Nia
Free-flowing, sweat-breaking workout

by Tiffany Edwards

Trying Nia, I had my first-ever barefoot blend of yoga and martial arts with the free flow of dance. Talk about a rebirth. I went from lying in the fetal position to a high lunge punching the air with my elbows and fists shouting nos and yeses in the span of one hour.
Nia is an acronym for "neuromuscular integrative action." Founded in 1983 by Carlos and Debbie Rosas of Portland, Oregon, the practice draws from three healing arts(yoga, (Moshe, Feldenkrais, and the Alexander technique), three martial arts (Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi and Aikido), and three dance arts (Modern, Jazz, and the choreography of Isadora Duncan).
There were 52 moves to Nia, instructor Elisha Starr Sevareid told me.
Sevareid, 35, teaches at Hilo's BJ Penn Fitness and Training Center and at Center Stage Dance Studio.
She recalled that her first Nia class a few years ago wasn't exactly pleasant.
"Halfway through the class I wanted to leave," she said. "I had all this emotion. Afterwards, I went up to talk to the teacher. I asked her why I wanted to leave the class."
Sevareid would learn that Nia, with its mind, body, and spirit workout, in the sense incorporated one's whole being.
"If there are any areas within those three (mind, body, and spirit) that you're not at peace with, it comes up in class," she said. "I realized that [Nia] was the missing link for me in my mission for helping people.... I had done touch in massage, and used my body in exercise, but I never fused the two. It's a holistic lifestyle and fitness practice."
Some moves in Nia pull you off your center, others bring you back; some circumvent, others confront-all invoking different emotions that you work through in class. I went from self-defense to ecstatic dance with the movements planned out according to the carefully charted playlist on Sevareid's iPod.
Music is an integral part of the workout-one of NIA's 13 principles. The others include movement, joy in movement, free dance, awareness, the base and planes of movement. It also includes and multiple levels of teaching-the core of the body, the upper extremities, x-ray anatomy, business and marketing, continuing education, and teaching what you sense.
Those moving to the music started and ended at the same point, but got there by doing the same movements differently. The idea, Severeid said, was for the moves to become you, rather than just spending class trying to keep up with the moves.
Nia slows you down, allowing you to feel and sense your body-joyfully and freely dancing, but completely aware of your body and every move it makes.
Where are your feet? How firmly or softly do you want them to hit the floor?
Sevareid described feet as the as "the hands that touch the earth."
In Nia, the body's core is the pelvis, chest, and head.
"You learn to come into that core and move from the inside out," Sevareid said.
The "X-ray anatomy" principle describes envisioning your body's skeletal structure in the angles of each move.
"It's a way to safety check yourself for self healing," Sevareid explained.
The 13th principle, "teaching what you sense," refers to the fact that Nia is all about movement perceived by the senses. Participants sense their diaphragms, feet, and spines as they spin circles in a free dance or sit quietly on the floor.
"The more present we are in the now, the less we are thinking about past and future," noted Sevareid.
You can break a sweat in a Nia workout and wake up the next day feeling the soreness of otherwise-unused muscles. However, "If we move with joy, we can only feel better," Sevareid maintained. "The more I do Nia, the sillier I get, and the happier I get."
Nia is a relatively recent arrival here. As late as 2002, Erin Graue on Maui and Megan MacArthur in Waimea were said to be the only two certified Nia instructors in the state. MacArthur, a black belt (the highest, level four Nia instructor), has taught at The Green Church Studio (Ke Ola Mau Loa Church on Church Row) since 1993 and started Nia New York before founding Nia Hawaii in 2003.
For more information about Nia on the island, call MacArthur at 885-4642 or Sevareid at 443-1935, or visit www.niahawaii.com.
Local Nia Instruction
Center Stage
100 Kalakaua St.
Hilo
M, W @ 8: 30 a.m.
F @ 9:45 a.m.
BJ Penn Training
and Fitness Center
639 Kinoole St.
Hilo
M, W. F @ 5:30 p.m.
The Green Church Studio
Ke Ola Mau Loa Church
Waimea
M-F @ noon
T, Th @ 8:30 a.m.
(Th is Free Dance)
The Dance 'Ohana
Kealakekua
M, Sa 9 a.m.
North Kohala Yoga Center
55-3877 Akomi Pule Hwy
Kapa'au
W @ 5:30 p.m.
Sa @ 10 a.m.
Mauna Lani Spa
Mauna Lani Hotel
Waikoloa Resort Node
T @ 11:30 a.m.

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