Tired of the treadmill? Frustrated with brisk walks? Bored of aerobics? No patience for yoga? What if these fitness genres could be combined into one high-power one hour workout? Try ‘Nia’ (pronounced as NEE-aah). Sought-after worldwide, Nia is one of the latest trends in mind-body fitness fusion. Bangalore’s health enthusiasts recently got a taste of this unique workout, as certified Nia instructor, Jennifer Hicks, who flew down from Toronto to conduct a two-day workshop.

So, what’s Nia? Nia or Neuromuscular Integrative Action is a fun workout which involves nine movement energies - dance, martial and healing arts. Nia draws its therapeutic influences from the fluid movements of tai-chi and yoga, focus of tae-kwon-do, grace of jazz and spontaneity of modern dance. Nia is performed barefeet and through the use of music and movement, each Nia experience is uniquely crafted to both calm and invigorate.
“Nia is a masala of movements. It’s primarily cardio-vascular in nature. So, you sweat, your heart rate goes up and you achieve flexibility. Nia is so carefully choreographed that the body moves the way it’s originally designed to move. It stimulates breathing patterns and can be practised by anyone between nine and 90, as the intensity can be customised,” explained Jennifer, who is also a speech and language pathologist, working with brain injury victims.

But what prompted her to bring Nia to Bangalore? “I was coming to India for a yoga retreat. I met Bangalore-based fitness expert Wanitha Ashok on Facebook and we hit it of. I am especially surprised at the male turnout at my workshop here. Back in Canada, men are apprehensive of the graceful Nia. If the response is sufficient, I will send a certified trainer to Bangalore for good,” sums up Jennifer.

For details contact Wanitha on 9341231441 or email at jenniferhicks@ rogers.com.

Nia was developed in 1983 by California couple Debbie and Carlos Rosas after attending expressive dance classes and realising that regular gym workouts were lacking emotion and spirituality. An amalgamation of the martial arts, dance and yoga, Nia is a fun and creative workout. Today Nia classes are held across 26 countries with 2500 instructors.