PRAISE FOR NIA

"Nia is a workout with you inner self,”

"I've worked out all my life but I have never had such dramatic results as I have had from doing Nia"

"Nis changed my life!"

“...I love doing Nia “

In the early 1990s, Bonnie began to suffer from severe debilitating osteoarthritis. Her doctor recommended exercise and prescribed pain medication, but neither was effective.

“The pain was mostly in my hips,” she recalls. “Then I began to also have lower back pain.”

The sedentary nature of her profession exacerbated the arthritis. “When I started Nia,” she says, “my hips and pelvic area felt frozen from years of sitting at a desk. I love to dance and walk for exercise, but Nia gave me the structure to explore movements I was not familiar with. For example, I began to use my upper body and arms in new ways.”

When she started to do Nia, her arthritic symptoms began to improve dramatically. Her hips regained most of their former flexibility, and her entire body became more toned. She now says, “I do not experience any arthritic pain in my hips.”

Even though she was receiving tangible physical benefits, her primary motivation to continue came from the fact that Nia was simply fun. “I immediately knew this was the class for me,” she notes. “I loved the music. I had taken aerobics classes before and had been very turned off by the music the instructors had selected. I love to dance and the possibility that I could dance and have such a fun workout thrilled me. I also liked my Nia teacher, Jamie. She was so comfortable in her body that I mistakenly thought she was a dancer by background and training.

“I’ve noticed that I can come to a Nia class feeling a little down and within the hour my entire mood shifts. My body comes alive and is filled with energy and joy. I feel such a great physical release. My spirit soars with the rhythms of the different musical cultures of the world. I also love the integration of the various martial arts and yoga.

Despite her physical healing and spiritual growth, fun and pleasure remain the driving forces behind her ongoing practice of Nia.

“In every Nia class,” she says, “I rediscover the creative child that lives within me – and I let her out to play!”

Bonnie, Nia Student

An Effective and Enduring Therapy

For many years, Kahlie Sue’s life was haunted by bi-polar disorder. The condition had caused her to self-medicate with marijuana and alcohol since the age of 12. These substances, however, created addiction and became primary problems themselves.

To fight the disorder, Kahlie Sue was heavily medicated with conventional psychoactive drugs. “I have been on many medications,” she notes, “and was once over-medicated with seventeen pills daily.” These medications caused negative reactions, primarily torpor and extreme fatigue. At times, they made her feel as if she were existing in a vegetative state.

“The last medication that I was prescribed could absolutely not be used with drugs or alcohol. I stayed with my mom the first weeks of my withdrawal. On the third day of it, she brought me to a Nia class. She made me come.

“I was in tears throughout the entire class, only to realize that it was from true release. I cried through the next two classes. After that I cried only during the cool-down section. I don’t cry much anymore, and when I do, it’s from true letting go.” Nia became Kahlie Sue’s most effective and enduring therapy.

“Nia has given me a venue in which I no longer have to hit a pillow in a sterile environment just to get release. Nia lets me actually work through emotions. When I was on meds, my emotions were suppressed and energy built up and caused racing thoughts, nervous tics and compulsive outbursts.

“In Nia, though, I experience an emptying of pent-up energy. Nia is a safe environment in which I can share feelings, and workout difficult issues with the help of other peoples’ points of views, instead of being limited to just the perspectives of doctors.

Her work with Nia has enabled Kahlie Sue to finally understand herself. “Nia has helped me to peel away the layers, and reveal my true self. After shedding these layers and remaining clean and sober, I now have the true Kahlie Sue to give to my family and friends.

Nia has, of course, also helped improve Kahlie Sue’s body. She says her body now has “a glow”. Her mother has also become a Nia student, and has lost a considerable amount of weight. “The transformation Nia has made in my 55 year old mother is fabulous,” she says

“Nia is a workout with you inner self,” Kahlie Sue says. “it is moving meditation. Dance. Therapy. Church.”

I thank Nia for giving me a second chance.

Kahlie Sue, Nia Student

SOME OF MY PERSONAL BENEFITS OF DOING NIA:

1. My balance is being restored.

2. My feet are stronger; I don’t need to wear orthodics very much.

3. My body/weight looks better.

4. I don’t get winded like I used to.

5. My body is stronger.

6. It seems that my thinking is clearer.

7. Emotionally I feel more like a winner.

8. I met a new friend, Catherine.

Kathy, Nia Student, Downers Grove