August 2006

Special Feature

Natural Time

Have you ever been in an exercise or Yoga class and felt you couldn’t keep up or simply felt “out of sync”?

Nia has a unique individualizing element that helps people remain aware and stay in the here-and-now while they work out. We call this element “Natural Time.” Natural Time is different from standard, by-the-clock, mechanical time. Mechanical time is absolutely uniform among all people, during all activities. Natural Time, however, is relative from one person to the next, and from one activity to the next. It is based upon the fact that different people operate at different speeds, and perceive the world according to varying time frames. Thus, Natural Time is your time.

It is critically important for you to perform your Nia workout according to your own sense of Natural Time. If you try to speed up or slow down the pace of your movements to match a contrived ideal, your movements will no longer be individualized and in accord with Your Body’s Way.

When you move in harmony with Natural Time, you will often find yourself moving slowly as you learn new movements. This slow pace will allow you to build proper neural connections and muscular coordination as you master the movements. If you rush through new movements in mechanical time, however, you will build faulty neural networks, which create “muscle memories.” As these incorrect neural networks and somatic memories become established, you might often feel as if you’re doing a movement correctly, even though you’re really not. Therefore, it’s important to learn all new movements in Natural Time, and to later accelerate them. After all, speed is the illusion of mastery.

One of the advantages of doing movements in Natural Time is that it decreases the amount of thinking that you must do as you move. If you’re rushing through your movements at a pace that’s too fast, or to keep up with the music or those around you, you’ll find yourself thinking too much, in an effort to coordinate your movements: “Left – right – one – two – whoops!” This inner dialogue only makes coordination more difficult. It separates the body and mind. Natural Time doesn’t require an inner dialogue. Rather, it’s instinctual – you do it because it feels right.

Article contains excerpts from the book, “The Nia Technique”

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