mind police.

Nia Principle #5  •  Awareness and Dancing Through Life.

In Nia, you  become aware that every movement in life is a dance and that every  movement can be use to self-heal. By learning to pay attention to body sensations you can start to heal your body by doing little repair work all throughout the day, choosing pleasure over pain. Sense, perceive and use every movement as a dance to support self-healing.

Principle 5 actually consists of two parts. One is the awareness of pain in the body and the use of stimulation to promote self healing. The second half is the awareness of pleasure that leads us to "Dance Through Life."  Fine-tuning the awareness of pain and our ability to self heal.

This principle is actually what originally brought me to Nia. I had a debilitating, chronic low back issue that I had sought medical treatment for. After 6 months of care and about 8 Advil per day for pain, I ran into Debbie Rosas, Co-Founder of Nia. She invited me to her class and suggested that with awareness, it was likely I would be able to correct and heal my back. Although doubtful, I took her class that night and with my bare feet relaxing into the floor, I understood what she meant. I had a new awareness of sensation in my body. The healing for my back did not happen over night but Nia became my daily practice. Little by little I was able to bring awareness to my pelvis and my spine and after about 3 years, the pain had completely gone away. And I am happy to say that that was over 25 years ago...

Awareness is a dynamic process. It is only possible in the present and therefore is constantly changing. We are rarely aware of sensation in our bodies unless we are in a state of discomfort or pain.  Pain signals the need to change the body's movement or alignment. Awareness is not about judging ourselves but about gathering information about our bodies.  With this awareness we can then set about making small changes in our movement that improve our balance and alignment.  Use stimulation, either movement or relaxation, to encourage healing. Ideally this process is a daily occurrence.  We check in with our bodies when we wake up in the morning and adjust how we do the little things in life,

In class this principle should be employed so you don’t accidently cause an injury to yourself.  If a movement hurts or even causes a slight twinge, the movement should be modified or stopped.  Check in with your Nia teacher to see how alignment is.  Principle 5 is about choices.  It is choosing to be aware of our bodies, sensing what needs to heal and stimulating the area in order to achieve healing.

Focus and Intent

• Focus on  the sensation of pain and pleasure with the intent to observe what you do to increase ease, comfort and pleasure to self-heal.
  

Key words or “pearls”

• Healthy choices, conscious decisions, voices of the body, obeserve, recognize, feeling, sensation, stimulation, plain, pleasure
  

Workout tips

• Move and make a conscious, sensory connection between your body and your movement experience.
• Move and particularly notice one part of your body and pay attention to what you are doing and how you are doing it.
• Move and make one tiny adjustment to enhance the quality of the experience.
• Move and repeat what feels good, what brings you ease and harmony, what releases old habits and ways.
  

Above is some basic information on Nia Principle 5. Thank you to The Nia Technique Book and my fellow Nia teacher for helping put words to this principle. Again, please note this is just a taste of the information that is available on this subject. For more, please read The Nia Technique book which is available to borrow from me (or you can purchase new or used from Amazon).

In health!
Deborah