Tips for Moving With Nia
These are 12 tips to help you move with Nia.  You will find these tips in The Nia Technique, a book
written by the creators of Nia, Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas.  The book is a great way to get acquainted with Nia as a practice. 


~Use visual imagery to make movements feel natural.
As you do the various Nia moves, you'll notice that many of them feel like normal, everyday motions---because they are!  To help make these  movements easier to remember and to better integrate your body with your mind,  it's helpful to visualize the movements as familiar physical tasks.  We provide visualization cues for many of the exercises.  For example, kicking a ball, walking through thick mud, throwing a ball, turning a doorknob, wiping a table, or stretching like a cat. 

~Combine small movements with large  movements.
To experience dynamic ease, practice each movement in small  and large ranges of motion.  Small movements engage the intrinsic muscles, the  ones closest to the bone that provide stability.  Large movements engages the superficial muscles, the ones on top that provide more power. 
 
~Use your Base, Core, Upper Extremities,  breath and voice to add energy and power to your moves. 
 
~Use a variety of speeds.
The more speed variety you feed your body, the stronger and more adaptable you become.
 
~Use your joints to move energy. 
Sense your joints opening and closing to keep energy flowing and your body in motion.
 
~Use breath to start and stop the flow of energy.
Exhale longer to sustain endurance and balance.  To harmonize you breath with body motion, synchronize the speed of your in--out breath with the speed of your movement.
 
~Add intensity to your movements by sinking lower and rising higher.
 
~Shift your body weight--don't drop it---as if you were moving along a curve similar to that of a Smile Line.

~Add emotion to every motion. 
When you become personally motivated, involved, and interested in what you do, more of you is involved in working out.  This means more bang for your buck and a greater return for your energy investment.

~Use your fingers and  hands to express how movements make you feel.
Engaging the fingers  and hands activates brain activity, engages the emotional body, and physically  keeps tension out of the neck and shoulders.

~Use your voice as you move, to activate your abdominal muscles.
The most efficient way to involve your abdominal muscles is to make sound, which engages them  effortlessly to provide you with support from the inside out.
 
~Lead your head movements with your eye movements.
Because the head is the heaviest weight  of the three weights of the body, moving it energetically is the most efficient.  When the eyes are engaged in looking, tracking and focusing, the head follows and is supported form the inside out.  This is the safest way to move the head weights.


While nothing compares to the energy of a live class, the book is a great way to get started or to get you acquainted with Nia. 

New to Nia?  The next page you might want to read is
 Nia Class Cycles.