Journey to Nia
About Susan Step in with Susan
I teach Nia Classes in Stirling and Dunblane, and now with great pleasure have decided to bring Nia to Perth. You may not have heard of Nia, but it has been around for over 35 years and is both a barefoot low impact fitness class and a movement, lifestyle and min-body-spirit practice in its own right.
As I write this, in Feb 2016 I will have been teaching for a year, and I never expected to be doing so! Consider me, age 53, an ex-software engineer, mother of a teenager, carer to my live-in 94 year mother….I have drifted in and out of various aerobics, Pilates, and body-conditioning classes since the 90s. I have always felt the music could be more interesting and the moves could be more satisfying, more fitting to the music. Little did I know that whilst I was grappling with yet another box-step in Uxbridge, The Nia Technique was in its early days in Portland, Oregon! The answer to all my criticisms! I was that ‘customer’ at the back of the class who got confused by turns, I went week-by week to dynaband, tums and bums, step aerobics and Yoga (though I know now I didn’t really give that much of a chance). I never saw much improvement in fitness and only went regularly to a class when I found the occasional special teachers who really cared about the music and who fostered a social side to their classes, and whose moves weren’t too complex or hard-pushing. I can’t stand being shouted at in a class in particular!
Four years ago I returned from the N Coast of Scotland keen to get back to some kind of fitness to music having put on a stone in weight. I was limited by my caring commitments to daytime only which also prevented me from getting a job. I embarked on a mission to find 3 classes a week that met my criteria in the Stirling area. Very little was on offer in the daytime that met my needs.
I started Yoga, and through that, found Nia ‘by accident’ as it was on in the same studio. I thought it was some kind of Yoga to music when I went. I shall never forget when the strains of the first track started with a Japanese sound: haunting, inspirational and I found myself moving (at first gently but then quite animatedly) in a way I had never done before. I couldn’t really put my finger on it for quite some time but I knew I loved it. In fact for many months I really felt the classes were so enjoyable they couldn’t really be doing me much good. Later, I found when I dropped one of my other classes I didn’t notice it but when I missed my Nia fix my body didn’t feel so good.
White Belt Training December 2014 with Nia Faculty Trainers Dorit Noble (L) and Laurie Bass (R)
A year later, as a treat, my family sent me on the Nia ‘White Belt’ training, which is for anyone who wants to experience Nia at a deeper level, and it not tied in intrinsically with just teaching Nia. “Do I want to teach” I was asked – Maybe. By the end of the 7 day intensive, the answer was yes – I had a mission. I wanted to share Nia with all those like me who have walked out half-way of the current crop of “Mega-Body” and “Ultra-Fit” style classes; all those who adore those moments when movement fits the music - those who love to dance and those like me who would like to feel like they were dancing but often have problems with complicated (or even quite simple steps)! I was also sceptical of concepts like ‘mind-body’, mindful and holistic; but as a Nia Teacher I am encouraged to experience and test-out everything I am taught and learn through my personal practice and bring it into class. I now understand the benefits of being ‘in the body’ and hope to bring that to you in my class as I explore and learn more; but always it’s the joy of movement to great music which inspires me most.
