Principles of Nia
Nia® is a mindful dance fitness practice that not only conditions your body in remarkable ways, but also conditions your mind with the creative use of music and movement. Nia is a movement art that will elevate your movement skill by increasing flexibility, mobility, agility, stability and strength. Nia’s unique movement style is founded in 35 years of program development, focusing on aspects of martial arts, dance arts , and healing arts. Nia truly delivers a holistic experience that touches you body, mind and spirit.
A Nia class follows a seven cycle program, through setting the focus, stepping in, warming up, getting moving, cooling down, floorplay, and stepping out. The technique is founded on 52 basic moves for the base, the core, and the upper extremities. These moves are used to create the body-friendly choreography of the class.
The nine movement forms of Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, Aikido, Jazz, Modern Dance, Duncan Dance, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique and Yoga, inspire the class with soft and slow dynamics, as well as powerful and playful moves. Nia choreography blends these dynamics to create a class that offers ample movement in a state of dynamic ease. Everyone can do Nia because the movements are so adaptable to varying skill and fitness levels. Nia is generally done in bare feet. Shoes are also fine.
The first principle of the Nia Technique is the Joy of Movement. We believe movement can be pleasurable to the body, and when we move towards pleasure we move towards healing. One of our mottos is “Through Movement We Find Health”. There are lots of smiles and happy people in Nia classes. Some even say Nia has changed their lives!