July 2006

From the Founders

Our Five Stages

The Five Stages of Self-Healing are something Carlos and I practice every day. At every White Belt training we talk about the importance of using these stages and how powerful they are in conditioning the body and also for Self-Healing. The alignment and conditioning we continue to receive from our daily five-to-ten minute practice continues to astound us.

As a child I did not crawl, which affected me tremendously in my body. As my mother tells it, I climbed to the edge of the crib and threw myself off until they were forced to put me on a mattress at nine months old. Soon after I sort of just got up and walked. Carlos, on the other hand, developed as a child just as the books said he would – moving through each stage in order. Even now he moves with ease through all Five Stages, and his body shows it.

Practicing the Embryonic stage has softened me, especially my emotional makeup. I’m more attentive, peaceful, and trustful that my body will send me signals to let me know what is happening in and around me.

The result of not going through all of the stages as a child shows up in my body in many ways. I have scoliosis in two parts of my spine, attributed from walking too soon and thus not developing the right curves in my spine. I also have learning disabilities and dyslexia. All of these parts of me have dramatically improved since I began to seriously practice the Five Stages.

I am unable (yet) to rest comfortably in the Standing stage, with both feet flat, knees together, and my spine lengthened and extended. I know I will eventually get there, because in the beginning even the stages of Creeping and Crawling were a challenge for me and my body, and now they are much easier.

Practicing the Embryonic stage has softened me, especially my emotional makeup. I’m more attentive, peaceful, and trustful that my body will send me signals to let me know what is happening in and around me. Creeping has helped open up my hip joints and helped to keep them open so that they provide me with the mobility and stability I need to dance, and to dance through life comfortably. Crawling is by far the best for my spine. I have regained proper curvature in my neck, added a tremendous amount of flexibility to my entire spine, and loosened up between my shoulder blades so that the hump that was developing is gone. Magic, you say? I say yes, the kind of magic that one only gets from following The Body’s Way–a map and design that leads anyone on the right path to comfort and pleasure in a body.

As for Carlos, through his Five Stages practice he continues to get stronger, more agile, mobile, and stable, challenging himself to do what we call, “The Athletic Style Five Stages of Self-Healing.” Rolling, knee pads and elbow pads in place, Carlos gets to play and explore space and his body, using what Nia gives him, and using the five stages to reach levels of mobility he never dreamed he’d reach at 55 years old.

I guess you could say that Carlos and I are taking our own medicine and living the reality of Nia’s “Through Movement We Find Health.” We’ve come a long way using the Five Stages and there is so much more we will receive from these magical five moves. All it takes is five minutes a day! Ask your Nia teacher to show you the Five Stages, and keep your eyes and ears open for The Five Stages of Self-Healing Meditation, soon to be released.

In Love and Light,

Carlos Rosas and Debbie Rosas
Founders of the Nia Technique

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