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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? Topics Fitness Food Health Natural Pamper Special Style Events Medical Directory Reader's Picks RSS Info About OHL Advertise Archive Photos Return to Mail Tribune NEWS NOW Beach bacteria thresholds may tighten By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Read Beach bacteria » Our View: Who politicized the UCC shootings? Not Obama Read Our View: Who» View from 100,000 feet By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Read View from 100,» Beach bacteria thresholds may tighten By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Read Beach bacteria » Our View: Who politicized the UCC shootings? Not Obama Read Our View: Who» View from 100,000 feet By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Read View from 100,» Nia Connects Body and Soul Multiple sets of bare feet dance, jump and twirl to rhythmic throbs of music from around the world. Hip-hop sets the tempo one minute, jazz, Latin or New Age the next. Rachael Resch's Nia class is totally absorbed in a diverse combination of movements borrowed from dance, martial arts and healing arts practices. Comment By CINDY QUICK WILSON MailTribune.com By CINDY QUICK WILSON Posted Nov. 3, 2014 at 2:00 AM Updated Dec 8, 2014 at 11:30 AM By CINDY QUICK WILSON Posted Nov. 3, 2014 at 2:00 AM Updated Dec 8, 2014 at 11:30 AM Where Nia Began --> The Nia concept was the brain child of Debbie Rosas and Carlos AyaRosas, fitness professionals living in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1980s. Their goal was to use the body's natural d... » Read more X Where Nia Began The Nia concept was the brain child of Debbie Rosas and Carlos AyaRosas, fitness professionals living in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1980s. Their goal was to use the body's natural design to improve function through the theory that "joint and muscle action are triggered using imagination, music, emotion and vocal sound." Through carefully designed choreography, Nia addresses the body's five main sensations: flexibility, strength, mobility, agility and stability, and focuses on conditioning the body and the nervous system. Nia's popularity has gone global and classes are held in 48 countries around the world. WHERE TO FIND NIA CLASSES Rachael R. Resch The DanceSpace 280 E. Hersey St, #10, Ashland 541.488.1192 www.NiaNow..com/RachaelResch Kathryn Thomas Rasa Center for Yoga and Wellness 3132 State St, Medford www.NiaNow.com/Kathryn-Thomas 541.482.2752 Kathryn Thomas Ashland Family YMCA 540 YMCA Way, Ashland www.NiaNow.com/Kathryn-Thomas 541.482.2752 Trazia Wylde Grants Pass YMCA 1000 Redwood Ave, Grants Pass www.NiaNia.com/MTWylie 541.474.0001 Trazia Wylde Premier Fitness 1960 SW G St, Grants Pass www.NiaNia.com/MTWylie 541.474.9412 » Social News (UPDATE: contact information for the Nia trainers mentioned in this article has been updated both in the side-bar and at the end of the article) Multiple sets of bare feet dance, jump and twirl to rhythmic throbs of music from around the world. Hip-hop sets the tempo one minute, jazz, Latin or New Age the next. Rachael Resch's Nia class is totally absorbed in a diverse combination of movements borrowed from dance, martial arts and healing arts practices. "The foundational principle of the entire Nia concept is joy of movement," says Resch, who has taught Nia classes locally for 15 years. Resch is also a physical therapist who owns Synergy Physical Therapy in Ashland. "There are those three different components to Nia, so I found it was a natural fit for me with my dance experience and my physical therapy background." Resch became so enthused about Nia, she pursued martial arts training to round out her abilities. She now leads classes and trains Nia instructors at the DanceSpace in Ashland. Nia is described as a sensory-based form of exercise that uses a series of 52 choreographed movements borrowed from martial arts, dance and healing arts. Instructors lead hour-long classes beginning with slow, warm-up motions, to non-impact aerobic conditioning and strength exercises, ending with cool down and stretching moves. A diverse and stirring collection of music inspires participants to lose themselves in the joy of movement. The basic exercise format is not that unusual, but what happens to enthusiastic followers might be. Not your average aerobics workout Participants agree that Nia offers so much more than just physical exercise. It is an internal tuning, a spiritual alignment between the body and mind, emotions and spirit. "It's more than just a class or a workout," says Glennie Feinsmith of Ashland. "For me it's a meditation, something I have to do." She says there are many women in the class who have healed themselves through Nia. "The teaching is about listening to our physical being in a connected way that I've never experienced before with any other kind of exercise. It's tuning in to the body at every level, from the emotions to the mental to the physical." For Feinsmith, Nia has a therapeutic influence. "I have taken emotional issues into class and worked them through during the session," she says. "Doors open for you to explore the messages your body is giving physically, whether it's your organs, muscles or joints. There's a turning inward that you're guided to and you begin to 'hear' what your body is saying." Kathryn Thomas teaches Nia classes at Rasa Center for Yoga and Wellness in Medford and at the YMCA in Ashland. She says Nia has improved her energy and her overall quality of life. "At 66 years old, I have more vitality now than I've ever had," she insists. Thomas did not have a fitness or dance background when she fell in love with Nia. "I had been teaching yoga for a long time, but the first time I did a Nia class, I thought oh, I have to do this!" She says because of the music and choreography, participants learn to move in new ways. "When the instructor shows the steps and gives the proper instruction on alignment and how to place the feet, we can safely experiment with whole new ways of moving our bodies." Although Nia is about the freedom and joy of movement, there is a definite choreographic design that elicits the maximum physical, mental and emotional benefit from the combination of movements. Thomas says, "It encompasses three different domains of movement and within each of those three domains, there are three practices, so there are nine different elements that come together. At times it's very frisky, we really crank it up and kick butt. But we start out slow with a warm-up and then we bring it into the aerobic middle, then the cool down and stretching is last. We take care of everything the body needs. It is structured, but you can move your body any way that feels comfortable for you. We always say to do it your body's way." Where does the healing come from? Trazia Wylde is a relative newcomer to the dedicated fold of followers, but she says for her, Nia's impact has been life changing. "When I first came to Grants Pass, I had been chronically ill for quite some time, but I have made big improvements in the past couple of years," she says. "Nia has played a part in changing the way I feel about my body and about my life. It is my passion. I feel it has saved me." Thomas describes her training to become an instructor as intense, but also amazing and very enlightening. "There is a lot of physical movement, like the dancing, but we also use movement to meditate, movement to heal and movement to listen to the voice of the body." She now teaches classes at the YMCA and Premier Fitness in Grants Pass. "My students talk about how much healing they experience from taking the classes." Speculating on the healing component, Thomas points to the combination of physical movement, spiritual involvement and connection with the body. "But I think it's also the shift in paradigms," she says. "I think we are so engrained in our thinking about fitness, pressuring ourselves to get out there and run or go to the gym. There is an attitude of competition, this feeling of being self-conscious about our bodies and the kinds of clothes we have to wear to the gym. But when you come into a Nia class, immediately, the approach is completely different. It's about learning how to recognize the real gift of being alive. Our bodies are precious, sacred gifts worthy of our love and our care. We learn how to listen. If our bodies are giving us pain, we need to honor that voice and learn how to make adjustments to make healing happen. It's very powerful." ___ The Nia concept was the brain child of Debbie Rosas and Carlos AyaRosas, fitness professionals living in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1980s. Their goal was to use the body's natural design to improve function through the theory that "joint and muscle action are triggered using imagination, music, emotion and vocal sound." Through carefully designed choreography, Nia addresses the body's five main sensations: flexibility, strength, mobility, agility and stability, and focuses on conditioning the body and the nervous system. Nia's popularity has gone global and classes are held in 48 countries around the world. WHERE TO FIND NIA CLASSES Rachael R. Resch The DanceSpace 280 E. Hersey St, #10, Ashland 541.488.1192 www.NiaNow..com/RachaelResch Kathryn Thomas Rasa Center for Yoga and Wellness 3132 State St, Medford www.NiaNow.com/Kathryn-Thomas 541.482.2752 Kathryn Thomas Ashland Family YMCA 540 YMCA Way, Ashland www.NiaNow.com/Kathryn-Thomas 541.482.2752 Trazia Wylde Grants Pass YMCA 1000 Redwood Ave, Grants Pass www.NiaNia.com/MTWylie 541.474.0001 Trazia Wylde Premier Fitness 1960 SW G St, Grants Pass www.NiaNia.com/MTWylie 541.474.9412 By CINDY QUICK WILSON MailTribune.com By CINDY QUICK WILSON Posted Nov. 3, 2014 at 2:00 AM Updated Dec 8, 2014 at 11:30 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction Archive Terms of Use Privacy Policy Contact Us Advertise Careers Copyright © . Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Southern Oregon Media Group: Mail Tribune.com | Ashland Daily Tidings | Medford Nickel