I know I have mentioned before that I teach Nia as a substitute Group Exercise teacher for the City of San Jose. What that means is when a teacher can’t teach a class s/he will send out a message saying that a substitute is needed. In order to give our clients/students what they want we work to keep the substituted class close to what the original class is. If a Boot Camp teacher needs a substitute the first choice to have instead would not be yoga. Or vice versa. As you can imagine, when someone plans on going to a class and shows up and it is not what was expected it can take a little wind out of someones sails. Sometimes in order to keep the class from being cancelled a different format will be allowed, but that is rare. Usually someone is able to step in with a similar format. It is a real challenge when people have not even heard of the type of dance exercise that you are going to do in substitution for their normal class.
It seems like with many people the first time they hear of something they are a little resistant. To me this is understandable. It seems like a natural thing to shy away from something that is unfamiliar. And as I said, it really can be disheartening when you are looking forward to a specific thing/type of workout and you walk in and find it to be a class of something you have never heard of. I don’t take it personal when people decide not to stay or leave in the middle of class. I’ve learned a long time ago that Nia is for everyBODY it is just not for everyone. It can be a HUGE step for some people. It can be a huge switch in thinking and moving and a lot of things, I understand. So when someone comes in not knowing what they are in for and completely embraces it — I love it. I find myself thinking, “YES!” I admire the person and their openness.
I have been teaching a class where I am listening to the music, dancing, cueing, sensing, and looking out into the room and as my eyes survey the students I will see someone who is completely new to Nia and utterly unfamiliar with it, dancing with all of their body, mind, and spirit. It is so amazing. For someone to come in and not having even heard of Nia before the class to just embrace something so fully–it is so wonderful. That is one of the best moments ever. The challenge for me is to keep going myself. There are times when I just want to stop and watch because it is such a beautiful thing to see someone dance with all of their heart. It is as if they are glowing and all of a sudden they are all I can see. It is so incredible.
I appreciate the people who say, “I’m open to anything.” Or even, “What the heck? I am here. I might as well try it.” But it is really amazing to look out and see the ones that are just INTO it. In a Nia class where people come to DO Nia, it is typical to see people dancing with everything they have, but to see it in a class that is usually not Nia . . . . ahhhhhhh!
I felt like sharing this today. Thank you for letting me share a bit of joy with you. Today has been a GREAT day. Nothing spectacular or even note worthy has happen but there has been a lot of laughing and any day with a lot of laughing is a great day. Don’t you think?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 