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I recently attended a weekend Wellness Retreat at the Unity Institute near Kansas City. It was a delightful experience. I have advocated wellness ways of life for a long time, but I still learned new things at this retreat. In addition, it was pure joy to be with a group of people who fully enjoyed and understood the great value of wellness lifestyles. One of the things I learned about was NIA. NIA has been around for over twenty-five years, but I had never been exposed to it before. Created in California, NIA originally stood for Non-Impact Aerobics, but it evolved into a type of dance movement that I would describe as a cross between structured aerobic exercise and freestyle dancing. It is structured enough to need a facilitator and yet students can follow in free-flowing ways. We had a wonderful facilitator who was a qualified “Brown Belt” Nia instructor on her way to becoming a Black Belt instructor. She started us off with basic kinds of gentle movements, similar to Tai Chi, but we then gradually progressed to dancing kinds of movements that involved moving our legs, bodies, and arms around in many variable, free-flowing positions. As we moved around the room in this way, everyone had similar and yet different movements. The one constant was that everyone had a great big smile! The Nia website describes classic Nia as being healing aerobic movement that is not only healing for the body, but also for the mind, heart, and soul, because it teaches people to cultivate moving and living in joy, to express themselves using emotional energy, and to connect to their own unique spirit. I can vouch that it was great fun for all of us. Another rhythmic kind of class that we had was one of drumming. I had experienced a drumming circle previously, but this took me to a new level of understanding about the value of drumming. Our facilitator in this class was an excellent musician and teacher, with abundant knowledge and experience in drumming. She began by teaching us simple drumming rhythms, and gradually progressed to more involved ones. There were enough drums and other kinds of percussion instruments for each of us to be actively involved. A unique experience for many of us was that of receiving a drumming massage. When two drummers stood beside me and began drumming at ankle level fairly vigorously, then moving upward only inches away from me, my body began vibrating in response. It was an amazing but pleasant experience that each of us enjoyed. The Drumming Circles website says that drumming is both recreational and therapeutic. It strikes a deep chord in us because of our own innate rhythms, and it stimulates healing rhythms in us at multiple levels, both as individuals and as communities. In addition to these experiences, we also had yoga and nutritional classes, among others. All told, it was a marvelous kind of experience that I can heartily recommend for anyone. In the poem, Slow Dance, recited at the retreat, the poet writes: “When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift… thrown away. Life is not a race. Do take it slower. Hear the music before it is over.” We heard the music at this retreat! |