Tried Nia?

In my effort to find the perfect exercise for new mothers, I’ve often read about NIA a combination of yoga, dance, and martial arts. Created by Debbie and Carlos Rosas in the 1980s, I started researching the technique because my friend, the poet Peach Friedman, found it instrumental in recovering from her eating disorder. And, if there is anyone who needs help coming to terms with the female body in all its femaleness, it is a new mother.

I just read an article about a personal experience with Nia in Canadian Living by Harriet Eisenkraft and am convinced that it probably is the perfect excercise for women recovering from childbirth.

Consider this passage from Eisenkraft’s article:

• Nia (pronounced knee-ah) stands for neuromuscular integrative action, a rather technical-sounding term that belies its creative nature. In Nia we take off our shoes and follow a series of steps, stances and stretches. Accompanying all this is music, which may range from Latin to Celtic and from Sting to the sweet vocal and harp chords of Loreena McKennitt. I often work up a sweat during the aerobic part of the routine, but there’s no repetitive jogging, no relentlessly synthesized rhythm machine and nobody barking instructions, says Eisenkraft.

• My classmates are mainly women ranging in age from 20 to 75. Beside me might be an athlete, someone with arthritis, a woman with an anxiety condition or a professional dancer. We come in all shapes and sizes: buff, overweight or skinny. Some look much healthier and more toned after a few months of regular attendance; others simply seem happier. Many of us have spent a lifetime participating in other kinds of classes, sometimes with strident instruction that left us feeling tense or belittled. We all come here to experience a similar joyfulness, and no matter what our particular level or capacity, we move capably and sometimes riotously through the room.

I haven’t tried Nia yet, but an exercise that treats women’s bodies and souls gently, sounds like something I need.

Have you tried a Nia class? What was your experience like?