I don't trust New Year's resolutions (they never last), but my body has been feeling stiff and achy lately. During a recent visit to the doctor, I worried that one shoulder seems to be freezing up, and noticed that lately it's hard to get dishes down from the cupboard. So I asked for some safe shoulder exercises. He quickly printed half a dozen out on his computer. In gratitude, I've been doing them daily and feeling better.
But that was a bit of a wakeup call. Jane Fonda -- the longtime exercise guru -- advocates for regular exercise in her newest book, Prime Time. Although, she says, exercise is important at any age, after a certain age exercise is NOT optional! The doctor's heart was in the right place: "Use it or lose it," he offered.
I am not alone. Dominique Browning, author of the book and blog Slow Love Life (both excellent) wrote a post this week about her need to return to yoga. One of the great things about Dominique's blog is her large following, and one of her followers, Barbara, wrote enthusiastically about NIA, and included a link to nianow.com. Sounded great, and I found a link to a catalog from our local rec department. Again, it sounded doable -- it was advertised for "all levels of ability" -- so I thought it might work. I tried calling the rec department, but "accidentally" called the number of the trainer, Joan, who's a certified muscle therapist. She was very welcoming, non-judging. As with the shoulder exercises, I felt she offered something that would help, not do me in. So I signed up.
The first class met the next day. At Joan's suggestion, I arrived early, and she showed me a couple of basic steps -- a"cha cha cha" move that lets you shift your weight from one leg to another, and a"jazz square" sequence that's a basic routine to move you, dancing, from place to place.
Like the instructor, the class was warm and welcoming. A real community, where everyone wants to win, with very little competition (None of the "I exercise better than you do" or "I look better in my exercise clothes than you do.") The session was tiring but satisfying. It covered both physical exercise and mental agility -- we were encouraged to face our frustrations, ugh/shrug them off; then we were asked to cross our arms in front of our face and loudly say "Cancel" to our frustrations, and finally spread our arms out to the sides and calmly say, "Clear" to open up to the new. And so we shook off the grievances of the past, and moved into the new year. I can see you might think it all a bit hokey, but it was really a lot of fun, in good company. And I'm only a little stiff today.
You can see a NIA class with co-founder Debbie Rosas, and a lot of West Coast folks -- all of whom weigh less and are uniformly younger than the people in my class (also, those in the photo are in full NIA costume, unlike the more varied group I worked out with) -- at this link. (Follow the link, because the video doesn't play from my blog.)
After the exhilarating first class, I searched for NIA on Wikipedia and found that it's a blend of 9 separate muscle, movement, and mind-body disciplines, and that NIA stands either for Non-Impact Aerobics or Neuromuscular Integrative Action, whatever that is. NIA is much catchier -- like those Monty Python people who say "Ni."
Here are the nine:
Martial Arts: t'ai chi, Tae Kwon Do, Aikido
Dance Arts: Modern dance, Duncan Dance, Jazz dance
Healing Arts: Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais method, Yoga
These are activities I can healthily and enthusiastically subscribe to.
I look forward to stepping smartly into this new year.
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