Teacher Finds Nia a Perfect Fit For Life and Class

When I heard about Nia for the first time I was curious, excited, interested, and tired! I had been dancing on a huge outdoor dance floor under giant redwood trees at the California Brazil Camp (a camp for learning Brazilian drumming and dancing) for a few days and my body was happy, and also tired and sore. Gabriela Masala, a new friend I had made at camp, told me about a holistic fitness practice called Nia. Her description of Nia being for both body and mind intrigued me, and I already felt I wished I practiced Nia for my body!
To my delight, when I returned home to Wisconsin, I found a Nia instructor in my own city. During my first class, my gut told me that this was the thing I’d been waiting for — I had spent years trying to create my own form of fitness fused with dance, and while what I created was always fun, it was always missing something. I felt Nia was created for me personally, and gave me the perfect fusion of fitness I had been looking for. Nia spoke to my spirit, and it spoke to me as Jessica the athlete, Jessica the dancer, and Jessica the educator.
I shared my Nia experience with my mom, who has had two knee replacements and was looking for healthy ways to get cardiovascular exercise. Nia seemed perfect for her, too, and in August of 2006, my mom and I did the White Belt Intensive with Nia Trainer Denise Medved. It was so great to share that experience with my Mom. I knew I wanted to teach Nia, and right after the Intensive training I was off to Brazilian camp again. I started studying my first Nia routine on the airplane ride to camp. When I returned home two weeks later, I taught my first class in Wisconsin. I am now not only a vocalist and high school teacher, I am also a Nia Teacher — I love it!
I have integrated Nia into so many aspects of my life, including my personal work as a performer, and my work as a high school vocal music director, dance team coach, and musical theatre director.
I love the way that I can layer Nia over all of the work I do. My classroom rules are now the four Energy Allies that I learned in my Nia White Belt Intensive, and I use Nia to help my students (particularly the boys) to be more comfortable with movement in our musical theatre performance group. I also love to use Nia in my warm-ups with my dance team. The precision required for such a group is quite demanding on the body, and the girls love the freedom of expression and release they get when we practice Nia.
Public education doesn’t leave a lot of room for expressive arts and as a vocal music director I’m fortunate to be a part of my student’s arts experience. Nia has brought me even deeper into that relationship. I am excited to continue my work with teens in my home area as well as in other schools. It’s a perfect fit! I’ve always been a teacher, and Nia has changed how I approach my work. It has opened up a whole new world for me and somehow brilliantly integrated everything I was already doing with a wonderful mind-body practice that speaks to every fiber of my being.