On My Way Towards Black by Evonne Tocco

Posted on September 15, 2011 by
Please enjoy a closer look at one of the featured teachers of Nia Colorado!

I’ve been on the Nia path for 14 years now. Back in 1998 I discovered Nia with Holly Nastasi (then Curtis) in Austin TX and did my White Belt when there were no principles and it felt more like group therapy than an organized discipline and movement practice. Blue and Brown Belts followed soon after and I was still unsure of who I was and where I was going but I knew I loved Nia and would have moments of enlightenment that kept me teaching and on the path.

Marriage, babies, and more embodiment started to take place after I moved to Denver, CO and did the first FAB in 2004. That FAB changed my relationship to Nia and I got to work on my practice. The WB principles started to come alive for me for the first time. After baby #2 we moved to Durango, CO where I have nurtured a growing Nia community.

As I prepare for Black Belt in Aug 2011, I exalt in a real dream about to manifest. Black Belt has been on the back burner for so many years and finishing this part of the journey will be monumental for me on many levels.

I found a quote by Maria Sharapova, the tennis star, that reminds me of being present for all of it… “If I’m nervous, it means I had to work hard to get there, whether its playing in a tournament or speaking at an event. So I try to stop and be proud of getting to live in that moment.”

And so it is.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

11 White Belts take their first step into teaching! by Dana Hood

Posted on September 12, 2011 by
In addition to featuring teachers from the Nia Colorado newsletter, we’re also thrilled to use this space to allow some of our members a chance to blog about their Nia journey, and that of others.

Dana HoodShining stars indeed! Sometimes all anyone needs to follow a dream is a tiny nudge. All 11 of these ladies wanted to take the plunge into teaching, but never had the encouragement or safe space to make it happen. That all changed when Margie, the owner of Dancing The Soul and myself decided to create such a space. Margie opened up her beautiful studio and came up with the brilliant name of what to call it… A Nia Jamette.

Not to say there was anything small about it. When 11 ladies immediately wanted in, I knew we were on the right path. For almost two months I worked privately and also in group practices with these ladies, watching them go from embryonic to beyond walking! The skills they learned were cuing, demonstrating the moves, using their voices and being in their bodies, but it was all secondary to the confidence they gained by just putting on that mic and putting themselves out there.

It was such a beautiful thing to witness, and for that opportunity, I am forever grateful. They learned from me, but even more-so, I learned from them. I couldn’t have done this alone. Cheryl Harpt and Tracey Lepine spent hours with me over the course of those weeks, offering so much help and support. This was truly a labor of love. No one was paid anything, including the studio.

On the day of the Nia Jamette, when each of these lovely ladies performed their song, all proceeds went to The Arapahoe House Step Wise Program. The room was packed, the energy was palatable and each white belt gave the performance of their lives! I can’t wait to see them all go on to teaching their own classes and sharing that joy and magic of movement, joy and magic of Nia with everyone!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

My Nia Story by Cheryl Harpt

Posted on September 8, 2011 by
Please enjoy a closer look at one of the featured teachers of Nia Colorado!

Nia Black Belt Cheryl HarptI took my first Nia class over 8 years ago. As a child I was a dancer studying tap ballet and jazz. I spent all my free time dancing and kept learning and improving. Health issues forced me to stop. I grieved for the loss of dancing for many years. In my thirties, I recovered my health and started practicing yoga. At the health club where I took yoga, I saw Nia on the schedule, but was hesitant to take a class. I thought I was too old to dance. In my first class, my body was stiff and the movements felt awkward, but I loved it… I was dancing. After six months of taking classes, I wanted to learn more and thought hmmm…maybe I could become a Nia teacher.

I took the White Belt in Boulder, CO with Carolyn Rideg. I was subbing classes two weeks later. At the time there were only three Nia teachers in the Denver area and everyone wanted to take some time off. I went from club to club with the one routine I knew, The Commitments, by Carlos AyaRosas.

Blue belt followed for me as soon as I was eligible, same with Brown. I rushed through the belts to know more about Nia. After Brown, I slowed the pace waiting four years to take Black Belt. The next belt for me will be Green Belt, hopefully in October with Holly Nastasi.

I feel fortunate to have found Nia and to have become a teacher. Each class that I teach is an opportunity to learn more about my body and to guide students into theirs. It is an incredible journey, take your first step, take a class and join in the JOY.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Black Belt to Beginner, and the Cycle Continues… by Sandy Mighell

Posted on September 5, 2011 by
In addition to featuring teachers from the Nia Colorado newsletter, we’re also thrilled to use this space to allow some of our members a chance to blog about their Nia journey.

Sandy MighellI am delighted to have spent the last 11 years of my life embodying, studying and teaching The Nia Technique. Nia has brought the ultimate in sustainability to my movement, and she has been my constant friend through thick and thin, lovingly nudging me toward my sense of truth and purpose in all areas of my life, and bringing me to a place of deep love for my body, and for helping others to love the experience of living and breathing in the human form.

Having just completed my Black Belt certification, I am becoming keenly aware of how Nia presents me with a specific science for training my nervous system at each belt level, with the Black Belt being the ultimate culmination of nervous system and body conditioning. It feels like a huge accomplishment to now have all the toys and tools available to me for this work—I have climbed the mountain!—and yet, as I look around, there are limitless peaks in my field of vision, and I can play on as many of them as I like….so in many ways, I feel like a child who is retreating back down the mountain, and starting from scratch in beginner’s mind, ready to start fresh in my practice and refocus my energy on mastering the basics and “filling in the cracks” in areas of my practice that have not yet received my full appreciation and energy. And this process will be ongoing; a lifetime of tweaking and playing and discovering.

It was a joy to study directly with Debbie Rosas and Ann Christiansen—TRUE BODY-MIND-SPIRIT MASTERS—and even more of a joy to witness our articulate and classy Nia founder, Debbie Rosas, symbolically passing this healthy happy baby to the next generation of parents and masters. Both Debbie and Ann make the world a more beautiful place with their unwavering commitment, intense dedication to the study and transmission of the Promise of Nia, and love for the process of human transformation and growth. The pieces all fit together perfectly.

I believe there are spirits floating out in the ether who are waiting in line for the experience of living in a human body. Aren’t we the lucky ones, right here and now? Living in this period of history is, well, pretty darn groovy.
Thank you Nia. You keep feeding and nurturing me and my experience here in my tissue, my bones, my muscles, my nervous system, my cell tissue, my heart. Yummmmmmmmm.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

My Nia Story by Kate Testerman

Posted on September 1, 2011 by
Moving forward, we’re going to be using this blog to take a closer look at some of the teachers featured on the Nia Colorado pages, talking about some of our favorite routines, and really getting to know each other. I hope you’ll check back frequently to read our updates. And stay tuned for an RSS feed!

About six years ago, I was living in New York City and a friend told me about a class I should take that combined dance , martial arts, and yoga. Well, I was interested in all of those, so I gave the class a try. 55 minutes later, I was hooked on Nia.

Since that first class, I’ve taken many more. Nia has helped me lose 50 pounds and regain a sense of fun in working out.

When I moved from New York out here to Colorado, knowing almost no one besides my husband, Nia helped me find a community, find friends.  I work from home, so getting out to my Nia class at times has been my only escape from my own company (and that of my growing family).

Last February, I traveled back to NYC for a week to take my White Belt, and returned toColorado and immediately began teaching – at first, just a song here and there, but gradually more, until I was subbing full classes at the YMCA and elsewhere. In May, a day after learning I was expecting my first child, I began classes for my Green Belt certification with Carlos. After dancing through my entire pregnancy, and bringing my son to dance with me since he was about three weeks old, in June, I became a my Blue Belt.

While I don’t teach my own regularly scheduled class, I love being able to sub in for others as needed, or share a routine with another teacher, and I look forward to continuing to do so!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

WooHoo !!! This is coming along Nicely….

Posted on April 19, 2011 by
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment