Cornwall’s Renew Lifestyle Studio has begun offering Nia sessions taught by Amanda Marini. Nia is sort of like a fusion of dance, martial arts and healing arts. The practice itself is a cardiovascular workout that encourages you to work through the material in your own way. You don’t push yourself to feel pain.

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Cornwall - Jan. 14, 2012 - Cornwall’s Renew Lifestyle Studio has begun offering Nia sessions taught by Amanda Marini. “Nia is sort of like a fusion of dance, martial arts and healing arts. The practice itself is a cardiovascular workout that encourages you to work through the material in your own way. You don’t push yourself to feel pain. The experience is supposed to feel good, not painful. It requires modifying to your body. You have to tailor the movements. All of the movement is based off the music. It’s not a dance, per say, but the movement is a reflection of the tone, rhythm and intensity of the music. It is a very unified experience. It is about embracing your body.” Amanda defines Nia as a fusion of all the benefits of each type of dance, martial art and healing art.

Nia blends dance, martial arts and healing arts to take advantage of all the best aspects of each. Nia fuses jazz, modern and Duncan dance together with the precision of Tae Kwon Do, the gentleness of Tai Chi and the grounding movements of Akido. The healing arts of yoga are about nervous system conditioning and being aware of the alignment of your body. Yoga is blended with the Z Alexander technique, which allows you to be spatially aware of your body. The Work of Moshae Selvenkrais adds its own benefit of being observant of the way your body works.

The benefits of Nia are vast, both physical and emotional. “Nia increases blood flow and circulation, supports weight loss, refines your nervous system to work spontaneously, increases muscle tone, increases mobility and stability and encourages personal growth. It also increases strength, agility and flexibility while reducing stress and encouraging peace of mind.” Amanda says when asked about why anyone would want to take Nia lessons.

“I think anyone would benefit from Nia. It doesn’t matter what your fitness level is. If you’re curious about healing arts, martial arts or dance, this gives you an introduction to each one. It’s great for somebody who is looking for something to do that is new and exciting. If you’re looking for an experience, this is definitely for you.” Amanda explains, “Anyone can do Nia because the point of it is to adjust it to your body, and make it feel good to you.”

“We have the power to self heal. All too often, we rely on someone telling us this will make you feel better. We live in a very reactive mindset, where if something hurts, we need to take a pill. Nia gives you the chance to heal yourself without all of the pills and creams.” Amanda says, describing an experience where she felt pain in her knee, but hadn’t done anything to aggravate the muscles. She went out and did some of her Nia lessons after realizing that the reason her knee hurt was that she hadn’t exercised it. Exercise like Nia can heal your body.

The Nia classes will take place on Thursday evenings from 8 to 9 pm. More details can be found at nianow.com, or by visiting the Renew website, renewcornwall.ca.