Nia Gauteng

Susan Sloan

Nia White Belt Somatic Trainer and Black Belt Instructor

South Africa

These last few weeks I have felt carried by my 16 years of movement art practice called Nia. I’ve realised even more how the pillars of health and wellness lie in being mindful and staying present. And also cultivating sensations of fitness in the body: Flexibility, Agility, Mobility, Stability, and Strength.

With all that is happening in the world right now, as we and many countries go into lockdown to contain this COVID-19 pandemic, I feel I have tools to stay balanced through Nia’s philosophy of The Body’s Way. A way of living with the body as a nested system in accordance with the body’s design. For me, over these years, my Nia practice fits in with my belief systems of “Through Movement we Find Health”, and learning to listen to the body to practice preventative medicine and optimal health. As I learn each day more and more to listen to my body’s voices and interpret its signals, I make small adjustments to feel better. These adjustments can be so simple, for example changing the way my feet are connecting to the earth, and asking myself if I can drop my shoulders a bit more, or deepen my breath more.

Over the years, I can sense more how much volume and space I have inside my body, and which parts have more density. I can feel when I haven’t stretched out enough, especially the psoas muscle, which carries the fight or flight response, connected to the amygdala gland that connects with the diaphragm, endocrine, and nervous systems. Without taking care of flexibility of these hip flexor muscles, it will affect how I process my emotions. I can make small adjustments to feel better physically and so affect how I process my emotions. If I am talking too much and not listening enough, my throat gets dense, and with listening to this voice of sensation I can stop what I am doing or change how I am doing it, and in turn feel better.

With my regular practice of at least five to eight Nia classes a week, I have the time to hone these small adjustments, and give dedicated self-healing time to my body.

It feels like we as a planet are now making these big adjustments to our nested system as planet earth. I have found over the years that if I don’t hone my practice or am not able to find an hour or two to move artfully (and in my case mostly Nia, Yoga, or walking), my body’s signals get louder, and it’s usually more than discomfort, and sometimes pain.

So, it feels like the planet is re-setting to make changes so we can find this homeostasis again.

In my public classes at gyms, many students have been coming to Nia classes for years and have enjoyed the fellowship of joyful movement in community, while staying fit and healthy in Body, Mind, and Spirit. Some people drop in for class, and others stay as regular Nia practitioners. Mostly, those who subscribe only to traditional medicine, can perceive our dancing as just that, dancing to music. In this pandemic, I have made sure that the regular students have the opportunity to keep dancing, not just for the personal joy, but because we are alternate health practitioners.

I see other Nia practitioners all over the globe, in 46 countries, doing the same: keeping their communities moving, because we know how to stay healthy through movement. We believe that when you move the body in the way it was designed, you set up homeostasis, and long after your session, your body is re-setting to find balance in every way. For more on Nia’s 52 Moves, please read here: https://nianow.com/52moves

References

The Psoas Book by Liz Koch – this book says that “there is a lot more to the psoas than one might initially think. It is entirely possible to harness healing pranic energy and improve mental health by keeping the psoas healthy.”

Brett Wilbanks, writing for WakingTimes.com, said that breathing is modulated in the diaphragm, and it is also the location where many physical symptoms associated with fear and anxiety manifest. Koch believes that this is due to the direct link between the psoas and the most ancient part of our brain stem and spinal cord: the reptilian brain.

Long before the spoken word or the organising capacity of the cortex developed, the reptilian brain, known for its survival instincts, maintained our essential core functioning. The way we live today, constantly rushing, competing and achieving, has the psoas in a constant fight or flight state. Trapped in a constant flight or fight state, the psoas muscle is stressed and constricted, almost from the time of birth. This situation is exacerbated by many things in our modern lifestyle, from car seats to constrictive clothing, from chairs to shoes that distort our posture, curtail our natural movements, and further constrict our psoas. This lifelong chronic stress put on the psoas can lead to many problems like back, hip or knee pain, and even digestive issues and dysfunctional breathing.

Since the psoas is closely linked to our fight or flight mechanism, fear can be over-represented in those with a constricted psoas. It is an emotion that manifests itself in the most unusual ways, and can lock itself in the body resulting in both physical and emotional tension. By restoring balance to your psoas muscle, you are likely to release this pent-up tension, which can have a profound effect on releasing unfounded fearfulness about life, and thus improve both your physical and mental well-being. You will feel a greater sense of inner peace, along with fewer muscle aches and strains.

WHY NIA IS MORE THAN A WORKOUT

Written by Susan Sloan (White Belt Trainer)

I stepped in to my first Nia class in 2003, and although I had done many movement classes, somehow I knew it was very different and had a lot more to it. It was something I had to do and learn more about.

So, I signed up for the White Belt Intensive Training to become a Nia teacher. I was with others who were also stepping in to find out more about Nia and themselves. We walked away from that seven-day training with a body experience of using tools to become more consciously aware for our body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

I haven’t looked back since. Now, 17 years later, as a Black Belt Nia Instructor and a White Belt Trainer, I am training others to live their best lives, with more intent and body centred awareness.

What makes Nia different from any other workout? Well, for starters, the one-hour Nia class workout has a seven-stage format.

Stage 1 is the Focus and Intent. This sets the focus for the class so the teacher and students can harness the mind to stay present to receive the benefits of mind-body focus for healing and creating more potential in the body. As an example, in a class I taught recently, my focus was the hara, which I explain is an Asian term used in martial arts, and refers to a location in the centre of the pelvis, behind the belly button. This point is perceived as the “sea of qi”, which means a reservoir of vitality and a source of energy. Nia incorporates the energy of Aikido which emphasises the importance of moving from the hara, i.e. moving from the centre of one’s being, from one’s body, and mind. Moving from the hara is thought to be the intersection point of the mind and body, and the seat of all intuitive or ‘gut’ knowing. This awareness is the elixir that helps you become more resilient, grounded, and balanced. Moving with this awareness helps you to relax your body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

So, in this class, my focus was the hara, and the intent was to find more balance and relaxation in all realms of the body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

Stage 2, is the Step In. In this class of about 18 bodies, we all step in to leaving distractions behind and to be present in the here and now.

Stage3, is the Warm Up. Here I use a song which takes us through some of Nia’s moves for the base of the body called the stances, for grounding: closed stance, open stance, A-stance, and sumo stance. The moves for the arms are slow and very Tai Chi-like, to connect to earth to ground and to use the breath mindfully. During this warm-up song, the focus is also on the 13 main joints of the body: ankles, knees, hips, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and spine.

Stage 4, is where we Get Moving. The tempo of the music starts to increase, and the movement becomes more cardiovascular. We use the hara to create greater stability, mobility, agility, strength, and flexibility. My choice of music is stimulating rhythmic weight shift, and then Tae Kwon Do moves like punches, blocks, and strikes for agility and strength. We build up to a peak where the music is fast and vibrant and we’re using the four corners of the room, all our bodies in unison. We bring in some hand moves from Nia, to deepen the mind-body connection, and to condition the body: chop cut, claw hand, finger extensions, pumps, and webbed spaces. At the same time, I am sounding to release emotions and connect to sounding for empowering emotions like determination and confidence. I’m using the hand moves to transform emotions sitting in my body and energy field into “energy in motion”. The whole room is sounding with me and the music in unison, and the transformational energy of connecting to the hara is palpable.

After about five songs in high intensity, we’re all glowing with sweat, exhilaration, and the joy of movement.

It’s now time for stage 5, the Cool Down. Here we bring in Nia’s hand move called “touching”, and we begin to slow down the heart rate. We walk slowly in lateral travel, one hand on the hara and the other hand touching space above, then closed stance, to bring everything inward towards the hara, and connection to ourselves.

Stage 6, Floorplay, takes us down to the floor for integration of all previous stages. We continue to focus on moving from the hara and vary the movement speed, and flow. The movement is vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and in spiral lines using the healing art of Yoga, Alexander Technique, and Feldenkrais to deepen body awareness. Every cell of our bodies is being earthed and aligned.

We’re ready to move into the final stage of the class, stage 7, the Step Out. This facilitates a step out into the rest of our day taking the practice of Nia with us. We’re calm, our nervous systems in balance, and our bodies conditioned. The practice stays with us until the next time!