I’ve been pretty good with the exercise lately, getting in four sessions a week on the old elliptical trainer and sweating along with Coach Sean plus doing once a week pilates but for awhile now the girls have been thinking “some dance would be fun”. Actually they want tango lessons but I think that will have to wait for a bit.
But Barbara has been talking about Nia and how much fun it is, so tonight I tried my first class. And now I know what she’s been raving about. I’ve not done many exercise classes where you find yourself grinning away during the process. I love my pilates but it doesn’t often evoke smiles (unless it’s relief when you’re allowed to stop doing something painful lol). This did. I was still smiling driving home.
Nia is part dance, part yoga, part martial arts, part tai chi, part pure play. And still a pretty damn good workout. But you don’t need to be super co-ordinated like aerobics or even super fit (you can do all the moves at your level and it’s all about finding the movement that feels good to you). I’ll be going back (and next time I might be nerdy and wear my heart rate monitor just once to see what it says).
If you’d like to know more about Nia then the international site is here, the Australian site is here and this is the site for Melissa Page, who taught tonight and made it a great experience.