Nia White Belt Training

"I dance to ride, I ride to paint, I paint to dance." --Randee Fox, Nia Faculty Trainer, Artist and Horse Woman

With a background in dance and music and as a professional visual artist and horse trainer/teacher – I enjoy teaching the practice of Nia to people who are drawn to the arts and are horse lovers and equestrians. My art and horse education professions have profoundly expanded by infusing the practice of Nia.
The 13 principles of the Nia White Belt Training are applicable and synchronous to an artist’s creative process as well as enhancing your sensory IQ, physical awareness, body language and energetic communication with horses both on the ground and when riding. My White Belt trainings are fun, filled with adventure and surprises. You will gain a more finely tuned sense of aesthetic, rhythm and timing and a wider range of physical creative enhancement tools through Nia’s movement forms and musicality.

Feed your creative appetite and immerse yourself into the week-long White Belt Training and retreat, grounded in nature, harmony, ease and physical sensation at The Blue Heron Ranch Studio on my horse ranch. Here, you can also choose to test out and apply your White Belt principles dancing with horses. Or, bring me to your studio, ranch or farm for a deep exploration of the science, craft and art of Nia.

My six weekly Nia classes are rich with artistry, are athletic, energizing and fun with a warm community to welcome you at two beautiful professional dance studio locations - The Blue Heron Ranch Studio in Sammamish and Bellevue Family YMCA.

Testimony from some of Randee's students and colleagues: 

“One of the wonderful things about Nia is that the instructor brings their unique focus to bear on the excellent basic material. Randee Fox has a very healing presence and energy. I feel safe in her class in a way that I do not always experience, and I feel that is due to her setting the intention both verbally and nonverbally for her class to be an expressive non-judgmental place. Randee exudes groundedness and calm; yet brings out a lot of energy in the imaginative cues she uses. I was fortunate to experience Randee in my White Belt training as an instructor, as well as in a class when she visited Santa Monica. I would (and did) travel miles to dance with Randee, and recommend you do too.”
--Nana Pianim, MD, Surgeon, Redondo Beach, CA; Nia White Belt

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“As a trainer, Randee is very creative and detailed in her presentation! If you get a chance, take the opportunity to learn from her!!”
--Carolyn Bourland, White belt Nia enthusiast

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“Having taken many dance classes I can quickly recognize a strong talented teacher and Randee is definitely that. She is very professional, creates a creative safe place for Nia dancing then charges it with energy and a sense of fun and freedom of self expression. Her studio is fantastic, a joy to visit with a great sound system. I also found this strong dynamic teacher to be very kind and approachable before and after class. You're going to love her!"
--Kris Theriault, Sammamish, WA

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“Randee is a gifted and energetic teacher who inspires freedom of exploration through movement. I love how Randee weaves empowerment into her fun and invigorating classes. The Nia for Equestrians classes combine my passions for horses and dance. I feel connected with myself and ready to connect joyfully with my horse after Randee's inspiring classes.
--Cynthia Farley, Equestrian, Counselor and Registered Nurse

In the spring of 1995 I walked into my first Nia class by chance - and my life changed forever.  I was totally disabled by asthma, a physical therapist unable to work and a dancer unable to even cross the room to answer the phone.  I could barely breathe and had no business being in a cardio class.  But Nia is no ordinary cardio class.

Nia gave me the medicine of awareness and the medicine of The Joy of Movement that allowed me to discover my body’s way to heal.  After two years of Nia, my breathing improved by 50%. After seven years, I was off all medication. Today my respiratory function is 130% of normal.  You can read about how Nia healed my asthma here.  

The Joy of Movement is a practice that is the foundation of the entire Nia body of work.  Nia teaches us to cultivate the sensation of of joy -- the sensation of the life-force energy in the body -- irrespective of circumstance.   The life-force energy is available to us to sense at all times.  Not just happy times, not just in strong times, but in grief, loneliness, pain, illness, frustration, fear, anger, goofiness and wonder.

My Philosophy:  My philosophy is that the body is sacred. The bones are sacred, the muscles are sacred, the brain is sacred, everything is sacred.  This philoophy guides my life and my work.  My purpose is to help people remember that their bodies are sacred.

Rachael R. Resch, MS PT/LMT, is a Nia Black Belt, Nia Training Faculty and physical therapist with over 30 years' experience in movement and health education.

Rachael's Nia trainings offer a unique combination of scientific and somatic inquiry, blending the perspectives of both patient and practitioner in exploration of the human body in motion for the purpose of healing and conditioning the body.

Rachael used Nia to help heal herself from years of severe asthma. She attended her first  White Belt training as a PT in 1999 with Debbie Rosas and Carlos AyaRosas, lugging her portable nebulizer to every session.  As a result of becoming body literate, she is now medication-free.

A third generation typographer and former professional dancer, she holds a BA in religion and dance from Oberlin College, a master of science from Pacific University and a green belt in Shotokan Karate.  She is the owner of Synergy Physical Therapy in Ashland, OR.

Since 1978, Rachael has studied with leading teachers in mythopoetics, somatics, energetics and the arts, including Robert Bly, Joseph Campbell, Coleman Barks, Marion Woodman, Michael Meade, Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield (zt"l), Martín Prechtel, Stephen Victor, and Paul and Patty Richards. 

Rachael lives in southern Oregon with her husband, Richard Seidman.

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"I am always looking for ways to experience my physicality that are fun, therapeutic and soulful. I love the way Rachael's teaching style embodies all three of these. She is masterful in what she does." - Mary Gorman, PT

"Rachael knows how to respect each person's rhythms and limits, and, at the same time, how to inspire just a little more: a little more movement, freedom, expression, joy." - Deborah Gordon, MD

"In 25 years of medical practice, I've witnessed many health-related fads come and go, but none is like Nia. Nia has staying power because it is based on the body's way of moving. Nia epitomizes the 21st century healthcare paradigm that is changing our focus from treating illness to giving people tools to improve their own health and well-being." - Maureen Small, MD, Nia Black Belt/ Nia Trainer

"The Nia White Belt has enhanced my effectiveness as a physical therapist. Not only do I move and experience life differently, my patients do as well. The benefits are immeasurable." - LaSheryl Olsen, PT, Nia Black Belt

“As a chiropractor, the principles of the Nia White Belt improved my skills in assessing postural distortions and movement patterns, and developed my own body awareness by leaps and bounds.” - Barbara L. Jennings, DC, Nia Blue Belt

"Now is the time to add a fitness program to your practice. We have an immense opportunity to make a difference in the health and wellness of the communities we serve by educating them and prescribing fitness."  APTA, Impact, January 2012

"As an occupational therapist, I use the principles of Nia every day in my practice. The Nia White Belt gave me confidence, a deeper connection with my body and a passion to share the Joy of Movement with my patients." - Peyton Moore, OT, Nia White Belt