I Love my Body!

When I tell my story of how I found Nia, self-healing my injured hip is what I lead with. I had 3 compressed discs in my lower spine, that were pinching the nerve causing chronic pain in my left hip. After the chiropractor told me not to do yoga or any other movement because it would make it worse, my mind (and body) said "wrong~I want to move". So I began my journey of self healing. I moved my body with awareness and intention and eventually....I healed it!

 But the part I don't often share is the part that is a little more personal, a little deeper.  Along with pain, I was also someone who struggled with a poor body image, and had all of my life. It was an all consuming feeling. When I would put on clothes, my 1st thought was "do I look fat?"  When I would walk in front of people, I would wonder "Ughh...do my thighs look fat, are they looking at my stomach?"   It was exhausting to constantly be thinking about how awful I looked.  And when you hate your body, it doesn't feel good. The only thing I felt, was fat. So, when I began my journey of self healing my hip, I also began my journey of loving my body. I often wondered what it would be like if I didn't waste so much time obsessing about how fat I looked or was or felt! I worked out~I ran, did yoga, cardio videos, weights. I would touch each part and say out loud "elbow I love you, hips, I love you". The problem was believing it 100% . I was too caught up in how my body looked, or was "supposed to look", to love how it felt. I would exercise, feel good, my hip was healing, but then I would see a picture of myself and would still think "You look fat."  I began my journey, but wasn't quite getting where I wanted to be...free!

Then, in a search for something new that combined all things I liked to do~dance, exercise, and self heal, I discovered the Nia Technique. Nia is a movement that has 2 tag lines that really got my attention: 1~"Through movement we find Health"
2~"Love your Body. Love your Life."
Ok, the 1st one, check, awesome, I believe in it, I did it. I moved and I healed. But, the 2nd one~Whoa! Love my Body. Love my Life? Really? Ok, I want that!

So I stepped into my Nia journey....

I went to my White Belt Training in January 2010 and learned all about Nia. The awareness of my own body's sensation was empowering. The movement of every single part was liberating. The energy released was intoxicating. I was dancing, working out, sweating, feeling good, but what came in through the side door was love. By focusing on the sensations of my body and learning about the awesomeness of the human body, I found love. I love my body! I am not just saying it, I really love my body. It is strong, supple, complicated, powerful, and can moooove like no other!  Nia has given me this to me. I call it freedom. Freedom from the loop of negativity. Freedom from self judgement. Freedom from pain~physical and mental.  Now when I put on clothes, my question is "how do I feel in these clothes?" Now, I stand in front of people everyday, feeling confident, never worrying about what they think.  Living in my body is all about how I feel, how my body feels, not how it looks. And it feels good!

I can tell you I am a completely different woman than I was when I began Nia and the difference comes from loving my body. Yes I have lost weight, gained muscle, flexibility, and so much more physically, but the biggest change for me is the love. And when you love your body, you can heal your body, mind, and spirit. Love provides freedom. Nia has opened me up to freedom, from the inside. With that freedom, I can change the world!

I teach Nia to share the freedom that comes from living in a body that you love. It is my purpose to create freedom~for myself and for others. I am sharing my thoughts here in order to inspire you to seek freedom and to Love your Body!