Take off your shoes and dance

Jessie Paul danced through childhood. She grew up to become a yoga instructor, but always missed dancing. It wasn't until she took a Nia class that Paul learned she could have the best of both worlds.

"I started taking Nia in New York City and it seemed to bridge the gap between yoga and dancing by bringing conscious awareness to the joy of movement and the body's sensations," Paul said in an e-mail to the Standard-Examiner. "I have a passion for music, too, and the music for Nia classes is filled with a lot of world beats from Latin to Brazilian, African to Indian, that make your body want to move."

Nianow.com says Nia is a fitness combination of martial arts, dance and yoga that Debbie and Carlos Rosas created in 1981 as alternative to high-impact aerobics. In a YouTube video, Debbie Rosas explained that after years of teaching aerobics, she lost the ability to move. She found she could get a better, safer and more enjoyable workout by dancing barefoot. So she and her husband created a class that she says integrates the best movements from the East and the West.

"Nia's founders ... developed the Nia technique 20 years ago, in response to all of the injuries that people were developing doing high-impact aerobics-type classes," Paul said, "Nia originally stood for non-impact aerobics, but has gradually shifted in meaning as it has become more of a mind-body-spirit type practice. Nia is also an African word for unity."

Paul said Nia combines classic movements from yoga and the healing arts, martial arts and dance in a one-hour class set to music from around the world.

"Each class consists of about 20 minutes of warm-up, 20 minutes of higher intensity and a 20-minute cool-down with stretching, core work and meditation," she said.

The safety dance

Paul tells her students it's too bad exercise has become a duty.

"Doing exercise as a duty takes away the real reasons why you should be doing it. There are injuries in aerobics and there's a better way of fitness and health without damaging the body," she said.

Nia classes do not use special equipment, and participants don't wear shoes. There is also no jumping, which proponents say is easier on the joints. Andrea Scheuber, a Nia instructor at the Center for Change in Orem, a facility for women with eating disorders, said bare feet help students pick up on the cues feet send when the body is out of alignment or off-balance.

Said Gina Myberg of Ogden: "I think it is one of the best workouts I have done. It is fun, not painful like some workouts can be. The hour goes by too quick. I am a belly dancer, and this is a perfect match for a workout."

Paul tells her students to enjoy their body.

"Feel the joy of movement," she said during a recent Nia workshop at the Eccles Community Art Center. "Be aware of every movement you take. It's not robotic. Feel the awareness of how your foot feels on the ground. Be aware of sensations as you're moving with every step and link with the movement and have fun."

Nianow.com explains that each workout can be individualized because Nia participants learn the proper form for base moves, then are encouraged to move in a way that feels good to them.

"Balancing technical precision with free-form expression, Nia brings the body, mind, emotions and spirit to optimum health through music and self-expression, guided by the sensation of pleasure," according to the Web site.

Paul says students should be sensitive to their body's needs. She counsels them to feel energy flowing through their body and to "keep it inward" if they want a low-intensity workout, or to "infuse" their dance with energy for high-intensity. She said the class can be modified for all levels if students will trust their instincts and move in ways that feel good.

Scheuber tells her students to "work in a range of motion where your joints feel free and relaxed." On her Web site, www.andrenia.com, she writes: "To lighten the intensity, make your movements smaller. Use fewer arm movements. To increase the intensity, make your movements broader and wider -- sinking deeper, rising higher and reaching further. Use your whole body -- spine, shoulder blades, elbows, wrists, fingers, eyes, head, pelvis, legs."

Not enough impact?

While Nia's low-impact exercise may be the best choice for someone with joint problems or who has been sedentary, high-impact exercise burns more calories and is good for your bones, according to Dayna Barrett, Utah State University wellness specialist.

"A higher-impact class with jumping is beneficial for those who don't have problems with their joints or knees," she said. "With high-impact, you burn a lot of calories. I've seen great results with some really high-impact classes. It's not only a cardio workout but also develops the muscular-skeletal system. It pulls the muscles on the bone and makes the bones stronger. There is a higher injury rate for someone who jumps right into it, but if you are already active, high impact classes are safe."

The Nia Web site explains that Nia has 52 base moves, drawn from t'ai chi, tae kwon do, aikido, jazz dance, modern dance, Duncan dance, yoga and other healing arts movements.

"I loved it. It's a mixture of everything I've done -- aerobics, ballet, kickboxing, yoga. It was cardio plus yoga," said Marsha Smith of Eden after taking a Nia workshop from Paul.

Scheuber said learning to move the Nia way has also helped students with eating disorders to love their bodies.

Rosas said Nia is taught at hospitals, clinics and prisons throughout the world to promote healing.

"You can use movement as medicine," she said in her YouTube video.

Paul said Nia uses spiritual, physical, mental and emotional realms to make the body feel better, promote health and prevent or improve injury or illness. She said students use their body and voice to initiate healing and their mind and personal spirit energy to reinforce it. She said a student's healing may be as simple as having less stress than when class began.

"Always keep in mind the power of joy, relaxation and personal expression as healing energies ... healing expresses itself in more ways than simply reducing pain," Paul counsels students in a class overview. "Learn to discover healing in increased mobility, flexibility, stability, strength, agility, mental clarity, emotional balance and spiritual connection. There is spontaneous healing that happens just by the mere fact that we move. Nia naturally creates the space for this kind of healing."

Scheuber says Nia can enrich anyone's life no matter what type of healing they need because "it is great to take off your shoes and dance."

WHERE TO FIND NIA

* 9:30 a.m. this Saturday, a three-hour workshop at Eccles Community Arts Center at 2580 Jefferson Avenue, Ogden.

* 8 a.m. Fridays at High Altitude Fitness, 5510 E. 2200 North, Eden.

* Classes also have been tentatively planned for 9:30 a.m. Fridays, starting in January, at Eccles Community Arts Center, and in January at Dragonfly Healing Arts, 260 Historic 25th St., Ogden.