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Nia Progress
Last night’s Nia class was an interesting, if challenging, mix of experiences.
I’ve achieved enough rudimentary skill and familiarity with the basic movement vocabulary that it’s much easier for me to pick up the new sequences in a routine. Ah. . . this one. . . is the general translation of my body’s response. In fact, last night there were more than a few intervals when I really felt like I was dancing -- and that was amazing and wonderful.
At the same time, it’s still almost an hour of constant movement, and that itself is a challenge. At one point I was seriously contemplating stopping because of the blood pounding in my head.
But then I remembered: Nia is supposed to be pleasant. It’s the antithesis to “No pain – no gain.” One of the reasons for codifying the three levels of intensity is to validate the reality that people not only have different levels of fitness and energy from each other, they can also be at different levels themselves from one moment to the next. So instead of dropping out, I listened respectfully to my rushing blood and the quiet but fierce profanity of my mental dialogue, and allowed myself to do only as much as I felt comfortable with. And it was okay. After a while my heartbeat slowed, my emotions evened out, and I returned to a once-again-comfortable higher level of intensity.
I felt like a “good Nia student” last night – but it wasn’t because I was dancing, it was because I was listening to my body and moving in the way that was right for me in any given moment. That was the victory.
I’ve achieved enough rudimentary skill and familiarity with the basic movement vocabulary that it’s much easier for me to pick up the new sequences in a routine. Ah. . . this one. . . is the general translation of my body’s response. In fact, last night there were more than a few intervals when I really felt like I was dancing -- and that was amazing and wonderful.
At the same time, it’s still almost an hour of constant movement, and that itself is a challenge. At one point I was seriously contemplating stopping because of the blood pounding in my head.
But then I remembered: Nia is supposed to be pleasant. It’s the antithesis to “No pain – no gain.” One of the reasons for codifying the three levels of intensity is to validate the reality that people not only have different levels of fitness and energy from each other, they can also be at different levels themselves from one moment to the next. So instead of dropping out, I listened respectfully to my rushing blood and the quiet but fierce profanity of my mental dialogue, and allowed myself to do only as much as I felt comfortable with. And it was okay. After a while my heartbeat slowed, my emotions evened out, and I returned to a once-again-comfortable higher level of intensity.
I felt like a “good Nia student” last night – but it wasn’t because I was dancing, it was because I was listening to my body and moving in the way that was right for me in any given moment. That was the victory.
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