Guest Story

Vickie Saito is a Nia Black Belt Teacher and White Belt Trainer. With over 22 years experience in the movement arts, Vickie brings somatic skill and playful self-discovery to each Nia experience. She lives in Portland, OR and travels teaching and leading Nia trainings internationally.

Dear Beloved Nia Community,

Two years ago the West Linn, Oregon Nia community brought our time, energy, and talent to together to manifest a successful Nia Jam benfefit for communities affected by the 2011 tsunami and earthquake that struck Japan. As we all remember, the devastation caused by this natural disaster was catastrophic and widespread. To help offer support, we organized ou...

The following post was written by Helen Terry, international Nia Black Belt Teacher and Trainer. Recognized by Origins Magazine as a "Top Inspirer in Texas", Helen is multi-talented with a magical formula. She combines experience and knowledge with determination and faith to consciously create and bring ideas to life.

Our Houston Nia community is experiencing a rising of epic proportions.

Like thousands of others around the globe, our Houston studio, NiaMoves, hosted a special One Billion Rising (OBR) Nia class on Valentine's Day. The response was phenomenal. Folks who were new to class and movers we hadn't seen in years joined our regular par...

The following post was written by Sophie Marsh, Nia Black Belt Teacher and White Belt Trainer. Sophie thrives on sharing her contagious passion for Nia, inspiring people to live their authentic joy and offering innovative Nia classes, playshops, retreats and White Belt trainings in Australia and beyond.

If 2012 was the year of transformation, it feels like 2013 is shaping up as the year of love! 

For our Aussie Nia tribe, this journey began with the Blue Belt training in Brisbane. The focus of Blue Belt is body-centered communication, relationship, and intimacy. What an incredible privilege to witness 29 women...

Germany's newest Nia-centered fitness studio is up and running, and we'd like to celebrate it! On October 1st, Nia Black Belt teacher Annette Girps launched Spektrum Studio in Friedlingen, Germany.

Annette has long-held the dream of owning her own movement space since completing her White Belt Training in 2006. Her vision was to create a space that was simple, void of distractions, warm, and welcoming. As Annette shares, "Our goal is to offer a place to sense comfort and ease, experience joy, be centered, and to love your body!". Spektrum offers a wide range of Nia classes, including Classic Nia, Nia for 60+, Nia for Te...

The following post is written by Jodie Allenson, who is a White Belt Nia teacher based in Noblesville, Indiana.

For centuries, many have realized that the mind/body/spirit connection, the relationship between our emotional self and our physical self, is exceptionally powerful. Unfortunately, I had a mind/body/spirit disconnect for most of my adult life. All along I thought that it was my body that wasn’t satisfying me, but now I realize that I wasn’t satisfying my body!

I have always had spinal issues due to Spina Bifida Occulta (a condition where my lower spine did not close completely while I was developing in the womb), but my overall health was never dramatically affected...

The following post is written by Nia Trainer Martha Randall, who is based in Toronto, Canada.

"Take me to the places on the earth that teach you how to dance, the places where you can risk letting the world break your heart, and I will take you to the places where the earth beneath my feet and the stars overhead make my heart whole again and again."

-Oriah Mountain Dreamer

As the world’s athletes were celebrated with a closing ceremony in London, England, last week, a number of Nia sacred athletes were gathered in the woods of an earthy, rural section of Ontario, Canada, to be witnesses to the opening ceremony of Rhythmwood, the Nia studi...

The following interview features Allison Rivers Samson, who is a Brown Belt certified Nia teacher and the creator of Allison's Gourmet.

What is your background?

I live with my husband, David, who recently earned his Nia Blue Belt, and our vibrant, nearly 6-year-old daughter, Olivia, in northern California, where I dance, garden and play in the kitchen while concocting new, delectable goodies.

In 1997, I was awakened to the myriad of benefits of veganism, including optimized health, compassion for others, and care for our precious planet. This inspired me to create my award-winning company,

The following post is written by Erika Ruber, who is a Black Belt certified Nia teacher and LCSW in Portland, Oregon.

Today I experienced a beautiful culmination of my paths as Nia teacher and psychotherapist. Witnessing my client/Nia student courageously and gracefully share her “60th Birthday/Transition Dance Ritual” that we co-created was indeed a gift and a blessing.

The seed was born in a therapy session we had about a year ago. We were discussing her powerful transformation from a victim to a powerful woman choosing her own destiny. As we discussed the feeling of choice, I asked her to stand up and show me a gesture to symbolize how she felt. She began to use her hands,...

This guest post is written by Lori Lynn Meader and Teresa D’Angelo, and was first published in American Dance Therapy Association's newsletter.

Have you ever wondered what dance/movement therapy (DMT) and Nia have in common? Here in New Jersey, we recently had the opportunity to find out for ourselves by teaming with practitioners of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Dance Therapy Association for a workshop on "Dance/Movement Therapy and Nia–More Than Just Dance." We opened with the basic principles behind dance/movement therapy and Nia, and then experienced movement with each modality used by Nia.

Dance/movement therapy ...

The following post is written by Daniel Curtis (the son of Nia Trainer Holly Nastasi), who suffered a spinal cord injury in May of 2011. Those interested in donating directly to his cause may do so here.

It’s important to remember how fickle life can be. Memorial Day, May 31, 2011, was one of the tamest holiday weekends I have ever celebrated in my adulthood. It seemed like the smallest moment in time; it happened so quickly, but it detrimentally changed my life forever. We’ve all had a misstep, or stubbed a toe, rolled an ankle ...