Nia is a holistic movement practice blending dance, martial arts, and healing arts to enhance well-being. Founded in the 1980s by Debbie and Carlos Rosas, it connects mind, body, and spirit through joyful movement. Incorporating dance forms, martial arts, and body-mind practices like yoga, Nia improves cardiovascular health, flexibility, strength, and body awareness while reducing stress. Adaptable for all ages and fitness levels, it offers a balanced, expressive approach to fitness and personal growth.

Nia and I spontaneously discovered one another in 2015. I was looking to attend an adult ballet class, when I looked through the studio windows, finding, people moving very differently than the formal ballet I was searching for… Mia Steyn, now my friend and Nia mentor, saw me, and gestured while she was moving, for me to join the class. I was already in movement clothes, as I just finished teaching a Pilates class at my studio, so I thought, “well, why not, let me join and see what this is all about”…

Mia and I worked together, each with our modalities from the first time we met, even reconnected during Covid, and presented our NPY (combining 3 teachers, each teaching their own modality – Nia, Pilates, Yoga in a class) online. In March 2022, Mia came to Knysna, to open the pathway for Nia in the Garden Route, and inviting me to step into this journey with her.
It was wonderful, to see how many people came out of “nowhere”, even from Wildernis, Plettenberg Bay and George, to come Nia with us! It showed us that there is indeed an interest and a need for Nia. Since then, I wanted to continue my Nia story with Mia, so I waited for Mia to qualify as a teacher/presenter of the Art of Sensation course.

The Art of Sensation (white belt) course, was one of the most beautiful life changing expereinces I have done for myself! It was an eye opener of note. I found my energy body, I rid my physical body of pain through the power of movement, which in return also inspired my focussed healthy eating habits. I connected with the most amazing bunch of people. When I walked out of that week, I stepped into my Nia practise with a purpose for my life, an opened throat chakra and a child-like energy that I haven’t felt for years!
I felt that all that I have done in my past and the timing of my Nia course, was perfectly alighed and it helped me to continue to introduce this magical practise to the Garden Route.

To move in my body’s way, to feel what My body needs, to listen, not just to music, but what ever needs to be heard, with my whole being. It holds the space for me to express, to observe my emotions, good and bad, and to allow myself to be in a moment of now. It is a friend that is always there, holding space for what I need, and to feel connected.
Nia has even helped me grow as a Pilates instructor! I usually encourage my clients, to talk to me in how they are feeling, as I can’t feel what they feel. Nia has shown me how I can use my words more mindfully and playfully, to help cue people during sessions. I can play around using the Nia routine themes and incorporate it into the Pilates sessions I present. I feel supported by a community of positive input and effort, to be a vehicle to extent those magical and mindful efforts to more people.

Nia has shown me that there is even more room for freedom in a movement, even in a Pilates movement which can be very technical. The Nia practise has reminded me that there is space to Not perform, but to be who You Are and to truly feel and listen what you are experiencing. This has shown me how people talk to themselves, and to help enourage others to find positive self talk. Nia is more than movement to music, it is a way of thinking, feeling, living, being.

Nia colors the human experience in for me with joy, creativity, beauty and art. I know there is still much more to learn from my Nia-friend, which makes this path super exciting, always having new rainbows to look out for!