Dancing Through Pregnancy With Power

In all areas of my life – from my performing career on the stages of New York, to working as a Nia Teacher, to giving birth – my Nia practice has enriched everything that I’ve taken on.
I’ve been a performer my whole life and was always interested in being fit, but I never liked “exercising.” Traditional forms of exercise felt rigid to me, and didn’t seem holistic. So, when I took Nia in 1998 I knew immediately I had found a movement practice that would feed my body, mind, and spirit. And, the expressive freedom of Nia spoke to my performer side. It was a perfect fit.
When I discovered Nia I was pursuing my performing career, auditioning for Off-Broadway shows and producing my own one-woman show. I was also working as a waitress full-time to pay the bills. I decided I’d much rather do something I loved to pay the bills, so in 2000 I took the Nia White Belt Intensive and became a Nia Teacher — I’ve been teaching ever since. I feel so honored to provide people with the opportunity to love themselves through practicing Nia.
Through all the training I’ve done with Nia and all of the wonderful moments I’ve experienced teaching, I still continue to be amazed by the power of Nia. This power was especially apparent to me during my pregnancy last year.
I was so excited to become pregnant right after being married in October of 2005. I was 40, and my husband and I were thrilled that we conceived so quickly after our marriage. Unfortunately, I miscarried two months later. But then I got pregnant again in January 2006, and we had our baby girl Talia on October 11th.
I had the best pregnancy with absolutely no morning sickness or other problems. I truly believe I had such a great pregnancy because of Nia. I think it’s such a shame that so many people (including doctors) treat pregnancy like a sickness and tell women to stop “doing” their lives while they are pregnant. It’s natural to be pregnant, and since my body was used to dancing and I was so strong because of Nia, I saw no need to stop.
I told everyone that I planned to teach Nia right up until I gave birth and I did. I stopped about ten days before Talia came. Of course, I modified my movements in my later months, and I was so blessed to have regular students who happily demonstrated the more rigorous Level 3 Nia moves for the rest of the class for me.
Every day of my pregnancy I repeated the mantra, “Thank you God for a pain-free, joy-filled pregnancy and birth.” The magic of that mantra, my amazing midwife, and the power of my Nia practice contributed to a wonderful birthing experience. Talia came dancing into the world only two hours after my water broke. I had her naturally — without drugs to sedate me and in the water — just as I had envisioned. It was great!
I’ve now returned to teaching two of my classes, and my students are thrilled to have me back. They say they felt so involved in my pregnancy because they watched my belly grow on a weekly basis, and they all told me what an inspiration I was. Wow!
I’m also already completely back to my pre-pregnancy figure, which I also attribute to Nia. I think a lot of that has to do with muscle memory I’ve built through Nia. With my Nia practice I live so fully in my body that my body just knew how to go back.
My pregnancy experience is a potent example to me of the richness of the gifts that I receive by practicing Nia. It was such a gift to be able to dance Nia with my baby inside of me. I feel Talia and I bonded in a special way through dancing Nia together. I encourage other women to share that wonderful experience with their own babies. I’m so glad I have Nia – it’s a gift I give myself!