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| Laurie Bass |
My final blog assignment for the Nia Next Generation Training program was to answer the question, "If you were invited to present at TED, what would you say?" For those of you who don't know what TED is, in a nutshell, "TED presents talks from some of the world’s most fascinating people: education radicals, tech geniuses, medical mavericks, business gurus and music legends." What I have learned from perusing the site, is that there are some great speakers, ideas and fascinating people. Here are links to two of my favorite talks: Jill Taylor Bolt's Stroke of Insight and Try Something New for 30 Days.
Back to the dyanamic, self-discoverer and fascinating me....I would share my "Top 10" list of things you should know about The Nia Technique aka Nia...a fitness experience, healing practice and movement lifestyle that requires no special equipment or props. I discovered it in 1999. Nia is a practice, a company and culture that has continually evolved since 1983…much like yoga until the ‘90s - most people have never even heard of it. It is here, the countdown begins:
10: You’re gonna to sweat. Nia is a fitness practice and offers the ultimate pathway to peak conditioning based on the pleasure principle. Who couldn’t use more Pleasure in life? I grew up star athlete. I crashed and burned as a collegiate athlete. After 2 major surgeries, it was through Nia that I reclaimed my athleticism, my power, my grace and to living my life in that state of awareness called the Zone.
9: Your whole body gets conditioned. Nia utilizes 200/700 movement potential: moving your 200+ bones and 700+ muscles as they were designed up, down, and spiraling all around, opening and closing your joints targeting your base, core and upper extremities. Like yoga, it utilizes total body integration. Nia combined with yoga has done more for my flexibility and balance than yoga alone.
8: Nia puts you in the “driver’s seat.” You get to drive your body with the power of a Mazeratti or with the energy efficiency of a Prius. With conscious choice. No judgment. I learned early in my days as a Nia student to listen to my body, to guide myself, to make personal movement choices and decisions that were right for me. I then found myself making choices and decisions outside of class that were healing and healthier for me. I tuned into nutrition. I tuned into my personal happiness.
7: Nia offers an attitude adjustment. For those of you who “can’t dance, feel uncoordinated or are freaked out about cutting a groove in a group setting” I’ve got a news flash for you. YOU were BORN to MOVE. Nia philosophy 101: Through Movement We Find Health. A Nia class offers you perfect blend of “dancing like no one is watching” and moving together in community, to a phenomenal array of world music.
6: Nia offers a belt-level education system inspired by the martial arts. It also offers a somatic, self-healing practice that taps into your body’s natural ability to heal, to feel better, in 5 simple developmental moves called The Nia 5 Stages. White Belt is an exploration of sensing Your Body’s Way and inspires the desire for body knowledge. Green Belt focuses on the art of teaching Nia. Blue offers tools for communication, relationship and intimacy. Brown is an energy education. Black Belt is the belt of Mastery. The belts have been my path to personal and professional Mastery. I have a deep level of embodiment and skill, use my energy efficiently, mindfully, creatively, and have tapped into my personal power.
5: You can take 5 strokes off your golf score ~ it did mine! I went from a 15 to 10 handicap and won a club championship after I discovered Nia. It improves balance, timing & sensory awareness of club positioning. My point: it benefits cross-training for other sports and activities.
4: Nia is “nature’s little blue pill.” It will improve your love life. Yes, you will be a better lover. Do I need to lecture you that by being more physically fit, by paying attention to your body, by being better balanced in body, mind, emotion and spirit, you will increase your capacity for giving and receiving Pleasure?
3: Nia will empower you to accept and love yourself for who you are. Every time you step into a Nia class, you are stepping into the Now, into the present. Not what has been, open to possibility. You are enough. You are taught, through the power of focus and intent, that energy follows attention. I have learned to place my attention on what fills me with love, pleasure and inspiration.
2: Nia will connect you. To yourself. To your community. To a worldwide culture of like-minded “movers and groovers.” I have met my people, my tribe ~ locally and globally ~ who love to dance through life.
1: Nia will inspire you to love what you do and to do what you love. I am that person who has always loved exploring my passion, to explore what turns me on. Those passions included peaking as an athlete (basketball star, track and golf champion), as an amateur photographer, as a barista/coffee entrepreneur. Nia, upon my discovery of it, breathed life and Joy into my previous role as Coffee Diva~ owner, businesswoman of a retail coffee. I shed that role, that personality, that life and chose to pursue my passion for Nia movement to play the role of Nia Diva. I can tell you, I'm having FUN. I'm doing what I love. I'm loving what I do.
What is your TOP 10?
Love, Laurie
The link to Laurie's original post: http://www.icontact-archive.com/YrYdGcd-pOSnX7y5itIURxeQEevbXxKv?w=2
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