Maybe Jack practiced Nia. We do a lot of agility movements in a Nia class. From Wiki’s definition of agility:
“Agility or nimbleness is the ability to change the body’s position efficiently, and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength, and endurance.”
When thinking of agility I tend to think of my entire body starting then stopping. My entire body moving one direction then changing quickly, like the definition states. But agility can be just in the fingers, in the hands, in the arms, or just in the legs. Our entire body does not have to move for it to be an agility movement—or at least that is how we call it in Nia. We do a lot of movements that require agility.
I just posted about Creeper Crawlers. That is an agility movement of the fingers. They are starting and stopping and going one direction then the other.
Drumming is a great example of agility. Your arms and/or hands are starting and stopping and changing direction. We drum in Nia. There are certain routines where it is part of the choreography. There are times when we do it in FreeDance. The music often calls for drumming. Sometimes we listen. Drumming is a fun way to connect to the sensation of agility. Without actual drums we can drum all around our space; up in the air above our heads . . . in one of our Nia routines they call this sky drumming. We can drum below our bodies, to the sides, behind our bodies, around in a circle, all over. Sometimes I invite the class to imagine they are in the middle of a HUGE drum set with drums all around them. They can’t even move without hitting a drum. That is some wild drumming.
Looking around and allowing the head to change direction is a form of agility. Look! Look! Look! As if you are watching a bug fly around. Hip bumps . . . keeping those hips juicy with that left right action. If you are really playful, hip bumps back and forth . . . it’s all about being agile.
Another great show of an agility move is kicking. Kicking like a swimmer’s kick. Fast feet, fast action action. One direction then the other. Back and forth. Of course this can be done with the action from the knee or even the hip. Whatever joint does the action, kicking is another great example of a movement that requires agility.
A number of Nia’s 52 Moves of the The Upper Extremities can be tied to agility. Blocks and punches can be done with a quick change of direction, along with webbed spaces and palm directions.
Agility is one of Nia’s Five Sensations that we practice and play with in our Nia classes. The other sensations are Flexibility, Mobility, Strength, and Stability. Like many groups and professions we have many acronyms, the one for Nia’s Five Sensations is FAMSS. The A is for Agility.
What do you do that can be considered an agility move?
Here is where it is obvious that the moves we include in the 52 Moves of Nia are not unique to Nia. Kicks are part of many dances, martial arts, and movement forms. Kicks can be done in many different ways. They are great for many things. In Nia while we dance we often do kicks. We count each kick as a separate move so the Front Kick, the Side Kick, and the Back Kick are three of the 52 Moves of Nia moves.
I know that we did kicks in country line dancing and in West Coast Swing. They kick in ballet and jazz dance. We all know they kick in all types of martial arts such as karate, jujutsu, and kickboxing. Kicks are even a part of exercise routines and sports. I know they do kicks in Jazzercize and Zumba.
Each kick requires balance, and that is one of the things that kicks are good for. The act of kicking helps improve, helps challenge, and helps retain balance. One must be on one leg and/or foot in order to kick the other leg.
With a Front Kick, in Nia, we balance on one whole foot, we lift the other thigh so the foot is off the ground. We keep our alignment of our three body weights. We use our arms to help maintain the balance. The leg we are standing on is firmly rooting to the earth yet the knee is not locked. Then we extend the leg of the foot that is off the ground, allowing the shin and foot to move forward, away from the body. We look where we kick. We kick at our own level. It could be that you are able to lift your thigh so it parallel to the ground or possibly your knee is higher than your hip. Remember it is your kick so it is your balance practice.
The Side Kick starts as the front kick, on one leg, the we lift our thigh, but instead of sending the foot forward and away from the body we shift our hips so the one that has the leg lifted it higher than the other one and our knee crosses the midline of the body, the we push our foot out to the side of the body. The same side as the foot that is lifted.
The Back Kick has the same start as the front kick and side kick. Stand on one leg and lift the other thigh up. As with the front kick your body is in alignment. The we push the leg that is lifted, back, as if we are stepping on the wall behind us. For an additional challenge to balance you can look behind you.
Just like all the 52 Moves in Nia, while doing these kicks in our Nia routines we often modify them a bit. Sometimes the kicks are slow and powerful. Sometimes they are fast and done with a bit of ease. Sometimes the choreography allows for the foot to rest on the earth before rising again to kick, sometimes not. Sometimes the kicks are done in a fast repetitive fashion. Sometimes they are meant to be done low, sometimes they are meant to be done high. But all kicks are meant to be done in your own body’s way.
In addition to balance, kicks help with strength. Both legs, the standing and the kick leg get the benefit of that. Also kicking is good for exercising your coordination, especially when there is travel involved and/or arm movements. Kicks are a great addition to many dance modalities and exercise forms. I would bet you are familiar with kicks.
Do you do kicks in your cardio dance class? Do you include kicks in your workout routine?
In Nia we have a base of 52 Moves. Not surprising they are called The 52 Moves of Nia. As I have stated before they are not unique to Nia. You have probably done some of them at one point in your life. If you have taken dance or you participate in a group exercise class that is dance oriented then you more than likely have done some of them. They are just gathered into a group for Nia because of their benefits and fun. So they are included in the Nia Routines. Not all of them are in every routine, but a good portion appear in each routine. Plus whenever there is Free Dance they might make an appearance. One of the base moves . . . . moves we do primarily with the base of our body . . . is Lateral Traveling.
Lateral Traveling is specific and different from Traveling In Directions. Traveling in Directions is a move done in all directions . . . . Lateral Traveling is done to the side. The Nia Technique (have you gotten your copy yet? Click here to go to Amazon to order your copy.) describes Lateral Travel as a step together step or a grapevine. The specifics are to start in a closed stance, then take one step to the side, then place your feet together (moving the other leg to the first leg that stepped), then take one step to the side, then move the leg toward the other one, but instead of placing it next to your leg cross it back.
A grapevine is where you step one leg to the side then the next step is BEHIND, then step to the side, where the next step goes depends. Sometimes you can land on the heel or behind or with the knee up. Grapevines are a nice replacement for four point turns. There are many reasons why people don’t turn so using this lateral move, the grapevine, is perfect.
With both methods the instructions say to use your hands to lead you. Have them out in the direction you are going. The instructions also say, “When you step behind, step onto the back ball of the foot and keep your knees spring loaded and your spine vertical.” For clarification, the “back ball of the foot” is the foot that is in the back or behind.
This is a “two side” move. To practice you do to one side then the other. To the left, then to the right. (Or to the right, then the left.)
So this is the specific Lateral Travel: Step together step or grapevine. I have found my self using the phrase “travel laterally” at times when I am leading my San Jose Nia class (or any Nia class for that matter) and I am not instructing them to do the specific Lateral Travel. But I guess that is the difference. There is “travel laterally” and do the “Lateral Travel” move.
Many moves in Nia are good for the coordination. This is one. Step together step is not necessarily a difficult move but depending on the speed and what comes before it and after it, it can call upon your coordination. Although, I would say this is one of the easier 52 Moves of Nia.
Varying the speed and adding some movement to the body can change it up a bit and perhaps add a some challenge to it.
So there you have it another move in Nia’s 52 Moves.
You probably find yourself doing this one often, huh? Even when you are not on the dance floor?
Nia is a cardio dance exercise . . . . yes, it is much more than that, but that is sometimes where we start. The Nia Technique produces DVDs that teachers use to learn the Nia routines that have been choreographed by the Nia Trainers. The teacher-learning-routines process is similar to many exercise formats that are taught in group exercises classes across the board. Most often the music is adored by my students. They don’t like every song, but I would begin to wonder if they did. Nia uses a large variety and I would think it odd if EVERY SINGLE SONG was liked by every student. Every so often though there is a song that someone asks about. They want to know who sings it. They want to know the words. All of Nia routines are available for purchase as an album*, but sometimes it is just a song. Currently I am teaching a Nia routine with one of those songs.
The song is Shine by Joshua. The lyrics are as follows:
People want freedom in life
People want freedom in life
come seek a, come seek a
People want freedom in life
Verse I
(Shine within)
My sun is blossoming my dreams
aloft amidst the winds and the promises they sing
walking in the stream
lovin’ runs often in my veins
become light
so I breathe softly when it rains
crossing over phases of the moon seas change in a whisper
risen from the chambers inner wisdom
painted with the pigments of a vision(ary)
dancing in the plumage of illuminary
I ruminate the way that newness carries me towards my selfness fragrances in praises form a shelter
waves of vibrations pour over relics saturated in wellness precious moments envelope me so my language is angelic
tell it – like a picture spoken in scripture
listen – to the morning born from hope in the mists of enigmas ocean of rhythms sweet ambrosia of beginnings openness is living
Chorus
People want freedom in life
come seek a
way of living, breathing the light
it’s gonna be the
eve before the dawn song before the rhyme
open up and let your love shine
(love shine)
(repeat)
Verse II
Rays of sun trickle down my throat coated with sounds of growing abound
and hope flutters on a melody telling me to develop these heavenly grounds of mine
*Shine* *Shine*
Soul surfing the divine
nurturing intuitions relearning to visualize the moment’s gift it’s open like an infant’s mind
an intimate design a wish up in the sky wisps by “Spread your wings! Come let your spirit fly!” (fly fly)
Ascending inside levity mending the mind states to befriend a sublime face of a love you always knew and present beside waves of benevolence, rise, bathe and through cleansing your eyes you’ll see:
that love was always you!
flow through the mirror to embrace your destiny it’s beckoning so hold it dearly to your breast and feel the blessings the fibers of your being vibrant reasons to let me be me – free
a love shining to eternity, a love shining to eternity, a love shining to eternity, a love shining to eternity, a love shining to eternity, a love shining to eternity, a love shining to eternity, a love me to . . .
Chorus
Let your light shine, let your light shine Let your dreams shine, let your light shine Let your heart shine Let it all shine, shine, shine Shine now, shine now
(repeat)
Chorus
Heart shine, dreams shine, mind shine
I shine, you shine, we shine… we shine… we shine…
Composed, written, arranged, performed,
produced, and engineered by Joshua Seaman.
I first looked up the words when I heard the part I have in bold. I love that. I hope you enjoy this song. It is a look into some of the music that we dance to in Nia.
What type of music do you like to workout to? Do you have a favorite song that really helps you get your “exercise on”?
I know – well, I am pretty confident that I have mentioned before in a blog post that I don’t think of myself as teaching people Nia. Even though I say I teach Nia, I usually prefer to say I lead Nia. I wish I could find that post because I would like to check what I said exactly because I am feeling a bit different these days. Or maybe I have it clarified in my mind better. I believe I said that I don’t like to say I teach Nia because I feel that a dance teacher is one that demonstrates the steps and then has the student try to do them while the teacher watches. Then maybe the teacher demonstrates again and the student does it again and then maybe there is some adjusting done by the teacher. Or even in a group dance class setting the move is done over and over until it is somewhat learned and then the next move is added on. Sometimes there is a sequence of moves that is demonstrated then practiced over a few times and then a new sequence added on. That is what I think of as teaching dance. So in THAT way I don’t teach Nia, but I DO teach Nia.
I do not show the move then have the students practice it over and over before we dance it, but sometimes when the song allows we do a preview and practice. It could be that the song has a long introduction in which there is no specific choreography and in that time we demo a move. While I might not tell a participant in particular a way to tweak the move I will look out into my class and see something that could use tweaking so I might say or even do something that I hope will lead to a change. Say, we are doing a move using our toe and I look out and see someone using their heel, I might suggest using the toe like squashing a bug or testing the water (depends on what we are doing). So in essence I hope to teach the students that we are using our toe. I teach the move as we are doing it as opposed to the aforementioned way.
IN addition, I like to share things about Nia while we are dancing. Sometimes I talk about how Nia incorporates the BMES (Body, Mind, Emotion, and Spirit) I might explain Nia’s Five Sensations while we are moving on the floor. Allowing the Nia students to be reminded of them and possibly use them in the floorplay. I often remind the Nia class about Natural Time letting them know they are free to move through the movement/choreography in their body’s own natural way and timing. Sometimes this is actually part of the song and if not people are always encouraged to move in this way.
So, I take it back if I said — as I believe I did — I don’t like to say I teach Nia, because I do teach Nia. But I don’t teach it as if it were a dance, because it is not just a dance. While we do dance, Nia is so much more. Maybe I should say I lead people through Nia Routines and I teach Nia?
Have you ever taken a dance class like I describe – the demo-do-type? Do you see the difference between two?
You might have read my post about Sounding in Nia. That is what we call it when we make noise in a Nia class — sounding. You might have read my post about Reasons for Sounding in a Nia Class. Even if you did not read that post, I bet you are aware of some of the reasons to make noise in an exercise class. One of the biggest ones is to ensure breathing. If you are making noise you are breathing. Knowing the students are breathing is a HUGE relief to an instructor. Some of the other reasons sounding is good are it can help stabilize your core, it can act as an emotional, spiritual, or physical release, and it can be really fun. Sounding can be noises/words such as HA, HI, HEE, HOO, WAH, WAHOO, etc. Sounding can also be singing. With “Nia Music” sometimes singing is just sounds.
I always invite the Nia participants to sing. Often times I tell them it is really easy because there are no words. I have often wondered how the singer sings. I have often pondered how it is done. Then Nia put out this video*. It is an interview with Carl Tietze whose song Am I The One, is on the Sanjana Album. Sanjana is the first Nia routine I learned. In the interview Carl talks about how he invited a vocalist, Jen Folkner, to listen to the song. He said he put the headphones on her and most of what we hear on the song is from her first time hearing the music.
She is sounding. Granted, she is doing is beautifully. I don’t want to put the pressure on and say this is what we do or need to do in a Nia class. No, not at all. I am just saying that it is fine to MAKE NOISE. I did laugh when I heard this interview because I kind of imagined that songs that have no real words but are just a singer making noise was done like this. I imagined the musicians just saying, “Go!” and the singer just letting her/his voice come out.
I was recently very amazed and in awe of a woman who had never been to a Nia class before – in fact, before class she asked me what it was. So she didn’t even know what type of exercise/workout it was. And yet, while she was moving to moves she had never done, she was singing. The song was one of those songs without words, but she was just making noise in a “singing voice”. It was great! I was very impressed.
Making sounds or singing in a group workout class is not something that comes easy to everyone. Sounding while learning moves doesn’t come easy to people who normally make noise, so it was especially fun to have her in class. Plus she had that much more fun and received the benefits of sounding.
I hope this interview helps give you a glimpse into making sounds. I hope you are able to experience the benefits of making noise while do your cardio dance. You know it is fun.
Do you sing while you dance in your fitness dance class? Don’t you love the way singing and dancing makes you feel?
*Click here to go to Nia’s website to sign up for the monthly newsletter!
In the Nia 52 Moves there are moves clumped into groups. There are moves of the base, which involve the feet, such as Heel Lead, Releve, Closed Stance, Bow Stance, Slow Clock, Fast Clock, front kicks, side kicks, etc. There are upper extremities which include moves such as blocks, punches, sticks, chops, finger flicks, Creepy Crawlers and Catching flies. Then there is a group called the core which involves Pelvis, Chest, and Head. Two of the moves that are pelvic moves are Pelvic Circles and Hip Bumps. Two relatively easy moves, I am confident most people have done them in their life time. As I said easy, but they pack a wallop!
The Pelvic circle begins in A Stance (feet a little wider than shoulder width apart) and you move the hips in a continuous circle as if you are using a hula hoop. Just around and around. Circling the hips. Don’t forget to circle the hips in the opposite direction. With this move the arms are free to move in any direction and any way they want. This particular show belongs to the hips.
Hip circles are a common move both in dance and other exercises. It is good for the waist and hips.
The other pelvic move is the hip bump. In Nia we bump our hips in all directions not just to the side. So for the hip bump stand in the A stance and move your hip to the side, then the other side, and the front and back. A quick bump. This is an agility move with the quick start and stop. The arms involved in this are also freedance . . . they can do what they want.
Again, this move is not unique to Nia at all.
As with all the 52 moves there are ways to do them correctly while in practice. Practicing them and getting them in the body’s muscle memory help when we incorporate them into a routine. While doing both the Pelvic Circle and the Hip Bumps the arms are free to move, but it could be the arms have specific choreography tied to the moves in a routine. Also the hip bump is in general done in all directions, but in a routine it could be part of the choreography that the hip just goes to one side then the other.
I am pretty confident that many, many, many people have done the hip bump. It is a familiar move.
In the routine I am doing right now there is a hip bump or two. My favorite is to assign a feeling to them. Sometimes we do sexy hip bumps . . .kinda goes without saying. But we also do angry hip bumps, silly hip bumps, and dramatic hip bumps. Each of those hip bumps brings out a different movement and with each individual it is different. It is so fun to see people interpret the feelings and emotions in a common move like the hip bump.
So these are two moves that are grouped into the Core moves in Nia’s 52 moves. I think that you should get up right now and do some pelvic circles and hip bumps. Your hips will thank you.
So are either of these moves movements you have done before? When is the last time you bumped your hip? How about a pelvic circle? What would your angry hip bump look like?
Nia is a cardio dance exercise that I teach. It is more than that, but that is one way to describe it. One of the ways it is more than that, is, it is a practice. If you chose to treat it like a practice, as one might treat yoga as a practice, one would become aware of Nia’s 52 Moves. There are 52 moves that get choreographed into the Nia Routines. One of the moves is Traveling in Directions. This is a great move for many reasons.
One reason Traveling in Directions is great is because it is very easy. Another reason it is great is because it is very adaptable and can be used in almost every song and in every routine. The main way to travel in a direction is to simply walk. Using the Heel Lead technique just walk forward, then change the direction you are walking, then change the direction, etc. With the simplest of forms you look where you want to go before you move in that direction. So before your feet actually start going a different direction — LOOK. There is a little bit of thinking involved because we look before we go. Allow your arms to move freely. Step confidently in whichever direction you choose to look. Move your body as a whole.
The Nia Technique book states: “Practicing Traveling in Directions keeps your body agile for moving through space in all directions, able to change direction with ease.”
When we use this move in our routines we have a lot of fun playing with it. The move really is as easy as stated, the fun comes when changing directions quickly. You can be the leader of your own movement or sometimes you are being directed by the teacher. This makes agility one of the Nia sensations we practice with this move. Moving one way then quickly stopping and going another way. Stopping, changing, starting. Varying the speed at times will allow for additional Nia sensations such as strength and stability to come into play.
When Traveling in Directions on your own you become aware of the direction you want to go, then you look, then you go. As I said, there are times when you might be listening to the direction of the teacher, which would still mean you would need to become aware of the direction you want to go, but when being told where to go your body’s reaction is quicker. There is a quick look then a move in that direction. Less thought is involved for you as the participant because someone else thought of the direction you were going to go.
Often when this move is done in a class, quick thinking, quick moving, and quick reacting are additional skills that receive attention because we are dancing with others on the floor so we might have to switch our trajectory quickly to avoid a dance floor collision.
Modifications of the traveling can be done by going backwards or sinking low or even rising high. So many ways to travel in directions. All of them are great opportunities to try out the Nia Sensations, the more you do, the more ways you move your body. If you want you can even skip. Skipping in different directions adds a new dimension to the move.
Sometimes this move is choreographed into the Nia routine with specifics and sometimes is allowed more of a Free Dance. However it is added to the Nia workout it is a wonderful way to dance.
How would you Traveling in Directions to your current favorite song?
We dance Palm Directions all the time in my Nia classes. It is an easy thing to do. Palm Directions is a great move to incorporate into freedance. It is also often one of the moves choreographed into a Nia routine. Palm Directions is one of Nia’s 52 Move.
It might not be something you think about, but the direction the palm is facing affects the shoulder joint. When the palm is facing down (or towards the body) the shoulder joint is closed and when the palm is facing up (or away from the body) the shoulder joint is open. When your arm is straight that is when the shoulder joint gets the open and closed action. Along with the shoulder joint, the entire arm is affected. The arm bones are twisted with the movement of the palm.
It really is as simple as facing your palms in one direction then another. Unlike Webbed Spaces – another move in Nia’s 52 Moves (you can read about it by clicking here) – in Palm Directions the fingers are kept together. If practicing to affect the shoulder joint, lengthen the arm straight out in front of your body or straight down next to your body, then turn the palms up/face them out away from the body to open the shoulder, then turn the palms down/turn them towards your body to close the shoulder joint. You can observe the radius untwisting as it switches places with the ulna. You can sense the movement of your humerus, the upper arm bone.
In addition to opening the shoulder joint, the Nia Technique book reminds us that, “Palm Directions also express emotion. Palms up, for example, is a universal body language indicator of openness.” So it can open things other than the shoulder joint. Changing palm directions also moves the energy around. In Nia classes we move the arms all around the space around us, changing the palm directions, pushing and pulling and mixing up the energy. Also, while we are dancing and our arms are moving around us with the palms facing different directions we vary the speed of our movement. When Varying the speed that are arms are moving and our palms are changing direction allows us to play with agility – one of Nia’s five sensations (click here for more information on that).
This type of movement helps us connect with the space around us. Palm Directions, the Nia Move, also helps with keep the shoulder joint mobile.
This move is also a great move with which Nia participant’s can practice their own body’s way. The body was designed so the humerus rotates in the glenoid fossa or shoulder socket. But life sometimes affects the body so that it cannot move the way it was designed, so all of us have different levels of how much we can move the arm. So while playing with Palm Directions and dancing the arm around the space each individual can do it in their own body’s way. This will allow them to get the work that their body is capable of and needs.
Ready? Straighten your arms then change the direction of the palms. Are you able to sense your arm bones twisting/untwisting? Are you able to sense the action in the shoulder joints? What do you sense when you move your arms around while playing with Palm Directions?
In Nia we have the five sensations that we dance and move with. I always feel that one of them is a personal favorite of one of the co-founders of The Nia Technique. I think that Debbie Rosas really loves stability. I imagine she loves them all because she does a superb job of ensuring they are all included in a each Nia Routine, but sometimes I just get this feeling that practicing balance is her favorite. It could be because sometimes stability, being balanced, requires flexibility and/or agility and/or mobility and/or strength. So you can practice and play with all of the five sensations when practicing balance. In yoga there is at least three of the five sensations we experience in Nia. In yoga there is flexibility and/or strength and/or stability/balance. In the Gentle Yoga class I am teaching I really like to put a huge emphasis on balance. I think balance is very important and yoga is a great way to practice it. There are many poses in yoga that are balance poses. Not all of them are standing poses.
One pose I really like to use for enhancing balance is the Gate pose. This pose is a kneeling pose, somewhat.
In the gentle yoga class we start on our knees. Up off our calves, as in we are not sitting on our legs. Then we lean forward and over to one side, say the left. We lean forward to the left placing both our hands on the ground in front of the left knee. Then we swing our right leg out so it is pointed out to the side. The heel of the right foot is aligned with the left knee or slightly in front. The right foot is flat on the ground and the toes are pointed away from the body. We then lift up so we are kneeling on our left leg with our right leg posed out to the right of our body. Then the left arm comes up reaching straight over the head. Palm towards the right. The right hand is palm up resting on the right thigh. If stability and balance is achieved then those that are comfortable lean over to the right, allowing the right hand to rest lower on the leg, at the shin, not the knee. If comfortable we turn the head to gaze past our left arm. All the while the crown of the head is moving away from our body and the tail is moving in the opposite direction. We are lengthening our spine. The shoulders are being drawn back and down. Even though one arm is up we still keep the space between the ear and the shoulder open and large. The same with the side we are leaning towards.
Whether you are staying up right or leaning over to the side, keep your body from leaning forward. Stay in the pose for a few breaths. After you perform this pose on one side, do the other.
Parighasana, the Gate pose, is a nice way to pursue balance. The foot that is out can be adjusted to a parallel (to the body) position if that allows it to be more comfortable or stable. Or the foot can be lifted leaving just the heel on the ground. The depth of the side bend is always a point that can be adjusted for the individual’s needs at the moment.
I love all the poses in yoga that allow for balance practice. I think this is a great post with which to practice balance.
Are you familiar with the Gate pose? Do you like this pose?
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