Recap of Inner IDEA

by Holly Curtis

I am just back from a trip to Las Vegas where I attended “Inner IDEA.” The conference was the first of its kind for IDEA. There were many sessions for Pilates and Yoga. Tai Chi was also well represented. I took in a Feldenkrais session and a Qigong class. There were various other movement options–Tribal Dance, Emotion and Motion, and of course our favorite, The Nia Technique. Debbie and Carlos did a fabulous FreeDance experience, a session on RAW, that truly required it, and a kick-butt class integrating body, mind, emotions, and spirit. There were people walking around in a daze after that class saying “What is this?!” That’s always fun to witness.

I also attended three research sessions. One was a review on studies in various areas of mind/body activity. There was a wealth of information on yoga and meditation. The main focus of this research is psychological states, including mood, anxiety, aggression, and self-control. Much was studied about Karate and self-esteem, social competency, and aggression. The results were all conflicting.

One study compared women who did hatha yoga vs. aerobics. The yoga group was higher in body awareness, self-acceptance, and body satisfaction than the aerobics group. It was all very interesting. A professor from Montreal presented the emotional anatomy model. He used the models from Kelleman and Dyshwald. These theories have been used in Nia for years. It made me aware of how ahead of the times we are.

There was a group of more than 25 of us. We had a great meeting with Jeff on Monday night. We all shared our first time Nia stories and successes. Nia was very well represented there. Some great connections were made, and others nurtured. I was especially pleased to see so many of my trainees and other colleagues there. It was wonderful to see you all. So much aliveness and such a pleasure to see!

Debbie and Carlos were right-on, as usual. Debbie was part of the opening General Session where prominent speakers spoke of the future of integrative fitness. She was by far the most compelling of the speakers. She took us somewhere with her language that brought us into the moment and into our bodies. She’s pretty good at that, as you know. Carlos was the masterful magician with his composition of music and movement. It’s always good to have him around!

On a final note: Following the Inner IDEA conference was the IDEA World conference. There were around 200 participants at Inner IDEA compared to 5000 at IDEA World. IDEA World is the major aerobics and personal training international conference. I attended the opening session of IDEA World with Debbie, Jeff, and Carlos. As with many large organizations, there are prestigious awards given out at World. One award was given for fitness instructor of the year, one for personal trainer of the year, and one for program director of the year. Debbie and Carlos were one of the top-three program directors. Their amazing faces were projected up on a huge screen in front of a full audience during the award ceremony. Although they did not receive the award, their achievement is notable. Congratulations!

I also had the great pleasure of going to a Cirque du Soleil show with them. We saw the new Cirque show, Love, which is based on the Beatles. This show is a monumental and fantastic demonstration of human creativity and skill. The Beatles influence in our world continues. I highly recommend you see this show. Truly, truly amazing.

That’s it folks.

Much love,
Holly Curtis
Nia Trainer, Santa Fe, NM

Reprinted from the Teacher Forum

2006 Schedule

Boot Camps

Date	Location	Info
October 7	Asheville, NC	Anne Lowry NiaSkywalker7@aol.com
November 4	Toronto	Anna Schantz annaschantz@cogeco.ca

All dates and events are subject to change

Upper Level Belt Trainings

Date	Location	Info
September 16-22	WB FAB, Portland Space is limited	Karyn Bassett intensives@nia-nia.com
September 23-24	Trainers' Training, Portland	Karyn Bassett intensives@nia-nia.com
October 7-13	BLB, Asheville	Karyn Bassett intensives@nia-nia.com
November 4-10	BLB, Toronto	Karyn Bassett intensives@nia-nia.com
December 2-8	BLB, Portland	Karyn Bassett intensives@nia-nia.com

All dates and events are subject to change

Conferences

Date	Location	Info
November 12-14	Santa Fe, NM	Sound Healers Conference http://bizspirit.com/soundhealing/SHindex.html

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